MOSUL, Iraq, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- A U.S. Army doctor in Iraq has been ordered to shut down his Internet diary, or blog, on claims it contravened a breach of unspecified regulations.
Maj. Michael Cohen, a doctor with the 67th Combat Support Hospital unit, chronicled life in a modern MASH unit, treating troops and wounded Iraqi insurgents alike. The 35-year-old was chief emergency room doctor when the Mosul mess tent was bombed Dec. 21, and 22 people died.
That and a year's worth of accounts were replaced with a short notice on his site, 67cshdocs.com, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
"Levels above me have ordered, yes ORDERED, me to shut down this Web site. They cite that the information contained in these pages violates several Army regulations," Cohen wrote, adding that he disagreed with the ban.
Lt. Col. Steven Boylan, a spokesman for coalition forces in Iraq, said the Pentagon allows blogging so long as authors do not reveal operational details that could aid attackers, but was not specific about why Cohen was ordered to go offline.