The U.S. military has seen the enemy, and it is Web 2.0.

Explaining a ban on 13 popular websites, including MySpace, YouTube,  MTV, and Pandora, Gen. B.B. Bell, head of U.S. Forces Korea, complained that the popularity of these "Web 2.0" sites "impacts our official DoD network and bandwidth ability, while posing a significant operational security challenge."

Those are certainly valid concerns, but blocking access to soldiers' social sites hinders the communication between troops and their families and friends back home that is vital for morale. And in a larger sense, the Pentagon might be throwing the baby out with the bathwater with this move. Too often, the military and the White House complain about the lack of positive stories coming out of Iraq, whether because of liberal media bias, or just the plain news value of bombings over new schools. Yet here's an organic opportunity to air the accomplishments, and yes, struggles, of those in the battlefield with the entire world. And they're shutting it down?

Of course, this kind of transparency shouldn't come at the cost of national security, and locations of troop movements ought to be off-limits. But that's the kind of thing to be handled case by case. After all, even President Bush has sung the praises of personal blogs and social networking as a source for positive news from Iraq. Maybe the military could take a cue.