Soldiers Told Even E-Mails Home Must Be Cleared

[Synnical]

Hat tip: Progressive Review

May 2 Reuters article: Omg! Now they are controlling what our soldiers can write in their blogs!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=806311&mesg_id=806311

Army Squeezes Soldier Blogs, Maybe to Death
http://www.wired.com/politics/onlinerights/news/2007/05/army_bloggers

The U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer, Wired News has learned. The directive, issued April 19, is the sharpest restriction on troops' online activities since the start of the Iraq war. And it could mean the end of military blogs, observers say.

. . .

"This is the final nail in the coffin for combat blogging," said retired paratrooper Matthew Burden, editor of The Blog of War anthology. "No more military bloggers writing about their experiences in the combat zone. This is the best PR the military has -- it's most honest voice out of the war zone. And it's being silenced."

Army Regulation 530--1: Operations Security (OPSEC) (.pdf) restricts more than just blogs, however. Previous editions of the rules asked Army personnel to "consult with their immediate supervisor" before posting a document "that might contain sensitive and/or critical information in a public forum." The new version, in contrast, requires "an OPSEC review prior to publishing" anything -- from "web log (blog) postings" to comments on internet message boards, from resumes to letters home.

Failure to do so, the document adds, could result in a court-martial, or "administrative, disciplinary, contractual, or criminal action."

. . . .

But with the regulations drawn so tightly, "many commanders will feel like they have no choice but to forbid their soldiers from blogging -- or even using e-mail," said Jeff Nuding, who won the bronze star for his service in Iraq. "If I'm a commander, and think that any slip-up gets me screwed, I'm making it easy: No blogs," added Nuding, writer of the "pro-victory" Dadmanly site. "I think this means the end of my blogging."

Active-duty troops aren't the only ones affected by the new guidelines. Civilians working for the military, Army contractors -- even soldiers' families -- are all subject to the directive as well.

But, while the regulations may apply to a broad swath of people, not everybody affected can actually read them. In a Kafka-esque turn, the guidelines are kept on the military's restricted Army Knowledge Online intranet. Many Army contractors -- and many family members -- don't have access to the site. Even those able to get in are finding their access is blocked to that particular file.

[Divernan]

1. Very timely, since things can only get bloodier and more violent in the coming months.

nt

[youngdem]

2. If I trusted this administration, I would trust this decision

As it is clearly a right and obligation to control communications from the front by soldiers with mission critical information in their communications subject to potential discovery by the 'enemy'. But of course, in this situation, we have NO mission critical information to protect. We have no strategy, and they know how to kill us if they want. So, clearly, this is a cover up and an attempt to control message.

Oh, how I long for leadership I can SOMEWHAT trust.

[Fresh_Start]

3. Troops cannot be trusted

they might tell the truth about the disaster or their frustration or their issues.

[AnnInLa]

4. Don't worry....the RW blogs are on this

in a big way. They have even convinced 3 republic congress critters to write a letter to Gates, asking him to review these new orders. On her site today, michelle malkin posted 2 "unauthorized" emails supposedly from troops saying that they are being censored because of their criticism of Harry Reid and the Democrats. It's all the Dems faults, because they don't like being criticized by the troops in Iraq. Has MM finally lost her feeble mind?

[blondeatlast]

8. "Finally?" Was she ever in possession of it in the first place? nt

[AndyA]

5. This is how the Bush Administration supports our troops:

CENSORSHIP

That's right, Soldier. You can't write home to tell your Mom you're still alive and OK. Let her worry about the news that more soldiers were killed with IEDs today. She doesn't need to know if it was you or not.

Could it be possible to find worse leadership?

[Fridays Child]

6. Are they prisoners or patriots?

You can't have it both ways, Dickenbush.

[napi21]

7. Isn't this just the modern version of reading a mail soldiers send home?

I remember, when I was a very small child, letters sent to me by my uncles in WWII all had little sections cut out. They looked like someone used a razor blade to cut out certain words or phrases. My mother told me at the time it was because the Army was very fearful something in a letter would give away their positions or tactics.

Isn't this email thing just the modern version of that same thing?

[Synnical]

9. You mean back in the days when we had real reporters?

Rather than mouthpieces that repeat whatever the politicians say and call it news? No, I don't see this in the same framework at all. The only real news we get about the "war" is from those who are or have actually been there.

[Adsos Letter]

13. I do believe the military has every legal right

to censor mail, of whatever type, from a combat zone; however, this is very poor timing, as it does raise the appearance of an attempt to play politics with the current surge. If you look at the record of WWII: the location of current operations were frequently censored, the location the soldier was writing from was often censored, it was forbidden to release photos of certain US casualties, etc., etc. This includes the level of casualties being suffered by the military or civilians.

But...as Synnical pointed out, if the majority of MSM has been co opted by the admin, well...

It isn't the first time...won't be the last...the media was also under some pretty strict rules in WWII...its just frustrating that they institute it now, when dissatisfaction and suspicion with the running of the war have reached all-time highs.

Those proscriptions applied during WWII were primarily for security's sake (and to control public opinion, to some degree). Instituting it at this point just looks like opinion control and politics... :wtf:

[Synnical]

15. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[napi21]

16. I agree completely that the timing is very suspect! Especially with

the known record of this admin! I wasn't trying to stick up for them, for sure! I guess when I read the OP it reminded me of those chopped up letters from years ago, and it sounded the same.

[Sequoia]

10. Fine, fine, fine just go back to old-fashioned letter writing.

Then again, censors those too. This is awful.

[rainbow4321]

11. Leaked (YouTube) video of some troops

Next up will probably be YouTube censoring:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3qcrdMeRYs

[Synnical]

17. That was disturbing on so many levels

Thanks.

[RiDuvessa]

12. This is a really stupid position for the Army to take.

A lot of the Army's best publicity came from those milblogs. Soldiers on both sides got to tell their points of view. It was great publicity for the military, as most of the milblogs were pro-military. Most of them didn't even talk about politics! They just talked about their experiences all over the place.

While I believe the Army has the authority to do this, I still think it is a bad move.

[lonestarnot]

14. It's tough to keep them in that torture mindset you know. Outside

influence might detraction from Mission Lie.

[genie_weenie]

18. I wonder if even the grossest violations to the national trust

will shake the bush supporters and those who refuse to understand the nature of the administration and iraq. Of course, the DoD had to take this step.

Boots on the ground have at their fingertips the ability to disseminate raw images and information before it has been "properly" scrubbed and sanitized for propaganda purposes. This isn't really even a new directive. The DoD shuts done outside comms regularly, no pictures of coffins, no funeral attendence for bush, rummsfeld made camera phones illegal to have in iraq.

So, why not completely control the information flow. It allows paetrus to better synchronize the message...