Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic » in reply to Milblogs

re: Milblogs
azstrummer — (archived)

So is it a trap to fall into believing there's a strong intimidation of military personnel based on your own experience? During boot camp every soldier, sailor, and marine is given a course in the UCMJ and it is clearly spelled out that your Constitutional rights are no more while you're serving. Seems I remember them stressing that included restrictions on your free speech as well, that you couldn't go out and make publicly disparaging statements against your Commander in Chief.

If that didn't scare you away from political activism, peer pressure did. As I've stated before, compared to percentages in civilian life, the redneck factor in the military was certainly prevalent and seemed to increase with rate and longevity. Military bloggers that are being critical of Iraq policy (and you know there are a few) are truly brave souls because they are opening themselves up to possible revenge from fellow soldiers, nasty duty assignments, and even punishment under the UCMJ.

This is not to say that blogging soldiers supporting the war are not truly credible and expressing heartfelt beliefs. It's simply that nothing on the internet can be taken at face value without truly knowing the circumstances surrounding the author. It is also, in my opinion, impossible to discount the censorship factor even if that censorship is simply in the form of intimidation.

Art

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