Posted on 08/24/2004 3:46:19 PM PDT by tricky_k_1972
Aug. 24, 2004 -- Military officials are cracking down on blogs written by soldiers and Marines in Iraq, saying some of them reveal sensitive information. Critics say it's an attempt to suppress unflattering truths about the U.S. occupation. NPR's Eric Niiler reports.
Army Spc. Colby Buzzell, stationed near Mosul with the First Battallion, 23rd Regiment, says he began his My War Web log to help combat boredom. "I'm just writing about my experiences," Buzzell says. "I'm pretty much putting my diary on the Internet -- that's all it is."
Buzzell says he has avoided describing sensitive information, such as U.S. weapons capabilities, weaknesses and scheduling. But earlier this month, Buzzell was lectured by commanders about violating operational security. Two other popular blogs run by soldiers have been shut down recently.
Lt. Col. Paul Hastings, a spokesman for Buzzell's unit, said Buzzell's blog now has to be reviewed by his platoon sergeant and a superior officer. In an e-mail to NPR, Hastings said the popularity of blogging has increased the chance that soldiers may inadvertently give away information to Internet-savvy enemies.
But some critics worry that military officials are trying to muffle dissent from troops in the field. "I really think it has much less to do with operational security and classified secrets and more to do with American politics and how the war is seen by a public that is getting increasingly shaky about the overall venture," says Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
Works both ways.
Some smart intel guy should startup a blog detailing false info. Since these stupid bastards use the internet for comms would be smart to slip a little disinfo their way.
Hmmmmm. Wonder what a good domain name would be?
I'm Soo Screwed
MY WAR: - Fear and Loathing In Iraq ^ | August 10, 2004 | CBFTW
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1188890/posts
Posted on 08/10/2004 3:27:53 PM CDT by Cannoneer No. 4
I never even knew what a Blog was until I read about them in an article in Time Magazine, about two months ago. I read the article and it mentioned how a lot of the soldiers down in Baghdad were writing about their experiences here in Iraq. After reading the article, I went down to the Internet caf‚, and checked them out, and a majority of them were just pure garbage. In fact nauseating. Its like they were written by armed forces recruiters, "Oh I love the Army, I'm soo glad to be here, oh, the Iraqi's love us, I feel like were doing the right thing" That kinda crap. Nobody was telling it like it is. So I said f**k it, I'm going to do one.
I was at the point in my deployment where the letters from friends and family were getting fewer and far between, and I needed something to combat the extra time and loneliness that being on deployment hits you with when you've been here for awhile. So I though doing a blog might be a fun thing to do, help kill some time.
And it worked, time started flying by once I stated this thing. I had no idea how to write or form a sentence (I still don't) but I figured what the hell, just do it. Like I said before, the Clash didn't know how to play their instruments when they started jamming, they just played, and that was the mindset I had when I started this.
At first I was getting about, 50 hits a day, then 100 hits a day, then a thousand hits a day, then three thousand hits a day, then 5 thousand hits a day. That was like a month ago when I had a counter. (Some reason it disappeared one day) Its scary to think how many hits a day I get now.
Since then, I've received e-mails from people in the Pentagon (saying: Everybody here reads it and loves it here!) a White House aide, a Wall Street Journal Journalist, several well known and lesser known journalists, a lady in Chicago asked if it was OK to do a play based on this blog, College Professors, One Professor who wants to bring up my blog in his class curriculum, Vietnam Vets, Gulf War Vets, WWII Vets, Police Officers, Authors, Literary agents, musicians, A girl in LA that wants to write a screenplay about this blog, a lawyer in DC who thinks my writing is a diamond in the ruff and offered for him and several other lawyers to help me pay for some of my College tuition when I get out, relatives from soldiers, soldiers in all the branches, soldiers in Iraq, lonely women, truck drivers, soccer moms, the list goes on and on.
It was insane the e-mails and responses I got over time. I was also amazed by how many good people were out there. Totally heart warming. And every e-mail I received was telling me how they loved my sh*t and how what I was saying was soo much better then the sh*t the media showing. I was making the war much more real to people by sharing my experiences with them. And they were telling everybody they knew about it. One guy even told me he heard some people discuss about this blog in some pub in Europe.
I had no idea it would get as big as it did, and as fast. I also knew that time was probably ticking on how long I could keep this thing up. What would Hunter S. Thomspson do in a situation like this? He'd probably "Buy the ticket, and take the ride." So I did.
I continued blogging and writing. So today I'm walking back from chow, and my Plt Sgt is outside my door waiting for me and he said, The Col. wants to see you, hurry up and go shave, I'll be back in 15 to take you down there.
My heart sank. Sh*t. I know exactly what this one is about. Its like that feeling you get in high school when you'd f**k up, and they'd call your name over the loud speaker and tell you your presence was needed in the principles office, and you know the police are there in the principle's office waiting for you. Not good.
I stepped inside my room, and my roommate was inside and he said, "Sh*t man! The B.C. was just here looking for you!!" F**k. I'm dead. I felt more scared now then I did on the 5th of Nov. The Battalion Commander AND the Col wants to see me?! All of this reminds me of the classic 80's movie, Pump Up The Volume, where the main character is in high school, and who is kind of a loner, listens to punk and skates, and does that underground radio station, which nobody at his school knows about, and it gets bigger and bigger until finally he gets caught and busted.
Nobody here in my Plt knew of my site till about a week ago. I told a couple close friends. Just last week I had a soldier tell me, yea, I just talked to my aunt, she knows nothing about the internet and she asked me about a "blog" thing that she reads done by a soldier in the Stryker Brigade. A couple days ago at the Internet caf‚, I looked over at the person next to me and he was reading my Blog, totally unaware he was sitting next to the author. So I saw this one coming.
The Full Bird Col. wasn't around so my Plt Sgt walked me down to the BC's office, and all I could think about was latrine duty, being a Pvt again, loss of pay, or worse. When I got to his office I was sweating a lot. I don't think I was sweating from the heat, I was probably sweating more from being freaked the f**k out. My heart was beating at an accelerated rate as well now.
The BC is a pretty intimidating guy, he's like Patton meets Vince Lombardi with a little bit of Knute Rockne. Total hard charger kinda guy. The kinda guy infantrymen love. As I stepped in his office (I scanned the room with my eyes for MP's), he told me to take a seat and I did, nervous as all hell. My Plt Sgt sitting right next to me. He looked at me, offered me a cup of coffee, I declined and then as he walked to his desk he said, "You're pretty well read. I can tell right away that you're a reader."
Now I'm really sh*tting in pants. First off, he knows about my writting, second, I know from numerous experiences and bump ins with Judges, Probation Officers, principles, and police officers how something like this works, they always first start off with a nice compliment, and then they fry your ass.
He said "Youre a big Hunter S Thompson Fan, arnt you?" (pause) I said, "Uhhh, yes Sir." He said, "Me too, but I thought the movie was just pure garbage. Didn't do the book justice."
As I'm sitting there waiting for the guilty death penalty sentence to come out of his mouth, he asked me if I ever read "such and such by such and such." I was soo nervous and had soo many thoughts flying in my head I wasn't even registering what he was saying, I just said, "No sir, heard of him, but never read him." And then he said, "I'll let you borrow a copy of his book sometime, you'll really like him"
Then he sat down behind his desk and on his desk he had a huge file that looked to me to be about as thick as The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich. With his right arm that had his Ranger Bat. Combat Patch sewn on it, he started turning the pages, I could see the painting of Guernica on the first page as he flipped through it, and every single page had something I wrote highlighted in bright florescent yellow ink and a bunch of weird forms attatched to it and a bunch of papers. I could feel the sweat dripping down my face.
He calmly looked up and told me that my sh*t was really good, and he liked reading my stuff, and that I was a good writer. He even mentioned something about including it in the units history and archives.
That didn't relieve me one bit, like I said, it made me more freaked out. I'm waiting for him to say the word: "BUT" followed by my punishment. Then we discussed things, and he pointed things out, and told me things. I agreed with 100% of everything he was saying, and the final conclusion from what he told me was that I could continue writing, but maybe have my Plt Sgt read my stuff before I post. He stressed that he didn't want to censor me and that I still had the freedom of speech thing, as long as I wasn't doing anything that would endanger the mission.
I totally 110% agree with him on that one. I thanked him and I told him that I of course would not want to do anything that would endanger anybody here or back home, which is of course true. He suggested that I should look into getting this stuff published and made into a book someday.
Finally I walked out of his office, with a feeling that I had just dodged a full mag of AK47 bullets. I went back to my room, and my roommate was waiting for me all wide eyed and said "Well, what did he want?!?!?! What Happened?!?! You busted?!" I told him all about what happened. And then I said, "Well, the positive thing is that, at least he knows who I am now." And he looked at me and said, "That could be a good thing, or a bad thing."
This might be my last entry, I haven't decided yet to end this, or continue this. I don't know what to make of all this yet.
"These words I write to keep me from total madness."
-Charles Bukowski
I've read all of CB's posts and I can't see anything there that could possibly jeopardize operational security.
But of course, military "highers" would be concerned about issues of perception and wary about possible inadvertant disclosures of sensitive information.
I think it is reasonable for the CoC to review material posted on the web by service personel, and I can see no evidence of undue or excessive pressure brought to bear on CB by his "highers".
In fact, CB's own account of his interview with a senior officer about his web blog reveals both an appreciation for, and approval of, his online journal, right up the CoC.
Credit is due both CB and his "highers" that we, the public, can read his blog and gain a valuable insight into the daily lives of those on the frontline.
Thanks for the ping!
You mean it’s not being done already?
I've read all of CB's posts and I can't see anything there that could possibly jeopardize operational security.
I have to tell you, I've been opposed to the invasion of Iraq from the word go... not that I've got anything against liberating people from tyranny or spreading democracy, it's the means I object to rather than the ends.
I must admit, I have been pretty upset about the carnage and loss of life in Iraq, and I have fumed at the US military for its heavy-handed tactics in Fallujah and elsewhere in Iraq.
When I came across CB's blog, I was really impressed with his personal, unpolished and apolitical commentary. He has completely altered my view of the US military, from the notion of a brutal, inhuman monolith to something I can relate to, an organization of unique individuals doing a difficult and demanding job, with too little recognition.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a convert to US militarism or anything that ridiculous, but I really do appreciate the opportunity to see the world from another perspective, from a standpoint I would normally reject. I mean, most of the official military PR is so propagandized that it's hard to take seriously... my eyes glaze over and my mind tunes out.
But from reading CB's stuff (and I've found a couple of others, like http://livefromiraq.blogspot.com and http://daggerjag.blogspot.com) I have come to the realization that there are good people in the US military, not just these bloggers, but their military superiors, who, let's face it, allow or permit them to post stuff on the web.
Some people make out like a soldiers right to post stuff on the web is a given. I can't agree. I'm no lover of the military, but it seems to me, if you go and join up (or get conscripted) you surrender your civilian rights, you basically commit to total obediance, obediance to the CiC and the CoC.
Can you imagine Chinese or Russian soldiers posting to the web from a battle zone? Whatever the rights and wrongs of Bush's Iraq adventure, the US military does deserve some credit for its willingness to open up and expose itself to public scrutiny and dare I say, intimate social intercourse.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a convert to US militarism or anything that ridiculous, but I really do appreciate the opportunity to see the world from another perspective, from a standpoint I would normally reject. I mean, most of the official military PR is so propagandized that it's hard to take seriously... my eyes glaze over and my mind tunes out.
I'm no lover of the military, but it seems to me, if you go and join up (or get conscripted) you surrender your civilian rights, you basically commit to total obediance, obediance to the CiC and the CoC.
My geuss is that they are concerned about blogs that indicate deteriorating morale. That information is of use to the enemy as feedback for the effectiveness of their operations. As in Vietnam, this enemy cannot defeat us on the field, they have to defeat us in our own minds. As a former intel officer, these blogs are what we used to call "indicators". Anything overly pessimistic or critical of the chain of command can be used in a variety of ways by the enemy (here and in Iraq).
And, since it come directly from the soldiers themselves, rather than through the filter of the press, it carries significantly more weight. What makes these blogs so interesting to us, is precisely what makes it potentially powerfull for use in counter-US propaganda.
There is a legitimate OPSEC argument here. Hate to say it, but it's so.
I see two likely options:
1. Trust 'em or bust 'em: Train thoroughly, monitor closely, punish those who violate opsec.
2. Flip the comm switch "off".
I propose option one. But I'm biased.
As I said, I think there is a legitimate OPSEC concern. I think CBFTW's commander had the right idea. Let them blog, but review the blogs before posting.
From an MI/PSYOP perspective there is much there that can be used by an astute observer on the enemy side (I include NPR in that description), and used to good effect if it is allowed to become overly critical of the mission and chain-of-command (a little can be seen as healthy).
I like reading them. But unlike most civilians, you and I read them through a different mental filter. We know the culture. We know the dark humor GI's use to keep up their own morale. We're familiar with the complaints of military life, and the reasons for them, and why they will always be.
A vet reading these blogs takes away something different than most civilians. And therein lies the concern IMHO. We're I a commander there, I would insist on reading anything posted publicly by my soldiers before it goes out. First to make sure that nothing innaccurate or damaging goes out, and second, to guage my own troop morale. And I'd be sure they know that it is for their own safety, because the war they're fighting is behind them on the homefront as well as in their forward sector of fire.
Looks like CB has taken his blog off the web... he was obviously upset by some idiot reposting comments he had removed or rewritten. The comments section, which is open to the wider, international public, was an invitation for problems and an unnecessary addition to the blog... CB's written accounts made for great reading, but the comments were mostly partisan, passionate and provocative - in stark contrast to CB's affable style.
CB may have been pressured by his superiors, but I think it more likely he simply got jack of the intense media glare and the friction it was creating for him on the job.
I hope CB will continue to post his entries once the heat abates somewhat, albeit without the comments section.
I'm sorry to hear that he took it down. I hope it does not discourage him from continuing his writing. He might also have taken it down because he realized that the possibility existed for unintentional security breaches. I posted comments on his blog that I felt it was right for his commander to review the blogs before posting. I'm sure his CO would like to have him post, but he has the safety and morale of the entire unit to think of.
If CB keeps a good diary, he'll have a hell of a book to publish when he gets out, and the notoriety to get a publisher to pay attention.
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