Blogging From the War Zones

By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers

If you want to keep up with what Pentagon brass and the White House are reading about Iraq and Afghanistan, then bookmark smallwarsjournal.com. "We enjoy a huge popularity among policymakers," says editor Dave Dilegge, a defense consultant and former Marine Corps Reserve intelligence officer. And they should. Unlike other sites and blogs, Small Wars has military and nonmilitary government officials in the war zones writing for it and debating fixes to a broad spectrum of current problems. But, says Dilegge, the nonprofit site isn't giving up military secrets. "We're not the Drudge Report. We're people working for solutions." It's good for most involved: The brass value the evaluations from those down the line, and junior officers like to be heard.