Defacto Censorship or Keep Talking as long as you Shut Up.

Henry Ford once said of the optional paint job on his Model T, "You can have it in any color you want as long as it's black." This has come to my mind since the fiasco of soldiers making blogs has hit the national spotlight. Not so much the blogs but what the Joe's are saying. Before everyone starts waving flags and singing Lee Greenwood hear me out. As long as the soldier is not giving operational details, i.e. how we do what we do, or OpSec, operational security, when we will do it, there is no violation of the rules...UNLESS.

We have heard a lot about the politics of the war back home. Some say good and some ill, either way you are guaranteed your right to opine in this situation. The politics has found its way into the military in that soldiers have been shut down after writing their blogs and giving their individual opinions on this war and it's actions. Some have been confined to the FOB instead of an outright ban on internet use. No experiences, no story. I have commented on the war, as many of you have read, and I have had only the best things to say about it. Not every Joe's experience has been like mine. The higher-ups have found that the unedited embedded reporter known as Joe is the best and the worst thing that has happened to this war. The best because if you're like me you are all for this fight, others see things differently and voice it. The problem with speaking out is that you will be heard.

Some of the recent events have made me doubt their actions. When you silence a soldier who has done nothing out of reg's you lend yourself to suspicion. Why are they silencing the voice of the people who can sell this war better than anybody. Again, as long as the soldier has violated no regulation, you're golden. Has something been done that needs to be silenced, I doubt it. I think the highers feel the political preassure of Abu Gharib and Najaf bearing down so they fear any media coverage. It seems though as they don't trust their own regulations to cover them.

The silencing of any humans voice, even when I can't agree, will lead to the silencing of all dissenting opinions. Americans must show their openness to their own flaws and triumphs or else the lesson we are trying to teach and the peoples we are trying to free will, rightfully, tell us ALL to shut up and buy a black car.