Quote Originally Posted by Rob Thornton View Post
From Zen Pundit:
Get the word out through the chain of command about an awesome opportunity and start issuing some rewards for effective IO operations by individuals - could be recognition (AAMs, ARCOMs - depends on the effect believed to have on a target audience) - could be monetary. This way you get a three-fer - you get reporting, you get self-policing and you get massive IO by talented individuals relatively cheap that adpats faster then the enemy.
Nice idea. I spend a lot of time reading milbloggers on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with a lot of Iraqi bloggers. It's astonishing sometimes how different the picture is between the folks on the ground and the reporters sitting in the Green Zone.

It'll be a huge loss in the political battle back home if the milbloggers are shut down, given how shaky public support for continuing the venture in Iraq is already. Those guys (and gals) are the best PR the military has ever seen, partly because its much more trusted than anything that comes from a news release. Even reading the really critical ones, I come away with a feeling of confidence that the troops on the ground are doing everything they can to make it a success in Iraq. The credibility level for that is far higher than any political pronouncements I've seen from behind a podium in DC.