It was added soon after 9/11 to remind us not to post details of troop movements, etc.
I assumed it was because some of us have family and friends in Iraq and it is best to not go into details about where they may be and other information. Just a guess.
Sorry. Loose lips sink ships.
Loose lips do still sink ships :~D Many here are either active military or posting about people they know who are. Being prudent is never outdated.
I think it's a good phrase to live by.... sure, maybe you ~can~ say whatever you want, but is it always smart? Does it help, or hurt, the cause you are fighting for?
As opposed to the bastards at the WaPo and NYT who get prizes for it.
It used to be that such acts of treason during wartime resulted in a blindfold and a cigarette instead of a Pulitzer.
Jane Russell was the star in a series of print advertisements which informed the civilian population about the hazards of talking in inappropriate places and times. My Mom told me about the times in early 1944 when Dad had been drafted and was home on leave before his first cruise on a Liberty ship as one of the naval contingent that manned the guns.
They had spent the weekend in Atlantic City and were impressed at the long line of soldiers, in black face, who were marching on the boardwalk in preparation for shipping overseas. Dad would leave from the Brooklyn yard that Monday evening but she recalled that often you would be looking out to sea and a giant explosion would be seen and another transport had fallen to the lurking U-Boats.
I found a full page advertisement in Look magazine featuring Jane Russell and the Headline was bold and underlined,:
The Slip of a Lip Can Sink a Ship!"
On 9/11, Air Force One flew over a Freeper's house landing at a military base and this was posted here when all the media was saying he was at an "undisclosed location." Seeing that we didn't know who the emeny was or how they going to hit us that day, it was posted soon afterward.
Yes. It's not just the WOT; BUT ever since the CBS lie was broken here at FR, add to it the NCPAC (Steffen) issue; it's an advisement to keep one's personal information; information one would not wish used against them PUBLICALLY, off the boards. There've been a number of liberal "sting" ops here in FR; liberals posting as FReepers in order to get information about a person, or persons.
I suppose it is a reminder to use words wisely. But it is more of a punishment because it blasts those words in front of one's eyes, regardless of whether it's needed. It goes on the assumption that, posters are always wrong. And to me it is annoying, so I keep clicking on, "Preview" until it goes away, then I post a response...