One day after the Pentagon banned US military personnel worldwide from accessing the wildly popular YouTube Web site via DoD computers and networks, the weekly electronic newsletter of the US-led Multi-National Forces-Iraq (MNF-I) today makes a banner appeal for US forces and others to watch MNF-I's new YouTube channel.

Oops.

Unless the Department of Defense lifts (or doesn't fully apply) its YouTube ban, US military personnel won't be able to watch their own Iraq-focused YouTube channel unless they do so on non-DoD computers and via non-DoD Web connectivity.

Yesterday, the Pentagon began enforcing a ban prohibiting DoD computers and computer networks from accessing YouTube, MySpace, and 10 other popular Web sites, saying military personnel using the Web sites were hogging precious DoD computer network bandwidth and posing operational security risks.

Two months ago, with much fanfare, MNF-I launched its own YouTube channel -- a belated but nevertheless critically important entry into the Iraq-focused electronic battle space previously dominated by Web-savvy insurgents and terrorists.

The MNF-I YouTube channel has garnered more than a million video viewings -- many surely from US military personnel who are featured on the channel, whose contributions to the channel are sought by commanders, and who as of yesterday are banned from accessing YouTube via their DoD computers and DoD Web connections.

The Pentagon says military personnel can access YouTube via non-DoD computers, but many forward-deployed DoD personnel have access to the Internet only via DoD computers or DoD Web networks.

So will the US military permit its personnel to watch the MNF-I YouTube channel but nothing else on YouTube?

And, aside from the dozen Web sites announced banned by the DoD yesterday, what about the countless other video, music, and social networking sites in cyberspace?

Are they not a real or potential drain on bandwidth, or an operational security risk, or both?

Will they all be banned on DoD computers and networks?

This is a slippery slope.

If this is truly about operational security risks, forward-deployed US forces would and should lose all uncensored means of communications.

But we're four years into the war in Iraq and nearly six years into the war in Afghanistan, and there's been no need for draconian, sweeping censorship of US forces.

So it's unlikely the operational security risk is the genuine driving force in the DoD banning its personnel from using its computers and computer links to access certain Web sites.

Now if this is about DoD Web pipe bandwidth challenges, the Pentagon should ban access to all high-bandwidth sites -- video and otherwise -- includings its own pentagonchannel.mil site, which streams 24/7 and provides video clips on demand.

Or maybe for the sake of consistency the Pentagon should ban DoD access to its own pentagonchannel.mil site and then call on US forces to watch it.

Meantime, US troops in Iraq are already warning that their morale will take a hit because of these new DoD restrictions.