“The public has a voracious appetite for the sensational, the graphic and the shocking. We all have a difficult time taking our eyes off the train wreck in progress – it is human nature…When our Soldiers tell/share their stories, it has an overwhelmingly positive effect.”
So blogs Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, on his blog, saying soldiers who want to blog should be able to blog, including those in war zones, where currently they’re not allowed to blog.
That’s all very meta, but it runs contrary to current army policy that blocks most blogging software as well as YouTube. Caldwell argues that the prohibition robs the American public of the perspective of soldiers on the front line. We agree with him. It’s bad enough to send them into harm’s way, but to censor their thoughts on the matter is, well, un-American.
U.S. General to Pentagon: Let Troops Blog [Raw Feed]
Just a wild guess, but I think not allowing soldiers to blog from the front lines has less to do with censorship and more to do with avoiding accidentally giving away military secrets in the middle of war time. I am all for blogging, free speech, etc., but I believe this is a case where controlling the flow of information by banning blogging is probably a good idea.