I was reading an article I found on CNN.com about a US soldier who was blogging about his experiences while serving in Iraq. It looks like SFC Colby Buzzell discovered Blogger just a few months before I did or at least I’m assuming that he used Blogger because that’s where his blog My War – Killing Time in Iraq currently resides at. Of course, now it’s being used as a tool to push his book.
Being a former military member and also being raised military – I have mixed feelings about his blog. My first concern would be for security issues, regulation violations and such. On the other hand, the psychologist in me finds that it can be a good therapeutic tool. Many times difficult, trying and very traumatic events are difficult to talk to anyone about, but a blog allows for an avenue to channel a lot of pent up anxiety and frustration.
There are other things that many of us web savvy folks also know, not everything you read on the internet is true. While many blogs are useful, some can be great works for fiction. Since CNN does tend to want to point out the negatives of what is going on in Iraq, I hope to stumble upon a few other blogs that mention the positive turn arounds since the ouster of Saddam Hussein.
My only hope is that CNN remembers that it’s the brave men and women of our Armed Forces that defend their right to free speech.