US Army Weekly Blog Report
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Blogosphere and Social Media Report 3 – 9 April 2010 aA 2010 List of Blogs Mentioned in this Report Blog Type Blog Name No. Top Posts 100* Wired.com/Dangerroom 1 y Blackfive 3 Michael Yon 1 Small Wars Journal 8 Attackerman 1 Mudville Gazette 2 This Ain‘t Hell 1 Military Abu Muqawama 1 War Is Boring 2 Source: Outpost Attack Armchair Generalist 3 2 The Best Defense U.S. Army Spc. Greg R. Kenshalo Bouhammer 3 fires an automatic grenade launcher during an attack on Combat Outpost The Line of Departure 2 Bar Alai in Kunar province, DoDBuzz 1 Afghanistan, April 5, 2010. Multiple insurgents with automatic machine Huffington Post 9 guns opened fire about seven hours after a sniper also shot at the base. No Salon 4 members of Afghan or international Daily Kos 1 forces were injured during the attacks. Think Progress 1 Kenshalo is a rifleman with Troop C, Pajamas Media 1 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment. Political The Atlantic 5 (U.S. Army photo by U.S. Army Staff Weekly Standard 2 Sgt. Gary A. Witte) The Daily Beast 1 Stripes Central 1 Mainstream ABC News Political Punch 1 Media *These blogs were listed on the Technorati Top 100 Blogs list as of 17 Feb 2010. **Note: The Tier 1 blog memeorandum.com is not listed above. Key Highlights A total of 57 blog posts were sourced from 3 April - 9 April 2010, with the majority of blog posts falling within the Comments on News category and two blog posts falling within the News Generators category. There were 51 balanced, two critical, and one supportive blog posts this week. Both critical entries came from the blog site Armchair Generalist. The first entry focused on a blogger who was critical of the Army‘s decision not to formally reprimand Lt. Gen. Benjamin Mixon. The second critical entry discussed Col. Robert M. Cassidy‘s book ―Counterinsurgency and the Global War on Terror: Military Culture and Irregular Warfare,‖ in which he claimed that the Army has not effectively executed COIN operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Additionally, there were two blog posts that mentioned blogger Thomas Ricks‘ dinner and interview with Gen. Casey in which he discussed various Army issues. Other blogosphere discussions included: the Wikileaks video revealing the 2007 U.S. Army helicopter attack on a group of Iraqi men (also reporters) and children; Don‟t Ask Don‟t Tell; the Special Ops‘ involvement in the death of three Afghan women; and Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin‟s refusal to deploy due to his issue with President Obama‘s birth certificate. Executive Summary Part 1: Blogosphere Overview Within the Top Issues, the most prolific topic, which attracted a significant amount of media attention this week, was the WikiLeaks video of an Army helicopter attacking several Iraqi men and children and killing a Reuters reporter in Iraq. Bloggers voiced various opinions on the issue, with prominent blog sites generating a significant number of comments from readers. One blogger from The Daily Kos stated: “Whether this story goes further will likely depend on how hard Reuters continues to push to have a new investigation. It seems pretty clear that the military hopes to ride this out without further investigation and without providing a substantive response” (Full WikiLeaks Video Released, U.S. Iraq Command Says "Case Closed," For Now). The second most visible issue this week was the alleged involvement of the Special Operations forces in the death of three Afghan women during a night raid in Gardez, Afghanistan in February 2010. The Huffington Post emerged as the coverage leader, posting four of the five blog posts on the subject. One Huffington Post blogger commented on Rear Adm. Greg Smith‘s remarks that no one will ever know how the women died: ―Someone please explain to me the cultural misunderstanding responsible for Smith's implication that women were killed by knife wounds when they were in fact killed by gunfire. These are not errors of cultural understanding. They are intentional lies meant to allow someone to escape responsibility for killing three women, two of them pregnant‖ (U.S. and Allied Forces: We Killed Those Pregnant Afghan Women After All). Additionally, another entry from this site generated 4,249 comments on the issue (U.S. Troops Killed Afghan Women, Then Dug Bullets Out Of Their Bodies To Cover It Up). Due to the high volume of coverage dedicated to the WikiLeaks video, the typically prominent issue of DADT did not receive as much attention in the blogosphere this week. One of the blog posts on the subject appeared in Armchair Generalist, with the blogger expressing his disapproval of the Army‘s decision not to reprimand Lt. Gen. Benjamin Mixon after he encouraged keeping the ban on openly gay military service: “I suppose one can flout military-political protocol and get away with it, if the White House feels generous and doesn't want to look like the traditional „Democratic hate on military‟ meme…It's a surprise to me. But hey, it's the 21st century and it's a Democratic administration. I suppose all things are possible” (LTG Mixon Gets Slap, No Resignation). 2 Executive Summary Part 2: Lines of Effort (LoE) The majority of blog posts fell within the Other Line of Effort (LoE), the result of blog discussions focusing on the released WikiLeaks video of an attack by an Army helicopter. The WikiLeaks video generated blog posts from the top-ranking blog site The Huffington Post, as well as from Blackfive, The Weekly Standard, Salon, Stripes Central, The Atlantic, Bouhammer, Danger Room, The Line of Departure, Small Wars Journal, Daily Kos, and Pajamas Media. A notable entry from The Huffington Post received 10,812 comments with regard to the issue (Wikileaks VIDEO Exposes 2007 'Collateral Murder' In Iraq). Also within the Other LoE, a blog entry from Small Wars Journal highlighted The Center for Military History‘s online book The US Army and Irregular Warfare, 1775-1777. The book contained articles that noted how often the U.S. Army has engaged in irregular operations despite the focus on conventional warfare (The U.S. Army And Irregular Warfare, Small Wars Journal). A notable entry within the Strategic Environment LoE discussed the two attacks on U.S. Army forces near the Pakistani border in eastern Afghanistan on the night of 28 March (World Politics Review: In Easter Afghanistan, Apparent Sniper Stalks U.S. Troops, War Is Boring). Another blog post within the Strategic Environment LoE highlighted an interview with Gen. Odierno. The Huffington Post stated: ―He has no illusions, and recommends that no one else have any, either. The situation remains volatile and unpredictable. He's an optimist about it, but his optimism is guarded. „Cautious optimism‟ is not just an empty phrase with him; he lives it” (Baghdad Blood And Baghdad Mud). Within the Conditions for Future LoE, a notable entry from DoD Buzz discussed the future of the Army‘s budget and potential areas for growth. ―The biggest future growth areas will be in networked communications and overhead surveillance, followed by repair, maintenance and training. The future requirements process will be driven more by combatant commanders than service bureaucracy, more joint and fewer overall contracts and programs‖ (Army Budget Share Will Grow). An entry within the Soldiers and Families LoE noted that the Social Security Administration is no longer considering combat-related military pay in determining whether spouses and children of servicemembers are eligible for Supplemental Security Income (Benefits Alert: SSI Excludes Combat- Related Pay, You Served). 3 Comments on Blog Posts* * Note: The content of the blog reports is provided in its original unedited form, as posted on the site. ―I love the U.S. military.... they are loathe to be integrated into multi-national fighting forces, but when atrocities like these are committed by American soldiers, suddenly the American soldiers are an "International" force. They try to cover-up by making their nationality "international". Such nonsense.They must realize that nobody believes anything the military says --if the Pentagon is moving its lips, you know it's lying. No one believes a word the military says after all the lies about WMD; Jessica Lynch; Pat Tillman; the endless lies about having NOT killed innocent people in wedding processions, at checkpoints, in town squares, etc.; lies about the massacre at Nemsour Square; Blackwater lies; lies about the number of deaths caused by covering Fallijah with white phosphorous that melted innocent people to death; lies about Saddam's "involvement" in 9-11 (that was a Bush cabinet lie); Colin Powell's U.N. lies; Condi's mushroom cloud lies; lies, lies, lies. It is an endless procession of lies.‖ Username: MikePatronSaintofTruth (U.S. And Allied Forces: We Killed Those Pregnant Afghan Women After All, The Huffington Post, 4/4). ―You make valid points that people should consider before coming out with outrageous statements like WikiLeaks.org did this week. You're spot on. War sucks and we're all human and unintentional mistakes are made quite often. Show me a man that's never made a mistake (be it this one caused loss of life during war) and I'll show you a liar.‖ Username: Steve Valley (When Context Is Collateral Damage, The Line of Departure, 4/7). "Even if one were to accept the claim that the U.S. Special Forces could not distinguish between women that they had killed and women who were already dead when the raid began, presumably it does not require advanced medical training to distinguish between a corpse which is "tied up" and "gagged" and one which is not.