Our discussion yesterday about censoring Google Earth led me to ponder about military censoring in general. Should the United States censor anything? Isn’t this the land of the free? I believe the obvious answer to that question is that some censorship of delicate information is vital for any nation. Military persons are not allowed to divulge sensitive information. However where do you draw the line? It is important that military censorship does not go too far so as to infringe on the rights of the citizens and soldiers of this great country.
During WWI, censorship was common for British soldiers. Any letters they wrote would be reviewed by other soldiers so that they could remove any information that might be relative to their location or other strategic information. During World War II, American military members had a catch phrase that went, “loose lips sink ships.” Basically it was to remind military personnel that they were privy to certain information that would be dangerous if given into the wrong hands.
This brings us to our point of discussion for today. What, if any censorship techniques should be utilized by the United States government during our current war on terror? Questions such as these are important to Americans because they go hand in hand with our very freedom, the thing that our nation was built upon. It is for this reason that the patriot act has been seen as dangerous to so many people. Americans are greatly attached to the freedoms they enjoy. So where do we draw the line? As always, this is a grey issue that cannot simply be answered one way or another. It must be concluded on a case-by-case basis.
