Michael Yon

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This site gets much traffic from all around the world, from people searching for news from Iraq, making it an ideal place to host stories from deployed forces in harm’s way.  In my travels I’ve met many budding writers who are now wearing boots and carrying rifles, and I found their stories so compelling that I want the world to see.

We are Watching a Golden Moment Slip Away in Iran.

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19 June 2009

'No Comment' Is Not an Option

The Washington Post
By Paul Wolfowitz
Friday, June 19, 2009

President Obama's first response to the protests in Iran was silence, followed by a cautious, almost neutral stance designed to avoid "meddling" in Iranian affairs. I am reminded of Ronald Reagan's initially neutral response to the crisis following the Philippine election of 1986, and of George H.W. Bush's initially neutral response to the attempted coup against Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991. Both Reagan and Bush were able to abandon their mistaken neutrality in time to make a difference. It's not too late for Obama to do the same.

In 1986, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos had called a snap election, calculating that a divided opposition would hand him a clear victory that would undercut pressure from the Reagan administration for broad-based reform. Instead, the opposition parties united behind Corazon Aquino, and only massive fraud could produce a "victory" for Marcos.

 

Obama's Promise of a New Beginning now Hollow

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19 June 2009

By Joseph L. Galloway

McClatchy Newspapers

Who stole our change?

Who hijacked a popular uprising that was going to put a stop to business as usual in Washington, D.C.?

What happened to Barack Obama on his way to the White House?

The Republicans have been so busy trying to paint President Obama as a socialist, as a radical, as a Marxist, as a Muslim, as the Devil, that they haven't even noticed that he has become one of them.

What a difference a year can make. A year ago Barack Obama was on the campaign trail, promising an American electorate disheartened and disgusted by eight years of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney that he was going to change everything if he was elected President.

 

Smartly Written piece by Paul Wolfowitz

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Obama and the Freedom Agenda

Egyptian liberals like Ayman Nour should be able to take comfort in his words.
By PAUL WOLFOWITZ

President Barack Obama faces great challenges when he speaks to the Muslim world tomorrow from Cairo. He must counter some of the myths and outright falsehoods about the United States that are commonly believed in many parts of the Muslim world, and he needs to present his audience with some inconvenient truths. But he also has an opportunity, based in no small part on his own remarkable career, to make the case that the political principles and values that are sometimes mistakenly labeled as "Western" are appropriate for the Muslim world.

The challenge of addressing the entire Muslim world in a single speech can be appreciated if one imagines what the reaction would be if some other world leader attempted to speak to the "Christian world," with all of its diversity. For example, although Islam is the state religion in most countries with Muslim majorities, there are a number -- including Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population in the world -- where it is not. Moreover, some countries have large non-Muslim minorities. And the second largest Muslim population in the world lives as a minority in India. There is an enormous variety of views among Muslims around the world on everything from religion to politics to family values.

Please click here to view entire article in the Wall Street Journal.


Please support this mission by making a direct contribution. Without your support, the mission will end. Thank you for helping me tell the full story of the struggle for Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

Soldier in Need

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30 May 2009

This email came from a friend named Susanne.  I got to know Susanne in Iraq while she was working for the Red Cross.  Susanne is like a silent "Soldiers' Angel" (one of my favorite organizations"; I can't say enough good things about them). I would see her working for the soldiers night and day.  Truly she was exhausted but never quit helping soldiers and their families.  Susanne is one of those quiet heroines that we practically never hear about.  She sent me this email today:

 

James 'Maggie' Megellas

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27 May 2009

Medal of Honor nominee James ‘Maggie’ Megellas has been invited by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands for the Military Order of William(Medal of Honor) ceremony.

The Military Order of William will be awarded to a Dutch Special Forces Captain Marco Kroon for heroic Actions in Afghanistan.

In 1945 Megellas himself was selected by General James Gavin to receive the Military Order of William on behalf of the 82nd Airborne Division from the Dutch Minister of war in 1945. He became the first American decorated by the Government of the Netherlands.

 

Understanding the Surge in Iraq and What’s Ahead

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27 May 2009

By Thomas Ricks
May 2009

Thomas E. Ricks is a Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security. He is also a contributing editor for Foreign Policy and serves as a special military correspondent for the Washington Post. He was part of a Wall Street Journal team that won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting in 2000 for a series on the U.S. military in the 21st century and a Washington Post team that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for reporting about the U.S. counterterrorism offensive. His books include Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq (Penguin, 2006) and The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006–2008 (Penguin, Feb. 2009). This essay is based on his talk at FPRI’s 5th Annual Champagne Brunch for Bronze Partners held April 19, 2009 at the Four Seasons Hotel, Philadelphia.

 

The Dutch Boy Dilemma

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25 May 2009

by Babatim

I have been victimized this week by a crashed internet system and one false start on this post. In addition when I do get a little net time I am engaged in several email conversations with FRI readers – some of these are so good I may post them as standalone articles. Chris Chivers of the New York Times has been one of the readers I have been chatting with and it is his piece here which is the start point for this week’s post. This post will be unreasonably massive – at times confusing but stick with it and I’ll tie all it all together in the end inshallah. Bonus feature alert: this post includes a story board in pictures covering last Monday’s assassination

 

Joe Galloway: A day to remember the price of freedom

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22 May 2009

By Joseph L. Galloway
McClatchy Newspapers

Memorial Day is upon us, and for most Americans that means the first holiday weekend of a new summer. For most, it's time to dust off the barbecue pit or head to the nearest beach or hit the mall for the big sales.

For those who wear, or have worn, the uniform and those who love them, however, it means something different: It's a time to remember those who've fallen in defense of our country in the 234 years since the first American soldier died in a rebellion against a king.

 

McCaffrey: Wise Words on Afghanistan

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Big changes underway in Afghanistan.  I'll be there.


Please support this mission by making a direct contribution. Without your support, the mission will end. Thank you for helping me tell the full story of the struggle for Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

84 Afghan girls hospitalized in apparent poisoning

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By AMIR SHAH and HEIDI VOGT

MUHMUD RAQI, Afghanistan (AP) — At least 84 Afghan schoolgirls were admitted to a hospital Tuesday for headaches and vomiting in the third apparent poison attack on a girls school in as many weeks, officials and doctors said.

The students were lining up outside their school in northeastern Afghanistan on Tuesday morning when a strange odor filled the school yard, and one girl collapsed, said the school's principal, who was herself in a hospital bed gasping for breath as she described the event.

"We took her inside and splashed water on her face," said Mossena, who like many Afghans goes by one name. Then other girls started passing out in the yard and they sent all the students home.

Please Click to read the entire story


Please support this mission by making a direct contribution. Without your support, the mission will end. Thank you for helping me tell the full story of the struggle for Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

To Be Young and Afghan

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12 May 2009
 
It's time to leave Borneo and start the journey back to the war.  The time spent with the British Army here was very well spent.  I hope to cover them again in Afghanistan.
 
Phil Zabriskie is "tier one" journalist.  His work is always outstanding.  Please read To Be Young and Afghan.


Please support this mission by making a direct contribution. Without your support, the mission will end. Thank you for helping me tell the full story of the struggle for Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

Justice Department Releases Bush Administration Torture Memos

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NEW YORK – In response to litigation filed by the American Civil Liberties Union under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the Justice Department today released four secret memos used by the Bush administration to justify torture. The memos, produced by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), provided the legal framework for the CIA's use of waterboarding and other illegal interrogation methods that violate domestic and international law.

The ACLU has called for the Justice Department to appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate torture under the Bush administration.

 

McClatchy journalists capture national journalism awards

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14 April 2009

By McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Journalists for McClatchy's Washington Bureau, The Miami Herald and The Charlotte Observer received national awards for excellence Monday, two organizations announced.

Joseph L. Galloway, who writes a weekly column on military affairs and national security for McClatchy's Washington Bureau that's syndicated by Tribune Media Services, received a citation from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). The selection of columns that won the 2008 Sigma Delta Chi award for General Column Writing dealt with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the instability in Pakistan and the policies of former President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Please Click to view the entire article


Please support this mission by making a direct contribution. Without your support, the mission will end. Thank you for helping me tell the full story of the struggle for Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

Vanished Soldiers: American Heroes Come Home

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Commentary: Fallen brothers found - and lost
By Joseph L. Galloway | McClatchy Newspapers

As with so much in life and in death, there was news this week that was joyous and sad and bittersweet all at once for the small community of the Vietnam War’s band of brothers of the Ia Drang Valley.

Early in the morning of December 28, 1965, a U.S. Army Huey helicopter, tail number 63-08808, lifted off from the huge grassy airfield at the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) base at An Khe in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam.

Two experienced pilots, CWO Jesse Phelps of Boise, Idaho, and CWO Kenneth Stancil of Chattanooga, Tenn., were at the controls. Behind them in the doors were crew chief Donald Grella of Laurel, Neb., and door gunner Thomas Rice Jr. of Spartanburg, S.C. All four were already veterans of the fiercest air assault battle of the war, fought the previous month in the Ia Drang.

 

(Re-) Creating Anbar's Awakening

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By Gabriel Ledeen

28 March 2009

Signaling his commitment to campaign promises of a "surge" in Afghanistan, President Obama recently authorized the deployment of 17,000 additional troops to reinforce our flagging efforts. While he is still awaiting the official "strategic review" of the war, the president undoubtedly believes that the additional troops are necessary to counter the resurgent Taliban in much the same way that our surge in Iraq succeeded in quelling violence and securing the apocalyptic Baghdad.

Such a comparison, with especially significant strategic implications, requires a more thorough understanding of our Iraqi successes than currently exists. The differences between Afghanistan and Iraq are myriad and meaningful -- that is clear -- but the focus on implementing our newly recast counter-insurgency doctrine in the "other" war should give us reason to consider what exactly we did to turn the tide in Iraq. As most now recognize, the change began in Iraq's most infamous province, al Anbar. The popular consensus regarding Al Anbar contends that the tribal movement known as the "Awakening" was an impromptu rejection by Sunnis of Al Qaeda in Iraq's (AQI) brutal methods and radical rule. This consensus is wrong, or at best, only partially right.

   
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