HW 19: Let Our Soldier's Write

Why can’t we look at blogs from our soldiers across the seas in Iraq? This question was raised when I was reading the book Blog! for an assignment. I was reading the chapter Web of Influence written by Daniel W. Drezner and Henry Farrell. This chapter dealt with the blogging community and how it has expanded throughout the world. In other words, the chapter is explaining how popular blogging has become and now there are other countries in the world that are contributing to the blogosphere. What I found interesting in this chapter was a paragraph that described censorship in South Korea and the United States. South Korea had blocked some foreign blogs because it has been said that some of these blogs contain video recordings of a South Korean being beheaded in Iraq. But even more important, this paragraph says that blogs written by soldiers in Iraq have been shut down. Now the excuse for this is that sensitive information might be transferred, this is a bunch of bullshit. I am almost certain all of us know why this was shut down, because the army and the United States government have a certain image to keep. They don’t want a soldier telling stories of Iraq that might upset or raise controversy in the American public. I really don’t have a strong opinion about our involvement in this war and whether or not we should bring the troops home. My point is that while our soldiers are over in the Middle East they should have the right to express their experiences and feelings with the people they love back home.