Levity: Sketchy MilBlogging

Apparently, there are some integrity issues with regards to falsified milblogging. This is coming from both the left and right side of the punditsphere. The right-wingers point out the "Baghdad Diarist", Scott Beauchamp, as trying to overhype war atrocities, while the left-wingers point out Thomas Smith's bogus accounts of an encounter with Hezbollah in Lebanon as an example of lousy journalism. Today's NY Times discusses:

After months of accusations that reports written in The New Republic by "The Baghdad Diarist," an American Army private, about the cruelty of ordinary soldiers in Iraq were false, the magazine says that as a result of its own investigation it can no longer stand by the articles.

At the same time, National Review, one of the conservative magazines that strongly attacked The New Republic over the diarist articles, finds itself fending off accusations that accounts of armed Hezbollah gunmen in Lebanon reported in its blog in September were erroneous.

The two episodes have allowed political bloggers on the right and the left to claim the moral high ground in the past few days while letting the arrows fly. Each side has questioned the other's patriotism, honesty and ethics while arguing over who had made the biggest mistake.

Well, fear not, LT Nixon Rants is all about giving you the truth. Come with me back to the Crimean War where I served in a Russian Artillery company and was the inspiration for the Iron Maiden song "The Trooper".

Then land on Inchon with me where I discussed the best flavor of pipe tobacco with General MacArthur.
What? So I didn't do these things and I'm just some Navy guy hanging around a desk in the IZ, big deal. In all seriousness, this false reporting undermines the credibility of bloggers on the frontline which you can find a host of here. Fear not mainstream America, these two only represent a small minority, and milblogs are still the best way to get news and views from the front line. My favorite collection is The Sandbox, check it out.