An American marine has deleted and reinstalled his Facebook page after he became the center of a row on free speech in the military.

Sergeant Gary Stein slammed health reforms on his page sparking a debate whether troops are allowed to criticise President Barack Obama's policies. His superiors asked him to have a look at the Pentagon's directive on political activities after he criticised Obama's health care reform efforts and then was asked to talk about his views on the American MSNBC cable TV channel.

He decided to close his Facebook page and review his military code obligations. Apparently private attorneys who told him he had done nothing wrong. He has relaunched the page minus a lot of the old comments. Stein can continue to administer the Facebook page as long as he doesn't violate the Pentagon's directive on political activities, a spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said.