Blogging from Abroad
By Katie Naranjo
Soldiers from Iraq are getting their messages to their loved ones, in the form of e-mails, chatting on AIM, and more recently blogging. Stories from the front line are documented by soldiers and Iraqi civilians and retold in their own words for all to read. One such blog recounts the emotions of one marine who lost a fellow soldier from his platoon in crossfire in Baghdad. He provided details and insight on the emotional trauma, and reactions felt by men in his group, especially his close friends.
Another blog found consisted of soldiers in Iraq providing information and strategies for combat teams before they got to Iraq to aide fellow soldiers. Tips on urban warfare, Muslim praying rituals and social practices, and general desert survival are available for soldiers. Blogging by soldiers has led to an increase of communication for family members and the rest of the world; it provides a real world perspective of the war through the soldiers eyes.
Although some may argue that it could cause problems with information leaks and distractions with thoughts of home, this is a moot point. For centuries, when in war, soldiers think about their families at home as a driving force in their lives to protect their country. Also, the military had kept close surveillance of blogs by soldiers and will continue to do so. I am glad to see the new bloggers and read their stories, it does touch those who read them and connects those disenfranchised by the war.
To read blogs of soldiers: www.missick.com & www.companycommand.com
Posted by Katie Naranjo at April 19, 2005 01:28 AM
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Nice post, Lufkin. Did you read the article in the New Yorker about the mid-level officers creating their own message boards and blogs so they could train themselves for warfare in Iraq? Most of them had been trained to fight the Cold War, and then for desert warfare in Iraq. When they got stuck in cities, the top officer corps in the military was slow to react, so the lower-level officers cross-trained each other, effectively mimicking the IT revolution in the business world. I thought it was fascinating. Anyway, nice post.
