Death of a Soldier's blog

I went to one of my favorite sites this morning and found it had been taken down.

For those of you who didn't have the chance to read his blog, CB (as he was called) was a refreshing change from the standard template stories hawked by the MSM. He wrote in his own style, not paying too much attention to grammar or spelling but simply letting the words flow out of him. One could get a realistic sense of what life was like for an infantryman in Iraq. It probably was the most authentic storytelling about the war that I've ever read.

Alas, it was that authentic writing that got him into trouble. After his gripping account of a battle in Mosul on August 5th, Kim du Toit and some other big blogs linked to him. He was Instalanched a few days later, and by that time, everyone on the 'net knew who he was.

And so did his commanding officers. At first, they allowed him to keep blogging, with just some restrictions to preserve OPSEC. But then came an interview with National Proletariat Radio, who foolishly broadcast his name, age, and unit. He was no longer anonymous, and that could be dangerous for someone in his situation.

In addition, his comments section had become a circus. Every link-whore, troll, and poseur on the internet descended on his site and posted their often irrelevant comments. One clueless Brazilian leftist even played secret agent and posted his comments in Portugese (which CB and his wife apparently speak) so the Evil Americans wouldn't be able to understand what he was saying (this spanish-speaking American was able to figure it out). There were countless anti-Bush/anti-war types who would show up and add something like RIGHT ON BROTHER FIGHT THE EEEVIL BUSHITLERCHENEY WAR MACHINE. They figured that just because CB used profanity, liked punk rock, and read Hemingway that he somehow was one of them.

Which he most certainly was not. Before I even posted a single comment on his site, I went back and read all of his archives. What I discovered was a complex person, a generally patriotic young man who often saw through the official Army bulls%$t and wasn't afraid to tell everyone about what he saw. He was neither rabidly pro-war nor reflexively anti-war. He was just a soldier, doing his duty to the best of his ability, trying to stay safe and alive and see his family and country again.

It's too bad his blog is gone. It was a priceless glimpse of what war and the military are really like. Hopefully, CB will return home safe and tell us all the rest of the story.