Military blogger silenced - forced to make statement?

I've heard that people in the military who blog can get into trouble with their superiors, and are discouraged from speaking out against the Iraq war. It sounds like this is what happened to this blogger (serving in Iraq), but in this instance he not only had to stop blogging - he apparently had to post a statement in support of the administration and its policies, a view that appears to be in contradiction to his earlier postings.

Daniel’s final post is heart-breaking; the single most chilling thing about it, if you know your Orwell, is its title: Double Plus Ungood.

I thank all of you who have been so supportive recently. I have never before received so much positive feedback, and it was very heart-warming to know that so many people out there care. Having said that, it breaks my heart to say that this will be my last post on this blog. I wish I could just stop there, but I can not. The following also needs to be said:

For the record, I am officially a supporter of the administration and of her policies. I am a proponent for the war against terror and I believe in the mission in Iraq. I understand my role in that mission, and I accept it. I understand that I signed the contract which makes stop loss legal, and I retract any statements I made in the past that contradict this one. Furthermore, I have the utmost confidence in the leadership of my chain of command, including (but not limited to) the president George Bush and the honorable secretary of defense Rumsfeld. If I have ever written anything on this site or on others that lead the reader to believe otherwise, please consider this a full and complete retraction.

I apologize for any misunderstandings that might understandably arise from this. Should you continue to have questions, please feel free to contact me through e-mail. I promise to respond personally to each, but it may take some time; my internet access has become restricted.

posted by Daniel at Saturday, October 22, 2005

The Tattered Coat Blog
This seems a bit unsettling, to say the least.

It was probably a damn good thing that he did post that retraction.

There's a charge in the US military that is called something like "egregious contempt" (it's a two-word title, I think) that stems from WW2 when a serving soldier posted a letter to the newspaper heavily critical of FDR's handling of the war. It is a serious charge and if the legal corps had pursued it this guy could have been in deep trouble.

A serving soldier/sailor/airman does not enjoy the same rights to free speech as a civilian and the www does not change that.

It's entirely possible that this guy's immediate superior commissioned officer, or even batallion or regimental commander was trying to save this soldier's career.

...or not.

well unfortunately, speaking against the president and whatnot can get you arrested and court marshalled, im sure he got warned of it and didnt want to lose his job, its no big shock considering the military isnt a democracy.