http://www.bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=14894
May Monday 21 2007 (01h09) :
Why the Pentagon censors Soldiers’ access to the Internet
by St. Clair
The situation BOTH in Iraq and in Afghanistan is a lot more involved than mainstream media can fathom. And, if it could fathom what is going on, it would not be allowed to report it for obvious reasons, as this would further undermine the morale of the Western world.
Troops and their families at home used to be able to at least write emails to each other via blog spots and troops were also allowed to access certain parts of the internet. This is now no longer possible.
The truth here is multi-layered: Several troop elements (including higher ranking officers) have started to REFUSE to carry out certain missions because simply these missions are so dangerous that the loss of more troops would be the consequence. There are not enough protective elements to back up guards on forelorn outposts and there are in general not enough troops to hold down the territories of Iraq and of Afghanistan. This assessment was clear to this author going in during 2003.
Sources of this author who are on the ground in the Middle East, either embedded with media or with troops, or with state department security forces as private contractors, have seen that even holding order in the streets of Baghdad or Kabul is not possible, let alone holding the ambitious land grab that ranges in essence from Afghan mountain passes over Iran to Basra and the Kurds territories. it is strategically NOT doable, and this has also been pointed out by a plethora of highest ranking general officers. The Pentagon seems not to hear what the intelligence on the ground is saying, or, it seems not to care what is happening to the troops which are extended beyond their capacities.
People who were promised to return home after 12 months were told at the last moment that their tours were to be extended by up to 3-4 months, which for both officers and soldiers can take a huge physical and mental toll. This results then in fatigued and frustrated troops who see that what they are doing is pointless at best, or dangerous at worst. Levels of concentration are no longer there when sleep is deprived, logistics do not work, and command unity is not established.
Troops have begun to complain to their families and started to tell their loved ones while at home what is really going on. "MySpace.com" and many other hubs of the world wide web were used by families who created networks of their own, and they write about what their loved ones staying in the occupied lands tell them.
Independent observers at UN and in diplomatic circles confirm this: The situation in Iraq and Afghanistan is slowly but surely falling apart for the troop elements as well as for the occupied countries. History would show that after a while the occupied territories of the Roman empire knew how to answer to the occupation. They just WAITED. At times they waited hundreds of years. In this day and age and in the face of a militia type defense that is day by day learning how to defend its lands in a bigger and better organization the "waiting" can be as short as ten years. So far we are in to this situation since 2003, or a bit over four years.
It is very easy to predict the trend. The troops of the occupying forces are getting more and more tired, more and more frustrated, and more and more disillusioned with the mission itself, let alone with the day to day threats they face. Officers in the ranks of lieutenants to colonels, and their soldiers, see the reality both in Kabul and in Baghdad, and in Basra, and in the mountains and the deserts, and they figure out that in the long run it might not even be possible to defend the "green zone", let alone the connection routes of say Basra (oil terminals) and Baghdad.
These issues have been OPENLY discussed on the internet and in the homes of the troops families. The main stream media has so far been able to manage to hide all this or to make it look "manageable" or acceptable. This is why the Pentagon has to restrict the access of its troops to the internet. The troops are the best carriers of true intelligence, together with independent observers who have seen the corruption in both Kabul and Baghdad, and who have seen the infrastructure of the countries deteriorate over the years.
The job at hand is impossible for the troops. That is the fact we all see emerging and that is what the Pentagon is facing. The prognostic of this author is that the situation will deteriorate further until about 2009 when troop elements will begin to desert their missions. The fact that certain troops have refused to carry out certain tactical missions and that their own security had to be farmed out to private contractors is an indication the troops are actually very badly trained and poorly equipped.
Many retired Marines have offered their private help to the state department to help out on the ground. From what this author hears, these retired and superbly experienced Marines are appalled to see in what situations their military friends have to carry on this impossible mission to hold together countries which sooner or later will again go back to doing things their way, the Levantine and Byzantine way of the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the last essential non-NWO-aligned nation — Iran — negotiates itself into a super power position via very cleverly structured alliances ranging from South America all the way to China and Russia. People at the state department in Washington DC have also resigned after seeing who is actually in charge in London, and they admit that this thing has gone very bad for the USA and the UK and it will, if it continues in this manner, which it will, go even worse.
One of the only reasons we have not seen really huge death tolls on the troops is because the medics and medical system is now so good that wounds which would have killed a soldier 20-30 years ago can be handled in such a manner that the casualty goes later in to the category of very severely "wounded". If you take a look at Walter Reid hospital and at the stations in Germany, where the soldiers are flown in, you understand what severely wounded means. It means disabled for life.
The price the nation will pay for all this in the long run, in terms of post traumatic psychological counseling and victims assistance is beyond the scope of what the occupier nations can handle. The question is why is the Pentagon not seeing what many others on the ground have seen? Why does the Pentagon think that censoring troops and their families at home will have an impact? It will create the exact OPPOSITE effect to what pentagon intends, which is damage control. It will veer out of control once the families begin to use other means to be heard.
Think "Ron Paul" effect.
By the way, there are many more soldiers missing than just the "THREE" of which CNN and mass media talks about. Sources think we are looking at about 50 unaccounted disappearances. Is it possible that certain elements have deserted, or switched side, or simply gone fishing?
Peace