IRCPPS in the Links: A Cautionary Tale for US Government Employed Bloggers

Peter Van Buren offers a cautionary tale in Foreign Policy about his experience after posting some blog entries critical of US involvement in Iraq, based on his experience as a Foreign Service Officer:

toward the end of the summer, the wrath of Mesopotamia fell on me. The Huffington Post picked up one of my blog posts, which was seen by someone at State, who told someone else and before you know it I had morphed into public enemy number one -- as if I had started an al Qaeda franchise in the Foggy Bottom cafeteria. My old travel vouchers were studied forensically, and a minor incident from my time in Iraq was blown up into an international affair. One blog post from late August that referenced a Wikileaks document already online elsewhere got me called in for interrogation by Diplomatic Security and accused of disclosing classified information. I was told by Human Resources I might lose my job and my security clearance...