War Is Boring

On the advice of U.S. Strategic Command, the Pentagon is weighing an all-out ban on using social-networking Websites — including Facebook, Twitter and blogs — on military computers. The Marines have already issued their own Web 2.0 block. “These Internet sites in general are a proven haven for malicious actors and content,” the Marines said. [...]

by DAVID AXE A fight could be brewing between the office of U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and U.S. Strategic Command, over the military’s use of “social-networking” Websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and Youtube. Just a few weeks ago, Gates hired a new Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, tasked with [...]

War is Boring is now on Twitter. We’ll be posting links to articles, as well as other information, on our Twitter feed on a regular basis. While you’re at it, check out the people we follow and who follow us, including Thomas P.M. Barnett, de re militari, Eric Palmer from ELP Defens(c)e Blog, Chris Albon [...]

Back in May in the virtual pages of World Politics Review, The Washington Independent and Danger Room, I described how a small group of U.S. Army officers, led by Lt. Col. Tony Burgess, was creating a bunch of “Web 2.0″ tools to help connect soldiers all over the world for purposes of swapping ideas. The [...]

In March, the crew of the destroyer USS Russell (pictured) essentially circumvented the Navy’s public-affairs machinery to launch an unofficial blog, “The Destroyermen.” Its aim: to “deliver an unvarnished, informative and entertaining account of life aboard a U.S. Navy destroyer; to report on USS Russell‘s contribution to the ‘global war on terror’ and execution of [...]

The Coast Guard, like the military in general, appears to be working at cross-purposes with itself when it comes to the Internet, while international jihadists move from strength to strength online. … [E]vents unfolded that resulted in the Coast Guard publishing a faked first-hand account of an at-sea rescue on its official “Coast Guard Journal” [...]

This winter, the Air Force, as the Pentagon’s point agency for Internet operations –“cyberwarfare,” in military jargon – banned access from official networks to many blogs, declaring that they weren’t “established, reputable media.” The Air Force didn’t seem concerned that America’s greatest enemies, international jihadists, had long ago latched onto websites as cheap, effective tools [...]