According to this DoD memo, the restrictions will block access to the sites on all Department of Defense computers, because such "recreational traffic" impacts their network and bandwidth availability, and presents security concerns. The dictum would affect the estimated 2 million active duty military and civilian DoD employees that use government computers.

Other sites being blocked include video-sharing destinations Metacafe, StupidVideos, and FileCabi, social networking sites BlackPlanet and Hi5, music sites Pandora, MTV, 1.fm and live365, and photo-sharing site Photobucket.

The move is ironic, considering the U.S. military in Iraq recently launched its own YouTube channel, with a popular sniper video (left) that's now been seen over 444,000 times.

Military bloggers are split on the measure, with some noting that the policy is no different than network restrictions at most office jobs. But on the military-related blog D-Ring, blogger Steve Field calls it a "a dumb, dumb idea."

"First, access to these web sites are good for morale," he writes. "More importantly, these sites are about connecting people. They are about social networks, sharing videos and images and stories. In an age where the civil-military divide is a growing problem, you don’t want to eliminate online outlets for social connectivity."

"Is Strategic Command saying that Internet bandwidth is more valuable than public support?"