Army Moves to Gag the Troops
by Ian Mosley
U. S. military personnel have so far been allowed an amazing amount of freedom of speech on the Internet. Their blogs and e-mails home have given their friends, relatives and the country a fascinating glimpse into the reality of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. One cable channel is showing short videos of life in Iraq sent in by our soldiers. This freedom of information is more a result of the Internet than anything planned by the Pentagon. Four years into the Iraq War, reality does not suit the neocons. We know that the overwhelming majority of the soldiers actually fighting these increasingly bloody and pointless wars have no idea what they’re supposed to be accomplishing over there. Bush’s pep talks about our troops “standing down” when the Iraqi army “stands up” make no sense in the real world. The Iraqi army is little better than a joke. Anyone joining the Iraqi army is seen as a collaborator and is putting his life (and the lives of his family) at risk. Four years of occupation has not produced even one battalion of Iraqi soldiers capable of fighting the rebels on its own. There will NEVER be an Iraqi force capable of keeping the rebels under control. The only reason to stay in Iraq any longer is to steal more oil for Halliburton or to appease Israeli paranoia by occupying Iraq for them. Most of our soldiers see the occupation of Iraq as hopeless and wish that they could come home soon.
The freedom to post on blogs or even to e-mail their relatives with candid statements about the war may soon come to an end. An article on Wired.com reports “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…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….The new rules obtained by Wired News require a commander be consulted before every blog update.” (more…)