May 14, 2007 11:09 AM

Petraeus Hearts Milblogs

While a few in the military are trying to limit what troops can blog or post to YouTube, many others are working hard to keep those info-spigots on. Some of them are in very high places. And some of them swap e-mail with Blackfive: …I wanted to offer my thanks to you for what you’ve […]

Internal_look While a few in the military are trying to limit what troops can blog or post to YouTube, many others are working hard to keep those info-spigots on. Some of them are in very high places. And some of them swap e-mail with Blackfive:

*...I wanted to offer my thanks to you for what you've done and also to thank, via you, the bloggers who have worked to provide accurate descriptions of the situation on the ground here in Iraq and elsewhere. Milbloggers have become increasingly important, of course, given the enormous growth in individuals who get their news online in the virtual world instead of through newspapers and television. So please extend my appreciation to them for performing this task -- and, of course, for doing it in ways that does not violate legitimate operational security guidelines. Best from Baghdad *
-- General Dave Petraeus

While we're on the subject, a few weeks back, an Associated Press reporter, Lolita Baldor, wrote a story about the Army's new blogging regulations... without, apparently, reading what the rules actually said.

Yesterday, Robert Weller, from the AP's Denver bureau, set out to correct that mistake, filing this story on the Army directive -- after he had pored over both the 2005 and 2007 editions of the regs. It's a gutsy move by Weller. And he deserves all the credit in the world for trying to set the record straight.

ALSO:
* Military Defends MySpace Ban

* Military Hypes, Bans YouTube
* No More YouTube, MySpace for U.S. Troops

* Milblogs Boost War Effort
* Pentagon Whispers; Milbloggers Zip Their Lips
* Clarifying the Blog Rule Clarification

* Army to Bloggers: We Won't Bust You. Promise.

* Army's Blog Rebuttal

* Stop Those Leaks!

* Strategic Minds Debate Milblog Crackdown

* Milblog Bust: AP Gets Snowed

* Army: Milblogging is "Therapy," Media is "Threat"

* Urban Legend Led to Army Blog-Bust?

* New Army Rules Could Kill G.I. Blogs (Maybe E-mail, Too)

* Reporters = Foreign Spies?