Weighing The Risks Of Milblogging

Much of the appeal of journo-blogs has been their ability to offer raw, unedited content from the front lines of almost anywhere. Michael Yon's blog, for example, is one particularly popular (currently #82 in Technorati's Top 100) outlet for such dispatches from Iraq. And as John Hockenberry of Wired magazine discussed in a piece last August, many in the military – known as milbloggers – blog about their own experiences in Iraq. Hockenberry profiled several milbloggers, writing that "their collective voice competes with and occasionally undermines the DOD's elaborate message machine and the much-loathed mainstream media…"

At the time, Hockenberry reported that "for now, the Pentagon officially tolerates this free-form online journalism and in-house peanut gallery," but noted that a new policy had required all military bloggers to register with their units and commanders were required to "conduct quarterly reviews to make sure bloggers aren't giving out casualty information or violating operational security or privacy rules."

Newsday reported Monday that "more and more … U.S. military commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan are clamping down on these military Web logs…" because some of the information included in the blogs could pose security risks for troops.

Newsday spoke with New York Army National Guard Spc. Jason Christopher Hartley, who was demoted and fined for security violations on his blog, (upon which he has based his 2005 book, "Just Another Soldier.") Hartley "believes something is lost as the grunt's-eye take on Tikrit or Kabul is silenced or sanitized."

He argues that the Pentagon's concern is not primarily one of security. He told Newsday: "The [milblogs] 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."

Newsday describes Hartley's case:

"…the Army said [Hartley] should not have described his unit's flight route into Iraq because that could help the enemy shoot down U.S. aircraft. And, the Army said, Hartley should not have disclosed that the last three bullets he loaded into his weapon's magazine were always tracers, because that could tip an enemy to time an attack just as an American soldier is reloading.

Despite those charges, Hartley asserts he did not put any American troops at risk. He believes the Army's real concern was his satiric tone.

'Photos of the week of cute Iraqi kids who I want to shoot,' he captioned one set of snapshots on his blog in 2004."

Newsday also spoke with those who were supportive of the limits on milblogging. Marine Capt. Don Caetano, who was stationed in Fallujah, where he ran the embedded journalist program and is now a recruiter in Long Island, said:

"Revealing a minor aspect of strategy or tactics may seem insignificant, Caetano said, but, 'If the bad guys take a piece from me, and a piece from you, and a piece from another guy, pretty soon they can gather some pretty good intel.'"

"Most bloggers are atypical soldiers, said Rice, who wrote a pro-military blog favored by his superior officers. 'It will mostly be the risk-takers, the mavericks, and the one percent that's bitter, who will blog.'