Pentagon Cuts Off Access to YouTube, MySpace for Troops
By Bluey Posted in Featured Stories | War — Comments (14) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
I wonder what boneheaded bureaucrat came up with this decision: According to Stars and Stripes, the Department of Defense is blocking access to popular sites such as YouTube and MySpace for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan so it can "boost its network efficiency."
The article points out the irony of the decision. The White House and Pentagon have recently conducted a full-scale media blitz to promote the new YouTube channels for the Multi-National Force in Iraq, U.S. Army Civil Affairs Command in Afghanistan, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Gulf Region.
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Pentagon Cuts Off Access to YouTube, MySpace for Troops 14 Comments (0 topical, 14 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
MartinAKnight:
Here's a revelation: DOD is not run by the Democrats. Indeed, of all the federal agencies, the one likely to have the least number of Democrats is DOD. As depressing as this is, I think this order came from the White House. Why? Because they do not want videos of what is happening in Iraq to be shared on the Web. Is it any coincedence that, today, the Iraq government is trying to limit access by the media to bomb sites and prevent pictures of terrorist victims. I know, I'm cynical, but given how the White House has utterly mismanaged the war, I'm very suspicious. I wish the politicians would just stop interfering with our generals and just let them win this thing!
are Democrats, that's for sure, but on the civilian side once you get below the appointee level, and not even all of them, odds are pretty good they're Democrats. That said, I believe this is simply an IT management issue to control bandwidth on the DoD's networks. Did the same thing with my state's networks; if it isn't work related, do it on your own computer and your ISP's bandwidth.
In Vino Veritas
they are lifelong bureaucrats, just like any other govt agency. (this applies to high-ranking military too)
being dressed up to look like facts. And shockingly, opinions that sound like lefty blather. Since I know you'll ask....
--the [federal agency] likely to have the least number of Democrats is DOD.
You must really be ignorant of Washington politics and federal bureaucracies. The whole Beltway culture is left, and the DOD is no exception. The whole bureaucracy is full of pigs lined up at the government trough. That means Democrats (and those 'moderate' Republicans I keep hearing about).
--given how the White House has utterly mismanaged the war
That is a 'given' -- if you are the partisan press, or from the lefty hater blog-world. You don't seem to give any credit for the press non-stop railing against and misreporting the war, and CIA/State people undermining the war by giving precious national secrets to the NYT and WP. Maybe the war would not be so 'mis-managed' if not for petty America-hating bureaucrats, Senate Majority Leaders declaring that the war was lost, and House Speakers playing footsie with terrorist heads-of-state. No? And maybe the surge would show more success (and it's showing some) if the Democrats had not decided it was THEIR job to mis-manage the war, and pull the plug on it.
Last time you and I had a discussion, it went just like this, and when rhetoric boiled down to actual facts, there wasn't much there.
It's war -- so when can we start shooting back at the enemy Democrats?
I bet anything that the decision to cut off those sites was made by somebody who doesn't know how to read his own email. Whoever made the decision doesn't understand how important the web is to the younger generation.
I think that if I (an admitted news junkie) were in Iraq for an extended period and learned that the military was cutting off my access to such useful sites, I would feel like I had been kicked in the gut.
that this applies to using the DoD network.
Troops can buy internet access through commercial vendors in Iraq as well as commercial cellphone service. This from the briefing Admiral Fox gave at the milbloggers conference last weekend.
Let's not make this another OPSEC regulation kerfuffle.
"A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition." -- Rudyard Kipling
some of the more remote installations. In addition to the internet being important for morale and family contact, it is an essential element for the intelligence networks. Modern intel demands huge bandwidth for RPV video, photos, video conferences with HQ etc.
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"Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm." -- James Madison
I don't get the bandwidth argument. YouTube, yes, I can totally understand--not only for the bandwidth issues, but also the opsec concerns.
But MySpace? I'm willing to wager that better than three quarters of all sites on the internet consume more bandwidth per page view than any given MySpace page.
the average myspace page is an epilepsy-inducing nightmare of multiple music videos loading at once. most myspaces have several youtube clips
MySpace is notorious for them and government computers are not as well shielded against them as you may think.
"It's a book about a man who doesn't know he's about to die, and then dies...
...But if the man does know he's going to die and dies anyway. Dies, dies willing, knowing he can stop it, then...
Well, isn't that the type of man you want to keep alive?"
Karen Eiffel, Starnger Than Fiction
This prohibition applies only to DoD official network (NIPeR). The private internet that the guys and gals pay for is separate than the DoD one. Even stateside the DoD network blocks video and mp3 laden sites (like HotAir and UTube). It is actually against netcom regulation to allow those sites to be streamed thru a DoD network.
This is not political at all. Bandwidth is truly at a premium here. Soldiers can go to the MWR sites and use internet for free with YouTube and MySpace and all the rest.
George W. Bush: He's A Folder ... Not A Fighter.