US Army worried about Blogs

THE US Army is getting a bit concerned that its soldiers on active service are starting to post what they really think about the war zones they are sent to.

More than 200 US soldiers have set up their bogs from the front line, using the internet cafes that the Army lets them use to contact friends and family.

The only problem is that the bogs show in graphic detail what life is like on the front line and not the safe sanitised version the politicians and army upper ranks would like everyone to see.

There are elements in the US army which believe that Vietnam was only lost because the nation's will to fight was undermined by graphic TV footage. To solve the problem they use 'embedded reporters' in military units so that they only saw what the military wanted. Now the bog thing seems to be undermining that strategy.

In April, the US military published its first policy memo on websites maintained by soldiers, requiring them to have official approval before starting internet postings. In July a soldier was disciplined for publishing information considered sensitive. This included the mention of incidents under investigation or names of servicemen killed or wounded.

The accusation that US forces used white phosphorus to attack insurgents in Falluja came from a soldier's blog.

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