Posted on 08/30/2004 5:55:08 AM PDT by Former Military Chick
Sometimes success can spoil a good thing.
A soldier with the Stryker brigade in Iraq who posted riveting online accounts of combat in Iraq has apparently made his last post, abruptly closing a Website that drew an untold number of readers.
CBFTW—the pseudonym of the online diarist, an enlisted soldier with the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division Stryker Brigade Combat Team—won a following for his frank, profane and often funny take on the life of a soldier in Iraq. He chronicled the tedium of a lengthy deployment and the occasional moments of sheer terror, including a vicious, but largely unpublicized, firefight the Fort Lewis-based unit was involved in earlier this month.
His intense, first-person account of that battle was quoted extensively in an article by Tacoma, Wash., News Tribune reporter Michael Gilbert, who traveled with the Stryker Brigade to Iraq and has closely followed their deployment. More recently, CBFTW was profiled in a story on NPR's "Day to Day" radio program.
Visitors to CBFTW's Weblog (cbftw.blogspot.com), however, can now find only one entry, posted Friday, that quotes Johnny Rotten, front man for the legendary punk act the Sex Pistols: "Ever Get the Feeling You've Been Cheated?"
The caption on the main page (posted over a black-and-white image of of Picasso's Guernica) reads: "OVER AND OUT."
In recent posts, CBFTW had hinted that he was under threat of reprimand from his superiors; the NPR story noted that he had been lectured by his commanders for possible violations of operational security, or OPSEC. A spokesman for CBFTW's unit told NPR his blog entries would be reviewed by a platoon sergeant and superior officer before they were posted.
Before the NPR story, CBFTW posted a note that cryptically advised readers to "stay tuned," followed with the full text of the First Amendment ("Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ...").
If his commanders indeed have ordered him to shut down his blog, it won't be the first time. In October 2002, Defense Week reported on a Website run by soldiers of a medical logistics battalion stationed in Afghanistan. They launched the blog to keep friends and family informed, but enthusiastic strangers linked to the site; when the members of the battalion were swamped with fan mail, they decided to shut the site down.
Blogs are, in some way, a defining cultural phenomenon of the war in Iraq, much as psychedelic music provided the soundtrack to the Vietnam War. There are dozens of Iraq blogs, posted by ordinary Iraqis, civilian administrators living in the Green Zone, rear-echelon soldiers and combat infantrymen. One Iraqi blogger, known by the nom de plume Salam Pax, even saw his Web diary published as a book, The Baghdad Blog.
Families of deployed soldiers maintain their own informal support networks through blogs, and soldiers—who have access to Internet cafes—kill the boredom of deployment by posting their own thoughts online.
Some blogs are patriotic, others are personal rants. CBFTW—a native of the San Francisco Bay Area who listed his interests, variously, as "drinking, skateboarding, reading, [and] 7.62 fully automatic weapons" along with punk rock and barroom poet Charles Bukowski—favored the rant, his long posts unencumbered by spelling and standard punctuation. He was also an avid reader, peppering his posts with literary allusions as well as references to punk and metal classics (the title of his blog—"My War"—comes from a Black Flag song). In some respects, CBFTW's irreverent blog echoed the spirit of Dave Rabbit, an enlisted man who ran a pirate radio in South Vietnam called Radio First Termer.
CBFTW is not the only military blogger who has won notoriety. Army Capt. Eric Magnell, an Army lawyer in Iraq, also was profiled in the NPR story. On Thursday, he posted a few thoughts on the interview, as well as on the case of CBFTW, on his blog (daggerjag.blogspot.com).
It's worth quoting at length:
"On Monday I spoke with Eric Niiler from NPR about my blog and how the army is treating bloggers. ... I think the story perfectly illustrates one of the reasons why soldiers may want to tell their story on their own blog rather than leaving it to the mainstream media. I don't think that Eric was misleading or twisted our words but he definitely wanted to give the impression that soldiers are being persecuted by their leaders over blogs and that their free speech rights are being infringed by a command that doesn't want their stories told. I would disagree with this thesis on several grounds.
"As I said in the story, the information environment has changed so much and is so different than in any previous war or conflict. Here in Iraq we have access to so much new communications capabilities it really is mind-boggling when you think about it. When my father was in Vietnam he wrote letters and mailed home cassettes or reel-to-reel tapes to keep in touch with my mom and his family. Even thirteen years ago, during Desert Storm, the soldiers still wrote letters and had very, very few opportunities to call their families in the States. With these new capabilities come some very real concerns over operational security. ... We know that our enemies are computer `savvy' and may have the ability to intercept e-mails or other communications over the Internet. Every soldier has to be aware and concerned about saying or writing anything that could potentially give our enemies information. Even potentially innocent statements which, by themselves, mean nothing can provide intelligence for our opponents when matched with other innocuous open source information."
Magnell, however, puts in a word of support for CBFTW:
"I've read SPC Buzzell's blog and, while I'm not a security manager, I haven't seen anything that clearly is prohibited but I can understand his chain of command's concerns."
The Army, Magnell concludes, "isn't a sinister organization looking to trample invidivual freedoms but, as any large bureaucracy, it can be slow to react to new situations and changes in the environment."
An e-mail to CBFTW went unanswered.
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.
A blogger with the pen name CBFTW, 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," the soldier says. "I'm pretty much putting my diary on the Internet -- that's all it is."
CBFTW says he has avoided describing sensitive information, such as U.S. weapons capabilities, weaknesses and scheduling. But earlier this month, CBFTW 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 unit CBFTW belongs to, said the soldier'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.
I am troubled by these article. Granted I understand the military's point of view, but, it would seem that there could have been a different solution.
I am interested to hear what others say on this thread, thank you in advance.
They could've put a one week delay on his posts... I doubt he ever had access to orders and planning that extended after one week that also wasn't already public news.
Well the site no longer exists that's for sure.
I can't recall reading anything in there that could be considered "sensitive" information. However I'm not a spook, so maybe there was.
I think that the CO is probably trying to censor the kid and not let him tell his story.
Thats my personal opinion.
The timing is certainly unfortunate. The Iraq situation does look pretty messy right now. Cracking down on the soldier's postings just before the Republican Convention could give the impression that there is a political connection.
I e-mailed CBFTW, and said take notes, keep a journal, I'll be waiting for the book.
A lot of positive comments about the stryker there, too.
Have you ever been in a war zone? The last thing you want is someone reading your mail! How do you think we got Saddam?
ping
The site loads for me:
http://cbftw.blogspot.com/
NPR blindsided this blogger, after giving an interview they posted his families ( I believe it was his mothers address.
Its a shame the soldier has the makings of a very talented writer.
One thing for certain, the blogs from the field sure deviate a lot from the formal reports turned into news stories by the mainstream media. There are those who for their own purposes would keep these sources of information and opinion bottled up, because it conflicts with their own view. Oliver Stone will not have the opportunity to write the (revised) history of this war, as was done with Viet Nam. Too much of the story is out there, now.
One thing is certain, CBFTW is one heck of a writer and will get a movie deal based on the blog when he exits the military.
Pray for him, that he escapes their clutches as they "feel his pain" and exploit him with sweet talk and feigned sympathy while comdemning his fellow Soldiers, appeasing the enemy, and ignoring 911 behind his back.
From what we read here, it did not seem to covey into of a classified nature.
My husband deployed to Iraq and commanded some fine soldiers and the only source for these folks, to use the HQ computer. Anything can be done, as long as it is allowed and meets the concerns of the military organization.
Couple of things:
Blogging from the field is an area that quite simply, the Army frowns upon. It's an OPSEC hole, plain and simple. As an Intelligence soldier myself, I've had to walk on eggshells with some of the things I write about.
It also is a pipeline to the world. And that was NPR's angle, although their agenda was trying to get anti-military sentiment to end-run around the censors. What they were hoping for, were this generation's JF'nK's to start blogging, and throw that up in our faces about dissent being squashed by bigmeannastyHaliburtonIhateBush yada yada yada...
But the angle no one wants to write about, least of all NPR, is that the troops are getting the TRUTH out, doing an end-run around the Leftist media. The good news out of the war zones isn't being reported by the MSM, and the bloggers know it; since the Left can't shut down the Internet yet, there's that danger that the truth might fall into the hands of The American Voter.
Which brings us back to my first thing: the OPSEC violations. We slagged Gerry Rivers of FoxNEWS for it - drawing pics of upcoming ops on live TV, for example. CNN woudl gleefully, if they could, sell our troops' souls along with their own, for interview rights with the enemy. And as enthusiastic and patriotic as the blogger-troops are, loose blabs mean bodies on slabs.
There's a balance to be found, here. Technology has moved beyond cassette tapes and letters; we're now in VM, email, and websites, never to return. As technically savvy as the Army wants to sound, there are a multitude of stubby-pencil officers and NCO's in the command chain, who simply will never trust the Internet or the computer. And from an OPSEC perspective, that can be a good thing.
I am troubled by these article. Granted I understand the military's point of view, but, it would seem that there could have been a different solution.
I am interested to hear what others say on this thread, thank you in advance.
I have no knowledge about the situation. However, "IF" the powers that be were required for one reason or another to shut down a particular site, might be required to shut all down in the appearance of being "fair".
Excellent post and on point. My beloved would write from Iraq and not only did I wait in anticipation so did friends and family. I was married to him and had no clue of his talent writing. His parents know him well and were equally delighted
As soon as finished reading it ... out to everyone. I did not mind sharing because so many cared. The sharing actually has a financial aspect, but, at the time they were my treasures.
Soon I will post them on FR.
I wonder if this problem may have something to do with his blog being shut down? He can't control what readers post.......
please
26 August 2004
If i take something I write off my site, or re-word it, THERE'S PROBABLY A REALLY FU**ING GOOD REASON WHY I DID THAT! Please, dont be the F-ing moron that goes on the comments section and re-posts what I took down or re-worded. thank you.
I did not know that happened with NPR until today, sometimes folks can't leave something alone.
I agree what a waste of talent.
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