Bloggers: “Big Brother is not watching you, but 10 members of a Virginia National Guard unit might be,” according to the Army. The Manassas-based Guardsmen are on a one-year assignment to clamp down on both “official and unofficial Army Web sites for operational security violations.”
The team, working “under the direction of the Army Web Risk Assessment Cell” hunts for “documents, pictures and other items that may compromise security” — and then orders the parties to take the offensive content offline.
Not that the material is top secret or anything, an Army News Service article notes.
The most common OPSEC [operational security] violations found on official sites are For Official Use Only (FOUO) documents and limited distribution documents, as well as home addresses, birthdates and home phone numbers.
Unofficial blogs often show pictures with sensitive information in the background, including classified documents, entrances to camps or weapons. One Soldier showed his ammo belt, on which the tracer pattern was easily identifiable.
Since the relatively wide-open days following the Iraq invasion in 2003, the Pentagon has been slowly tightening the screws on military bloggers. Officers started busting frontline diarists for their websites. In Iraq, new rules required bloggers to check with their commanders before posting. Then, in August, a message came highest levels of the military that “EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, NO INFORMATION MAY BE PLACED ON WEBSITES THAT ARE READILY ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC UNLESS IT HAS BEEN REVIEWED FOR SECURITY CONCERNS AND APPROVED IN ACCORDANCE WITH DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE MEMORANDUM WEB SITE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES, DECEMBER 7, 1998.”
“So much for military blogging,” said one officer, deployed in Iraq, when the ruling came down. Not that the officer — an active blogger back in the States — was doing much public writing while on the front lines. “The Army’s guidance on OPSEC [operational security] has been broad and ambiguous enough to chill my speech,” he wrote to me. “Discretion is clearly the better part of valor where OPSEC rules are concerned, because the sensitivity of any particular detail is in the eye of the beholder.”
Other soldiers, even ones stationed back home, took similar measures.
As of today, May 5th, 2006, I am officially shutting down my blog… There are certin [sic] commands out there that do NOT want me to blog… they have been trying very hard to find out who I am and shut me down… I really don’t want to end my military career over a blog – it has gotten THAT bad!
Others — thousands of others — have continued on, trying to stay within the rules. The Virginia National Guard Web-trolling team “uses several scanning tools to monitor [these] sites for OPSEC violations,” the Army notes. “The tools search for such key words as ‘for official use only’ or ‘top secret,’ and records the number of times they are used on a site. Analysts review the results to determine which, if any, need further investigation.”
“Pictures of [soldiers'] compounds or weapons” are also considered off-limits.
In an age when so many troops have access to the Internet — and “open source intelligence” is becoming so critical — it’s only natural that military higher-ups have grown concerned about what’s posted online. But OPSEC isn’t the only dimension to the counter-terror fight. This is, as the cliche goes, a battle of hearts and minds, after all. That battle largely takes place in the press, broadly defined. And, as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld observed earlier this year, “our enemies have skillfully adapted to fighting wars in today’s media age, but… our country has not adapted.” Just the other day, the New York Times shrieked about Iraqi insurgents using YouTube to spread fear.
So you would think that the Defense Department would be doing everything it could to encourage positive coverage of the war –- to bring stories of brave American troops, risking their lives for Mideast democracy, to the Internet browsers everywhere. But Rumsfeld’s penchant for secrecy — and the military’s fear that even the smallest, most innocuous detail about American operations could give insurgents the upper hand –- has scuttled this crucial media mission.
Even after shutting a blog or site some information may stil be lurking deep within the cache of major searchengines.
http://www.techworld.com/security/news/index.cfm?newsID=7083&pagtype=all
” One Soldier showed his ammo belt, on which the tracer pattern was easily identifiable. “
Why is this bad OpSec ?
for official use only top secret for official use only top secret for official use only top secret for official use only top secret for official use only top secret for official use only top secret for official use only top secret for official use only top secret for official use only top secret for official use only top secret for official use only top secret for official use only top secret for official use only top secret for official use only top secret for official use only top secret for official use only top secret
hmmm…me thinks they need to start at ‘home’.
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22for+official+use+only%22+site%3A.mil&btnG=Search&hl=en&lr=
Sending national guardsmen on wild goose chases after FOUO information is such a ridiculous waste of Army resources.
I imagine average soldiers will feel great knowing that their Army trusts them so little. They probably just as great as the taxpayers who will fund this boondoggle.
These my friends are the actions of someone
who thinks there losing.
It’s simple…”if you feel you have to control every facet of everything…your not winning.”
I’m a Vietnam Vet. I thought it was bad, then.
I wouldn’t want to be in the Military, now.
i spent my entire childhood waiting to be old enough to join the navy.i did at 18 and am retired now,the stories i read about the military are not the military that i joined,nor is the country that i served for so long the same country,all our ideals and values have gone down the latrine during the last 6 yrs.i support the men and women in the military,i have no respect for the current military leadership,they are puppets of the administration,thats not what the military was intended for.the retired military leaders speaking out today are the ones needed badly in the services.too bad,this isn`t america anymore.
Shame on the pentagon for turning the Guard into spys against free speech. Like everything else this administration has done against the military, add this to the list of misuses.
Ironic that supposedly our troops are “fighting for democracy in Iraq” -of which freedom of speech is a major component. (I’m not talking about giving away troop movements, etc.)
If Bush doesn’t like free speech, he’s in the wrong country. Try Saudi Arabia, fly boy.
They should be more worried about the multitude of memory sticks available across Iraq containing highly classified info. You want some real top secret info? Just go to a local market in Baghdad.
I was watching dateline the other night and they arrested THREE MARINES for child molesting maybe spend some of that time watching for all the perverts in the us military.
my guess this op is not designed to keep OPSEC data out of the public square, but to silence soldiers who may want to express their misgivings about their mission and their leaders…. what better way to shut them up than to shut everyone down?
HUMINT THIS!
F.U., A-HOLES!
http://hometown.aol.com/phantomoflf/index.html
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH
http://hometown.aol.com/achtung777/index.html
NO ONE HERE GETS OUT ALIVE!
http://hometown.aol.com/achtung777/page1.html
COVERT OPERATIONS
http://hometown.aol.com/sself999999999/index.html
Does this mean there is going to be a change in the uniforms soldiers wear? If someone knows how their unit patches and crests, they can figure out a whole slew of information about the unit the Soldier is assigned to right down the Company level.
From journalists on the White House payroll (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/15513470.htm), official video ‘news’ releases that are cloaked as real news (http://www.prwatch.org/node/4335), seizing webservers of independent media sites (http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1324417,00.html) to web scrubbing (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A9821-2003Dec17¬Found=true), this is just another attempt to control information and keep the American public in the dark.
It’s time the Bloggers of the world began targetting these “Big Brothers” from the army and gave them some of their own medicine!
ATTENTION BLOGGERS: Your government masters are watching you! In AmeriKKKa you will obey your government!
The US / UK governments successfully gagged freedom of information when they ‘embedded’ reporters, and even then, reporters were/are not allowed to ’see the action.’ Furthermore, Mainstream Media suppresses information on behalf of their corporate sponsors. Press offices have been bombed, and reporters have been murdered. So the ONLY access the public have to the reality of war is through milbloggers and ‘leaks.’ Whilst the public understand that some information might be in the ‘interest of national security,’ this cannot, and does not, apply to ALL information, Please keep milblogging
The 4th Reich has begun. Already the gestapo detains demonstrators, bans books like “America Deceived” from Amazon, conducts warrant-less wiretaps, uses false-flag operations (9/11) and starts illegal wars based on lies. We are the new Hitler. Much of Germany did not know what was going on until it was too late. We can probably agree that the WWII German populace was far more intelligent that today’s average American. How long until they realize?
Final link (before Google Books caves to pressure and drops the title):
http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-38523-0
The corporate controlled American government is afraid of its own citizens.
As an example, over two years ago, the Senate Select Committee, headed by Sen Roberts of Kansas, refused to release part two of its findings on the behavior of the White House regarding what the White House did with the pre-information it had regarding 9/11.
The senator’s position was that he didn’t want the report to influence the upcoming elections (thus influncing the outcome anyway – his way). After the elections, the senator STILL REFUSED to release the report.
Thus, how can the American citizen make an intelligent choice about whom to vote for or what is best for his country when his own government refuses to be honest with him?
If the past six year have shown anything, it’s just how corrupt and how easily bought, the American government it
You don’t have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.
== Chapter 40. Buttonholed at the Mall ==
By Larry W. Bryant
[Author's Note: With a recent circuit-court ruling in his freedom-of-speech case at the state level, a Virginia citizen has won partial vindication, thanks to legal representation from the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia. Back in 2005, political candidate Richard C. Collins had been arrested for criminal trespass because he'd dared distribute flyers amidst a huge shopping mall in Albemarle County -- without having obtained the mall management's permission. This oversight, said a district court judge, amounted to criminal trespassing. Not quite, ruled the higher court's judge, Paul M. Peatross: the prosecutor had failed to present evidence showing that Collins had INTENDED his action to constitute the misdemeanor of "criminal trespass." That technicality resulted in the charge's dismissal -- with Judge Peatross's warning that citizen Collins refrain from leafleting that mall -- or any other such privately owned centers of commerce -- in the future. Hey, aren't these highly trafficked, pedestrian-concentrated areas considered by most people to be public meeting places and fora for expressive activity? Alas, even if that perception were widespread, it won't hold up in federal court. At the state level, though, we have a mixed bag of interpretation. For example, the state of New Jersey has determined that its constitution protects freedom-of-speech in/around these megamalls. The other half of Collins's challenge to the Virginia-based mall's restriction now awaits the ruling of the Virginia Supreme Court in Richmond. The last time I checked, both the Jersey and the Virginia constitutions have nearly identical language guaranteeing their citizens' right of free speech. Hence, Collins's complete vindication will depend on whether the commonwealth's highest court will adopt the reasoning of N. J. and some other states' officials. But more than that: a victory by Collins will assure that ALL Virginians -- and visitors to Virginia -- will have their free-speech rights fully protected and preserved in any venue that quacks like a town center, solicits pedestrian traffic like a town center, and lays itself out (via walkways, benches, facilities, etc.) like a town center. Incidentally, the Collins case injects full immediacy into the current impeachment movement. For, recently, I and fellow "IMPEACH HIM"-button seller Alan McConnell of Silver Spring, Md. ( http://www.waifllc.org ) had a run-in with a security guard at Arlington County, Va.'s Pentagon City Mall. She graciously declared that the mall's rules prohibit any citizen's button-hawking on its premises -- whether inside or outside. We graciously withdrew our presence, ever grateful for candidate Collins's paving the way for us with his extended day in court.]
SCHMOE [failing to conceal a gush of schadenfraude]: Have you guys heard the latest? The other day, Bryant and his pal McConnell almost got arrested for hawking their silly “IMPEACH HIM” buttons at Pentagon City Mall. Ain’t that a gasser!?
CHEEZEY [scratching behind both ears]: Well, that’s the best news I’ve heard all day. Right up there with the news that our approval ratings have remained static for the past week.
TROVE: Yeah, and I sure hope the Virginia Supreme Court holds off — for at least another two years — on ruling that shopping malls qualify as “free speech zones.” Can you imagine all the nuisance solicitors and “cause” mongers pestering us, for example, whenever we stop by Pentagon City Mall for a little repast at Nordstrom’s?
BU$CH: Matter of fact: aren’t we due to go over there soon for a surprise birthday party for Gen. Walbomb?
DUMSFELD: Yep, next Friday night. We’ll gather in my office, first, and then motorcade over to the Ritz Hotel there next to Nordstrom’s. I’ve told Al that the occasion’s meant to celebrate the recent discovery of oil right on Dubya’s ranch in Krawford.
TROVE: Finally, it looks as if things are goin’ our way on all fronts. The voter polls are showing a slight increase for Republican chances in November. That U. S. warship strike force is well on its way to the Persian Gulf. And I see no more sex scandals on the horizon. Life is good.
[Before Dumsfeld can add his planned update on the strike force's Iran-Nam objective, the 'resident's hotline phone warbles forth. A dozing Dubya lurches to his feet, grabs the receiver, and activates the phone's speaker mode just as he and the others hear these words: "Mr. 'resident, this is A. Imadidthejob calling from Tehran. You have exactly 24 hours to tell that Eisenhower-carrier strike force to reverse course or else they'll be dealing with a nu-ku-lar test -- and it won't be coming from North Korea!" Click.]
BU$CH: Well, there goes Walbomb’s birthday party. What’ll we do now — can we trust ANYBODY in Congress with this?
TROVE: They’ll just blame us for it. I say it’s time for Plan B. Time to bunker down in White(wash) House II out in the Blue Ridge mountains. Where we can “Weather” (heh-heh) the storm.
CHEEZEY: Well, in that case, I think we oughta spread out for a while. Make sure each of you has plenty of batteries for your Blackberries. Do y’all have plenty of ammo for your shotguns?
BU$CH: Jeez! If you’re gonna go back to Wyoming, Dick, then I’m headin’ for Florida to stay with Jeb.
SCHMOE: Calm down, guys. How do we know that really was Imadidthejob who just called? It coulda been a hoaxer from the Democraps’ national committee. Let’s call a meeting with the National Security Council to weigh our options. Gather ‘em up, Ronnie, and tell ‘em to expect us at NSC headquarters at 1300 hours sharp! Even if the call was a hoax, it’s giving us good practice at mobilizing for World War III.
http://www.bushbusiness.com/impeachment%20news.htm
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/gjprobe/petition.html
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/nmgrand/petition.html
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/arrest/petition.html
It’s like everything else in the military…. When they twist your ballz and threaten to take your pay and/or kick you out, you end up following along. So now they are twisting. I guess we can all start to follow!
Hewlett Packard just got into trouble because it was found out HP executives were ’spying’ on other HP executives. Employers are well within their rights to monitor their employee’s phone calls, e-mails and what internet sites they visit. Corporate espionage is big business; so it old fashioned military espionage. It wouldn’t take but one photo or document seen by someone stateside to make a phone call and inside of an hour organize an attack on one of our units.
Each ground pounder knows his/her position; not the whole theater.
And then there’s the propaganda war that’s being fought 24/7 by civilians over the airwaves, cable TV, printing presses and satellite dishes….
Hee! Now I will be *ever* so tempted to add “FOUO” and work “Top Secret” into every post I post…
Just to see if I get a traffic bump, if nothing else.
It’s a tough balancing act, and of course the natural tendency on the part of the bureaucrat is to over-react, because of the potential stakes involved.
Not to mention weak commanders who kill blogs to stifle Just criticism of Stupid Officer Tricks (Full disclosure, I *am* an officer, albeit retired).
I for one would welcome the discussion, should they send me a note telling me to take something down (unlikely, as I think I do a decent OPSEC screen beforehand anyway, and *never* post something with markings. Of course, that self-imposed restriction (I say self-imposed, since the NYT and others seem to feel no such inclination) gets me scooped a lot.
I’m not going to be accused of “salting” the URLs so work with me here. Do a WWW search for ‘machinegun’ and make a short list of the number of government, corporate and academic sites that show the layout of tracers in US machinegun ammunition.
If they’re really concerned about it, the might want to check those pesky NATO and theater command web sites that give quotes from the various regulations and standardization agreements that specify ammo ratios, bullet and cartridge design, etc. As for entries to camps. Has anybody driven down the road in front of Firebase Otter lately?
Here’s an idea, mind your own. What I do at home is mine.
http://tor.eff.org/overview.html
http://invisiblog.com
http://www.truecrypt.org
http://www.dynebolic.org
http://www.halturnershow.com/KeystrokeLoggersInAllNewComputers.html
http://www.mailvault.com
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