I read your story about the lawsuit, and mostly agree. When I looked at the picture my main impression was of the incredible tragedy of this war, and what it is doing to everyone. As well as what it is doing to the Iraqis, the picture shows the largely untold story of what our soldiers are going through, and what this means for the rest of their lives.

As far as Michael Moore, I think he has some ethical problems. He lets his zeal get in the way of his message. He also lets his hatred of George W. Bush get in the way of his message. I agree that he misused your photo, and should have asked permission to use it at all. Your lawsuit may not succeed, but it will make a difference.

Michael Moore's imperfect message does not make lying the country into war an honorable act. It does not make kidnapping, torture, bombing, killing, and war profiteering honorable things to do. It does not make the deaths, maiming, and psychological damage done to American troops justifiable. I can say that George W. Bush is a sociopath without hating him, because he is a sociopath, and hate is a harmful waste of energy. It's enough to say good riddance.

You do a brave thing taking pictures in a war zone. You may own the rights to the photos you have taken, but that does not mean you own the truth of what the images show. It is an easy thing to confuse. This war has been a great tragedy for everyone involved, except maybe the executives of Halliburton, KBR, Blackwater, and kindred spirits. The greatest tragedy is the death and destruction of the people and property in Iraq, but for Americans, the harm done to our armed forces is immeasurable. As your picture shows, good, compassionate people were sent into an impossible situation, and their lives were forever changed. I suspect that for most of them, it was not a change for the better. We will be paying for this debacle for decades to come.

Hi Michael Yon,

I'm a long time lurker/fan. =) I read your story about suing Michael Moore and I also read the comments on HuffPo. Naturally, the majority there are supporting Michael Moore and claiming "Fair Use". They're also incredibly insulting towards you and, were the tables reversed, I am sure they'd support him for the same action because they are, in fact, hypocrites. They're all for "fighting the big man" when Moore does it, but not when small guys like you take on the "big man" of their own.

I completely agree that he has absolutely violated your right with your picture. Most of them posting there, I imagine, are not photographers. They don't know what it's like to be an artist and have your stuff used without your consent to give a message you simply don't agree with. Would they be so supportive if Michael Moore's images were stolen by a Nazi site, for non-profit use, and used to give a message they don't agree with? I somehow don't think they would be screaming about "Fair Use" should that ever occur.

Your picture was fantastic and incredibly sad. You are an amazing photographer and journalist. I support you totally in your fight against their "big guy". The least he could have done is reply to you cordially within the last seven months. But since he's such a pretentious bastard, I would have been surprised if he ever had. thought of it.

Best of luck,

Summer Seale.

"lying the country into war", youre a fucking joke, spouting off the same uninformed mantra of the left, villifying the president simply because you disagree. I dont want to get into the NIE that lead us to war in Iraq because it was supported by the vast majority of congress, who sat in on intelligence briefings and the commitees responsible for funding the NIE, but I do want to address one simple fact that hardcore partisans like you seem to forget. If President Bush lied this country into war he and his administration would have been impeached by a congress that has had a Democratic majority going on 3 years now. If you are correct, why not? Why hasn't congress acted on this supposed crime? Could it be because they know the truth and the know an impeachment would bring everything to light, and expose them as the liars they are?

Comment No 1 - John Hamilton - has issues with practicality. Your comment regarding the waste of time you think we put into Iraq - "As your picture shows, good, compassionate people were sent into an impossible situation, and their lives were forever changed" - shows that you have quit reading information on Iraq. In fact, you have apparently not been reading any Iraq information for quite some time. Let me bring you up to date - we won. It's nearly over. The Iraqi's have taken charge of so much of the country that they even police the Green Zone now. We're pulling troops out.

The "impossible situation" is a typical response to those who have no stomach for doing the right thing - even though it hurts. War sucks and my son was in it. Your response - "You may own the rights to the photos you have taken, but that does not mean you own the truth of what the images show. It is an easy thing to confuse" - is indicative of the liberal fascist behavior of many of your left wing peers. The truth in the photo, sir, is that a little innocent girl was killed intentionally by people who intend to do the same kind of haphazard death tricks to our folks in America. With any luck, you will survive to spew your vitriol another day.

I come to check out the winner in the "best military blog" and get a guy whining incessantly about Michael Moore "misusing" his photo? Oh, you poor, poor man. I really hope the perpetrators of this horrendous violation are brought to brook. As for quality military blogging, this unique visitor weill be looking elsewhere.

Hi Michael,

I appreciate your work and have followed it fairly closely. Being a News Junkie, I also follow Michael Moore's work, even though he is dishonest and manipulative. Those who love his work, hate anything that disagrees with their point of view. As you can tell from their comments on your site, they are utterly intolerant of anything that opposes their point of view or beliefs. You, on the other hand, go out of your way to be civil. I admire that, and we need more people to have that attitude.

Keep up the good work, and know that I am praying for you. Currently, I'm out of work, so I can no longer send any financial support, but I suspect others will also see the importance of your work and support you. Your decision to rely on private, voluntary support so you could remain unbiased was a step of faith. I'm glad that our Lord has allowed that support to happen.

Take care,
Doug McGee
Brady Lake, OH

"and then, i just love this...you close your comment with "thanks for your efforts" - WHAT? This is the smug kind of crap that seethes from the pores of all liberals...acting like your really nice and sincere, when you know that you are full of hate towards anyone that disagrees and doesn't think like you."

MCarroll- I guess it's a whole lot easier to just let the hate all hang out, huh?

It's too bad that being a liberal, being a patriot, and appreciating the good Michael is doing is always outweighed by th number of insulting comments that seem to follow each of his articles. I gave up on this once. I guess it's time to do it again.

I don't have a problem with Michael Moore in general - he has raised some valuable issues. I am lucky enough to have an enquiring mind and look deeper into what he says. In my opinion sometimes he is right and sometimes wrong. What irritates me is that his ardent fans do not have the same level of healthy skepticism that they have, rightly, for our elected officials and they accept his word at face value without looking into the details. The post from 'Kerry' sums this up nicely - was he/she technically not capable of navigating this site or possibly didn't want to read reports from someone, lets not forget, who has actually been right in the real war?

I also don't see a huge problem in Moore using a photo that is so widespread but he should most certainly respond to you or your lawyers when you brought his attention to the issue. It shows a huge arrogance in not discussing it with you and I have lost a lot of respect for him for that.

As a Brit I am slightly surprised you are described as right wing. Apart from your Obama worries you always seemed pretty balanced to me, I guess in the US you have to be allotted a side. This lawsuit, whilst totally understandable, is a huge shame - I want you to be known as a 1st class reporter (which you are) and not someone who will probably end up being villified in the left wing press as a pro-Bush, right winger by people who haven't got the first idea what you have brought to us.

Just curious if the Major's okay, actually. It can't be good for the brain to have a little girl dying in your arms. And to have this incredibly amazing photo pop up from time to time - well, it might get in the way of healing. Not that you shouldn't have taken it, nor should you not have used it... but I just wanted to get a word in for Maj. Mark. We get so angry about issues and the dead that sometimes we forget the living. If you're out there, Major, thank you and I hope you're thinking about calmer, stupider, lesser things than war and death. Like car payments and cable television.

War changes everyone who participates in it..This new gereration of soldiers/sailors/Marines and Airmen are all volunteers..Unlike us who were drafted.You do realize that once you sign on the dotted line your ass belonges to Uncle Sam,and you go where they tell you to go,like it or not.I was NEVER told in boot camp that 'WAR WAS PRETTY,and neither were they...I was always told that war is hell,and it was.Dig up LBJ and ask him about "WAR PROFITEERING"..The good people who went into an impossible situation,as you call it,were all volunteers.They were all full well aware as to what they were getting into,even though they might have not known, or have been aware of every situation they would encounter.But do not pitty them..Do not pitty us who went before them either..

Brother Michael,

where do I start. Michael Moore is a pompous fool, and his failure to respond to your civil request to stop using a copyrighted photo without permission just proves the point.

To John Hamilton, Kerry, and Kent and Kay Hill. As a Marine, I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed person.

Mr. Hamilton. If you have never been in harms' way, you have zip shit idea of "truth". I believe it was General Sherman who said, "it is a good thing that war is so terrible, lest we become too fond of it" War is about breaking things and killing people. period. no matter how you try, you cannot pretty it up.

Kerry. Before you blithely spirit off to the next "American Idol" combat blog, may I respectfully suggest that you read ALL of Mike's archives. Then if you haven't done so. read Moment of Truth in Iraq. But you will find that his writings contain many words that are multi-syllabalic. At least there are lots of pictures though.

Kent and Kay Hill. You are proof of Ron White's assertion about things that can't be fixed. Copyright law is objective. If Mr. Yon's photo is being used in a commercial manner, he has right to either have the photo removed, or to have acknowlegement of it's authorship, or failing that to be compensated.

and as for your "thnaks for your efforts"... Foxtrot Yankee

Keep well Mike, keep reporting the real news, and as always...

Check Six

Semper Fidelis

"You may own the rights to the photos you have taken, but that does not mean you own the truth of what the images show."

John hamilton you jackass save the Michael moore comment, because we have already read it a million times, and go back to licking his balz fruit cake.

"I come to check out the winner in the "best military blog" and get a guy whining incessantly about Michael Moore "misusing" his photo? Oh, you poor, poor man. I really hope the perpetrators of this horrendous violation are brought to brook. As for quality military blogging, this unique visitor weill be looking elsewhere."

How about you go to afghanistan and create your own....

Why is it moore's site has no forums to post on or leave comments? I guess he wants to control everything on his website and not have any discontent? So all you brainwashed sheeple have to come here....

Its called PROPAGANDA.

To everyone who is negative concerning the war in Iraq, why do you believe the US killing terrorists is a bad thing?

Simply put, I hope you "nail" him as I think he is a reall example of a "jerk". Sorry I can't be more profound.

Making the Huffington and Puffing Post will not aid Yon's suit against Michael Moore and if anything will hamper that effort. I have not had the first post approved and posted in defense of Yon. The Huffington Post is a prime example of how the "Fairness Doctrine" will be applied. Anything that suggests objectivity by a conservative or anyone who suggest or implying anything about the Iraq war is any thing but evil will likely not have a post approved and posted. The comments on it now are the most egregious ad homen attacks with no supporting information, just slander. This site is a prime example of premature connotative commitment or stroking the vagus nerve or elevation concepts.
http://www.slate.com/id/2205150/pagenum/all/
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1234039
The left has an ongoing consummate and major psyops operation well in place...

DonC
For an implied inquiring mind you miss the real implications of Yonƒ??s position and likely his future. Yon is challenging one of the heralded champions of the left and thus has incited the left to use their many media methods to slam Yon. If a visit to the Huffington Post web site did not convey that reality then you are egregiously missing the point of the lefts discussion and ultimate intent. I can easily envision that Moore did not reply to the request because with the shock troops he knew his media cohorts could muster in defense of his argument and with Obama in power the legal issues will favor Moore. And besides the laws are only ours to follow and the Limousine liberal left is above the law. Moore has remained silent for seven months and remains silent while his organizational associates are loudly screaming in his defense.
And for the valuable issues Moore brings up they are all about socialism and I find that issue has nothing of value to add to the US. We are already too far advanced in that direction. Mooreƒ??s movie ƒ??Sickoƒ? is a sophistry of doctored information about good conditions in Cuba.
DonC wrote ƒ??I want you to be known as a 1st class reporter (which you are) and not someone who will probably end up being villified in the left wing press as a pro-Bush, right winger by people who haven't got the first idea what you have brought to us."
If Yon wrote anything positive about either operation then he is labeled pro-Bush and that is not bad unless you are from the left and are woefully uninformed.

Thank you Mr Yon for all you do for our fighting men and women. Thank you for giving them a voice and providing a ray of truth about the courageous and splendid job they are doing. I found "Moment of Truth in Iraq" to be very informative. You do not spare the top echelon of either the military or political leadership. The book and dispatches by you, and a few other independent journalists, fills in for the almost total lack of information the main stream media gives us about our front line troopsƒ?? fight against terrorism. That neglect verifies the lack of respect the media has for those who protect their freedoms.

The slug, michael moore, used that picture for reasons worse than just plagiarizing anotherƒ??s hard work. It is intentional lying that slurs all of our American military men and women. His anti-American propaganda is as bad as any from our enemies. He has emboldened the terrorists which costs more American lives. He is beneath contempt. I hope you to nail him hard.

Thank you for your service to the country and to our troops.

Semper Fidelis

I just viewed the picture of the soldier holding the little girl and the way it was displayed on M. Moore's website. That picture conveys such a tragedy of a child getting killed in the midst of battle. It just breaks my heart to look at it. The soldier holding her is just torn apart by it, too, you can see that. To me, the picture conveys what the picture conveys, and no matter which context it is used in, the emotions raised by that picture make it stand alone, on its own, regardless of the other images on the page.

Go get him Mr Yon. I, in general, have nothing against and even kind of like Michael Moore. However, he is dead wrong in this case. My son did time in Mosul a couple of years ago and is about to go back to Iraq. It is one thing to use photographic evidence to prove a point and quite another to lie about what it proves!!! I know many soldiers and know of many more who are heart broken and traumatized for life from the things that they have seen and experienced from over there!!! To blame them for things that they only cleaned up the aftermath of to prove your point against Bush (who I am no fan of for sure) is not only shameful but also criminal!!! SHAME ON MR MOORE AND YOU GO MICHAEL....SUE HIS BUTT AND CONTINUE TO BRING LIGHT TO HIS ERROR!!!
13BravoMom

It's Inauguration time. Where's Michael Moore?

Mr. Yon,

Thanks for all you do over in the sandbox. My brother has just recently returned and filled me in on some interesting stories. Most of which coincide with your reporting on situations you see yourself in during your tours. I have never been a fan of Micheal Moore and it doesnt suprise me that he would stoop so low as to take the good nature of your photograph and twist it to his own agenda. The sad part is people like kerry, hills, and hamiltons buy in to this bull. Most likely they have never experienced war or have any understanding about the darker side of this world. Moore preaches about discipline when it comes to the Bush administrations spending on the wars. This coming from the guy who weighs well over 300 pounds shows he knows alot about discipline.

Big Fan.

To: Scott Evans, who wrote:
To everyone who is negative concerning the war in Iraq, why do you believe the US killing terrorists is a bad thing?

---> Mr. Evans, the Bush administration/ U.S. Pentagon are directly & indirectly responsible for the deaths of over ONE MILLION Iraqis, since just 2003. Sir, they were not all "terrorists". Almost surely, most of them were innocent human beings, caught in crossfire from one side or the other. Although not all the Iraqi victims were murdered by American soldiers or mercenaries, WE started it. Unnecessarily. Our prior (unelected) administration of war criminals knowingly began an illegal, immoral attack and occupation of a non-threatening sovereign nation. They are responsible for "shock and awe", for Abu Ghraib, for Fallujah, and so much more. America has become the TRUE terrorist. Unfortunately, however, the war crimes of the Bushites are no exception for the bloodthirsty, brutal US of A - merely more extreme than most. Please read "Addicted to War: Why the U.S. Can't Kick Militarism", a non-fiction comic book by Joel Andreas
(www.amazon.com/Addicted-War-U-S-Cant-Militarism/dp/1904859011/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233647274&sr=8-1) ,
and/or "Killing Hope: U.S. Military and C.I.A. Interventions Since World War II" by William Blum
(www.amazon.com/Killing-Hope-C-I-Interventions-II-Updated/dp/1567512526/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233647452&sr=1-1).

A fact: 9/11 was either knowingly allowed to take place by the Bushites & the Pentagon, or was carried out with their backing (see
"The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11", by the Christian author Dr. David R. Griffin (www.amazon.com/New-Pearl-Harbor-Disturbing-Administration/dp/1566565529/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233647824&sr=1-1);
or,

"The New Pearl Harbor Revisited: 9/11, the Cover-Up, and the Expos??",
also by Griffin
(www.amazon.com/New-Pearl-Harbor-Revisited-Cover-Up/dp/1566567297/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233647824&sr=1-2)


People, the Bushites have tried to get us to believe a story with so many holes that a missile could fly through it. Please see:
http://whatreallyhappened.com/category/911

www.opednews.com/articles/Was-America-Attacked-by-Mu-by-David-Ray-Griffin-080909-536.html
Was America Attacked by Muslims on 9/11?
by David Griffin


I used to be *very* patriotic, until I moved abroad and started learning why other nations view us as they do. (Believe me, if you only watch US MSM, you'll never know.) Sadly, our grandchildren will probably CURSE what our generation has done to our country and planet, and the burdens (ecological, financial, moral, etc.) we've left them. There are many good Americans and Israelis, but our governments & militaries will likely be held up by future historians as anti-social, psychopathic monstrosities. The U.S. & Israel are reviled and despised as rogue states which wantonly and repeatedly violate international law - and yet Americans have the GALL to claim we represent "democracy" & "freedom"?! What a CROCK!. The truth is that we've cowardly attacked weaker (often resource-owning) nations / despoiled the environment with so-called "depleted" uranium (DU), napalm, etc. / wasted enormous sums on a poisonous, parasitic military-industrial complex responsible for much of what's wrong with the U.S. (and probably pays Mr. Yon's salary) / etc. Our nations' actions will be seen as precisely what mankind must NOT do - if we are to survive on this fragile, precious planet.

If anyone who contacts me via email is willing to exchange views in a mutually respectful manner, I will gladly do so. I will never attack you personally. We can learn from one another, even if we don't see eye-to-eye. But if you attack me personally, I will probably simply not respond to you, since flaming one another is not good for anyone, and wastes our precious time.

Sam Bolivar
StrivingForJust iceyahoo.com