Tighter Restrictions on Military Blogs Anger Us Soldiers

US troops in Iraq have reacted angrily to Pentagon restrictions aimed at curbing internet postings from war zones.

The Pentagon cited the risk of providing sensitive information to insurgents. Blogs and emails from troops in the field can often be extraordinarily vivid and indiscreet. One last weekend from a soldier in Iraq advised a trooper in the US who was about to deploy in Iraq on ways to watch for and detect explosive devices planted by insurgents.

The Pentagon said blogs had to be cleared first with officers, and that soldiers would be punished if they publicly revealed troop movements, planned raids, travel itineraries, photographs of casualties, new technology or material that could compromise their location.

Reacting to the ban, soldiers said the real reason for the curbs were their negative comments about the war, including scepticism about George Bush's claims about progress. Soldiers in the field and former soldiers, in blogs posted on sites such as Black Five, an unofficial site run by former paratrooper Matthew Burden, said the regulations would be inoperable with most troops obeying the rules but dissidents finding ways round the ban.

Mr Burden, editor of The Blog of War, a book pulling together accounts from the field, also criticised the decision: "No more military bloggers writing about their experiences in the combat zone. This is the best PR the military has - its most honest voice out of the war zone. And it's being silenced."

Soldiers at bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, often bored, spend lots of time on the internet. One posting to Black Five, from Uncle Jimbo, described the Pentagon's move as "an incandescently stupid decision of the military to allow the anal-retentive, mistake-avoidance police have their way".

And it added : "It's not like we aren't already getting our asses kicked in the information war. Now let's take the one authentic voice, the one group best able to tell the real story and let's shut 'em down. Fools!"

The guidelines require soldiers and civilians working for the military to obtain approval from an officer for every blog entry and some emails.

Anyone who fails "to protect critical and sensitive information" could face punishment including a court martial. Major Ray Ceralde, who worked on the regulations, said that the aim was not to have soldiers clear every public posting with commanders.

"Not only is that impractical, but we are trusting the soldiers to protect critical information," he said.

The rules, he said, did not affect private emails. Instead, soldiers were expected to consult or clear with commanders when they start a blog, in part so they could be warned about the information which they cannot publish.