US Shows its side of Iraq war on YouTube

[doxieone]

Source: CNN mentioned it, and then I found link at LA Times


U.S. military shows its side of Iraq war on YouTube
Channel offers a 'boots-on-the-ground' perspective of the conflict.
By Alexandra Zavis, Times Staff Writer
May 1, 2007


BAGHDAD — In one video, a U.S. soldier blasts insurgent gunmen with a heavy sniper rifle as the room fills with smoke. In another, members of an Iraqi family throw their arms around soldiers, weeping and rejoicing, after learning that their kidnapped relative has been freed.

The U.S. military has opened a new front in the Iraq war: cyberspace.

Moving into a realm long dominated by Islamic militants, the military has launched its own YouTube channel offering what it calls a boots-on-the-ground perspective of the conflict. The move recognizes that the Internet is becoming a key battleground for public opinion at a time when domestic support for the war is dwindling.

snip

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-cyberwar1may01,1,3624381.story?track=rss

[Kagemusha]

1. And meanwhile bans all blogging and e-mail w/o going through censors.

Yes, I see Petraus' information warfare at work on the domestic front. Apparently he thinks this will help fight the real enemy - civilian political opposition.

[NovaNardis]

3. You have to admit its good propaganda though

People use You Tube, so they might as well exploit it.

I had thought it was cheesy before but it's actually quite smart.

[DawnIsis]

2. If they only show fluff it's propoganda

[Occulus]

4. Thanks to the YouTube comments section, you can say as much

:D

[ohio2007]

5. The "other side" also has access to YouTube.

I've seen some of their videos speaking and singing in Arabic.
YouTube also flags some of the more detached stuff.

[krkaufman]

6. How is this not illegal, or against the Geneva Conventions?

I thought the military wasn't allowed to propagandize the American public?