Since my early days in the blogosphere, I have been an avid reader of The Mudville Gazette (aka Millblogs) – an internet journal devoted to those proudly serving in our country’s armed forces. These brave people who are defending our freedom and spreading libery throughout the world have very few outlets to discuss their experiences with others who need to know that they’re fighting hard, kicking the bad guy’s ass and getting the unconditional support of a very grateful nation. I’m proud of each and every one of them for their sacrifice and their determination to bring this war to the enemy and return home victorious. God bless them all!
As with any war, one of the most crucial weapons needed for success is battlefield intelligence and the element of surprise. Unfortunately, any public correspondence conducted with relation to military operations and personnel must come under the strict scrutiny of the battlefield commanders. Doing so not only ensures the success of current and future operations but also ensures that the maximum amount of safety is afforded each and every member of the team. One of the hallmarks of our country’s armed forces is the amount of due diligence of all who serve in covering each other’s backside especially in the heat of battle.
For as long as I’ve been reading Millblogs, I have never encountered any incident where actual battle plans or ongoing operations appear to have been compromised through any of the blog postings. Needless to say, I am not a battlefield commander nor I am not in any position to distinguish that which is sensitive information or otherwise. However, even as a civilian, I do realize the importance of such scrutiny and therefore entrust my confidence in our military commanders and intelligence offices to make those important distinctions.
New York Newsday (a Long Island paper) had an article today discussing how the military is starting to clamp down on the content being discussed on Millblogs as it has the obvious potential of becoming an intelligence risk thus jeopardizing current and future combat missions as well as the safety of those involved. Of course they found one disgruntled serviceman willing to pitch a public hissy fit over the whole ordeal and as predictable as sun rising in the east, they chose to use this guy’s frustrations to make all the advances and victories in this war seem synonymous with the presumption that George Bush lied to get us into this war in the first place and that he’s continuing to ignore how badly this war supposedly is.
…Nowadays, milbloggers "get shut down almost as fast as they're set up," said New York Army National Guard Spc. Jason Christopher Hartley, 31, of upstate New Paltz, who believes something is lost as the grunt's-eye take on Tikrit or Kabul is silenced or sanitized.
Hartley last January was among the first active-duty combat troops demoted and fined for security violations on his blog, justanothersoldier.com.
Throughout last year, the Army, Marines, Air Force and Navy tightened control on bloggers by requiring them to register through the chain of command and by creating special security squads to monitor milblogs.
"The ones that stay up are completely patriotic and innocuous, and they're fine if you want to read the flag-waving and how everything's peachy keen in Iraq," said Hartley, who is back in New Paltz after two years stationed in Iraq…
Now, I don’t know Spc. Hartley and I have no intention of speaking badly of the man. As far as I’m concerned, he’s a hero for his sacrifice to this nation. Unfortunately, I think he’s just another showpiece being propped up by the MSM in support of their anti-war/peacenik agenda - the same MSM that gloats over the dissent of anyone tied in any way to the US military and exploits them to further their progressive (liberal) agenda.
BTW, does the town of New Paltz, NY ring any familiar bells? I live 20 minutes away from the place here in Montgomery, NY and I took some college courses there some several years back. It’s a big state college town. It’s also known throughout the Hudson Valley region as a Mecca of progressive (liberal) ideology. No disrespect intended toward Spc. Hartley, but some might even say it rivals Berkley, CA. Just think of it as the East Coast version of San Francisco, but don’t just take my word for it. Google the words “New Paltz Progressive†and see for yourself. From what I gather by reading Spc. Hartley’s blog, even he appears to know how out of touch with reality some of the folks living there really are.
Lastly, it must be said that I also hold no ideological opinion of Spc. Hartley one way or the other. He’s a soldier just like many others out there and it is not him that I have a problem with, it’s the scum-buzzards in the MSM circling him like fresh road kill on a hot summer night that I can’t put up with. And just like many others, he knows that there are a lot of shitty rules in the military that many agree are hard to live with, but for the sake of our success in this war and for the wellbeing of those he serves with, they are the glue that holds the ranks together.
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