Mudville Gazette

A MILBLOG

The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.

Prev | List | Random | Next Join Powered by RingSurf!

MORALE FUNDS

GROUND SUPPORT

The Fine Print Blah Blah Blah

The Mudville Gazette is written and produced by Greyhawk, the call sign of a real military guy currently serving somewhere in Iraq. Unless otherwise credited, the opinions expressed are those of the author, and nothing here is to be taken as representing the official position of or endorsement by the United States Department of Defense or any of its subordinate components. Furthermore, I will occasionally use satire or parody herein. The bottom line: it's my house.

I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email.

Original content copyright © 2003 - 2008 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed.

Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com

Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! « Keni Thomas | Main | From the Front »

April 19, 2005

Quick Question

Greyhawk

If you were going to write a newspaper article about blogs from soldiers in Iraq, don't you think it would be a good idea to mention one such blog in your article? I mean, just one? Brad Knickerbocker didn't.

Other than that minor complaint I can't find anything wrong with this article about Soldier blogs from Iraq.

Well, maybe the title could have been changed...

Oh, and there's another function of GI blogs from Iraq that Brad could have mentioned...

Update: Okay - so there are a few other little problems with the story.

"The danger is that the soldier becomes distracted worrying about something back home and makes a mistake that puts his life or the lives of his companions at additional risk," says Colonel Smith.

That concern can work in the other direction as well, especially with the many websites in cyberspace that can paint a dire picture in Iraq - whether true or not.

(For example, this reporter received an e-mail from the young wife of a marine in Iraq. She'd come across a website reporting the recent capture and execution of 15 American troops. "Maybe you can let me know if you have heard anything like this," she said in an e-mail. "I just wish I didn't stumble across the website, because it makes me all nervous and paranoid. I really need to stop reading this stuff!")

What stuff would that be Brad? Are you implying she was reading a soldier's blog? Which one? I'll bet a nickel she was reading a jihaddi website like the one providing this update for the past few days 'resistance' activity:

US stages airborne invasion of al-Qa?im.

In a dispatch posted at 10:15am Mecca time Monday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US aggressor troops staged an air drop of more than 700 American invaders into the middle of the liberated city of al-Qa?im a short while before. The correspondent quoted witnesses as saying that the skies of the city were covered with parachutes carrying US Marines.

At least 13 American soldiers killed in Resistance bombardment of US base in al-Hadithah.

Thirteen US troops were killed in al-Hadithah in western Iraq at dawn on Monday in a violent Iraqi Resistance bombardment on their base, according to an admission by Iraqi puppet forces.

Nine US troops killed in car bomb attack on US troop truck in al-Khalidiyah Sunday.

An Iraqi Resistance martyrdom fighter drove an explosives-laden car into a US column transporting a large number of American Marines towards al-Fallujah at 5pm Sunday afternoon local time.

Eight US troops killed in bombing near Jordan border Sunday.

A high-explosive Iraqi Resistance bomb blew up in the middle of a road in the ar-Rutakiyah area north of the town of ar-Rutbah, not far from the Jordanian frontier, destroying a US armored personnel carrier on Sunday. The blast left eight US troops dead and three more wounded.

Resistance bombs take out US mine sweeper.

Iraqi Resistance forces planted a bomb in the path of an American mine sweeping vehicle as it did its routine daily check of streets in the Abu Ghurayb area just west of the occupied Iraqi capital on Monday...

Then Resistance fighters, hidden behind a building by the side of the road opened fire on the vehicle with armor-piercing rockets, totally destroying it and killing all six US troops aboard.

Brad neglected to tell us the site his unnamed "young wife of a Marine in Iraq" was reading - could it be because it was the one linked above? And is he trying to imply the source of the "capture and execution of 15 American troops" quote was a military blog? (For the record: my guess is the answer is "yes")

Update 2: Earlier this year, the Army ordered Maj. Michael Cohen, a doctor with a combat support hospital unit near Mosul, to pull the plug on his blog. I've heard this before, of course. But can anyone prove it? (Be sure and read the blog in question before answering).

So, other than a misrepresentation about the Army's response to milblogs, a deceptive passage about websites painting a dire picture of Iraq, and a lack of any examples of blogs from GI's currently in Iraq, I have no problems with this article about soldier blogs from Iraq.

So far.

BTW, here are a few GIs from Iraq, (just off the top of my head), that I have featured From the Front:

Major K

Ma Deuce Gunner

Thunder6 of 365 and a Wake Up

Boots on the Ground

Assumption of Command

Blog Machine City

This is Your War

Who's Your Baghdaddy

Reverse Retna from the Sandlot

My Vacation in Iraq

Steven Kiel

Posted by Greyhawk at 06:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) |

Show Comments Here (8) |

Hide Comments

I see Brad also chooses to promote the myth that the Army doc's site has been shut down. I bet he knows that's not true, since he doesn't actually say it, simply repeats that story about the notice the doc put up. Like his earlier article Brad wants to paint a picture of doom and gloom from the troops at the front, but it just ain't so. I haven't found a military blogger yet who Brad would find quotable.

Posted by Shop Target at April 19, 2005 06:44 PM

Okay I'm not getting this. The explanation of why Maj. Cohen shut his blog down is found here:
http://www.67cshdocs.com/index.htm. Here's part of what he stated:

"I have some very unfortunate news. Levels above me have ordered, yes ORDERED, me to shut down this website. They cite that the information contained in these pages violates several Army Regulations. I certainly disagree with this. However, I have made a decision to turn off the site pending further investigation as to whether or not I have violated these Army Regulations."

The CSH journalist appears to have this story right or am I missing something here?

Posted by PeterArgus at April 19, 2005 08:52 PM

As for the first criticism, he mentions several blogs by name and url.

Also, I think it was clear from the article that internet rumors in general are what can worry family members, not rumors from a particular blog. Obviously, the family member was getting rumors from a jihadi site, but they would still be nervewracking.

There was no 'doom and gloom' about this article at all. I'd say it was a pretty nuetral all the way around.

Posted by Ed at April 19, 2005 09:04 PM

The fact of the matter is that this writer doesn't indicate he took the time to talk to any of the bloggers. Also, those of you defending the reporter, poke some holes in the point Greyhawk has about the section in the article about the soldier's wife.

Posted by Scribo at April 19, 2005 09:30 PM

Scribo:

I agree with you and Greyhawk in reference to the 15 dead soldiers rumor. The reporter certainly should have clarified the source of the rumor or at least indicated it didnt come from milblogs (unless he has evidence it does and then he should give such evidence).

I am not trying to defend anybody. I am just trying to figure out the rationale behind the 2nd update. It seems to me the reporter reported the Cohen story correctly but perhaps I am misinterpreting Cohen's website. Perhaps you have an explanation?

Posted by PeterArgus at April 19, 2005 09:45 PM

There is no reason to drop paratroops into al Qaim. The Marines live down the road and can roll into town if needed......

Posted by armynurseboy at April 19, 2005 10:00 PM

Peter

The website isn't down and never has bee. The doc put a message up claiming he was ordered to do so, but he never did. Why is it newsworthy that a doc put a message up like that?

The article mentions a few blogs, none of which are done by soldiers in Iraq. The title of the article indicates it's about soldiers in Iraq. The problem with sloppy reporting like Brad's (or intentionally deceptive reporting) is that it deceives people like you.

Posted by Shop Target at April 20, 2005 04:45 AM

I found the CS Monitor article fair. The vast majority of blogs are intended for "immediate friends and family" only. It would appear that the CS Monitor article was addressing those blogs.

A small number of blogs do give out information that shouldn't be given out. I won't link, but there is one blog that had a post decribing the death of a Female Soldier at FOB XX in rather graphic detail. My Female Soldier at FOB XX was in "comms lockdown". It was a stressfull 72 hours for me. (I suspect the blogger in question is part of a helicopter crew assigned to another FOB that wasn't locked down)

As far as the Doc in Mosul, I remember having read his blog and thought that some of the information on it should have been restricted to the "Notification Officer" and the Family's.

Posted by Soldier's Dad at April 20, 2005 07:42 AM

Hide Comments | Show/Add Comments in Popup Window(8) | (Note: You must refresh main page to view newly posted comments here)

More Books Here

April 19, 2005

Quick Question