Written by Kay B. Day
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Published in The US Report at theusreport.com
Published on June 24, 2010
by Kay B. Day
Michael Yon has been invited to embed again by both Great Britain and the US.Michael Yon isn’t a correspondent who sparks a neutral reaction in the reader. You either love him or you don’t. There’s not much of an in-between.
In April Yon’s embed in Afghanistan ended abruptly. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, was in charge and some of Yon’s fans blamed the general. The official reason given was “overcrowding by journalists.”
In a dispatch announcing the change, Yon wrote, “Haven’t seen a journalist in weeks.”
In the preceding month, Yon had pulled no punches in his dispatches, criticizing Canadian Brig. Gen. Daniel Ménard who commanded Task Force Kandahar. Yon took some heat for that one too, until the truth came out.
A court martial found Menard guilty of accidentally firing a weapon while preparing to board a military helicopter in Kandahar—the shot allegedly came close to hitting Canada’s chief of defense as well as military vehicles. Then a female Canadian soldier confessed to having an inappropriate relationship with Ménard. The rest is history.
Yon said in an email: “Insofar as Menard, that guy allowed Tarnak River Bridge to be blown up. Lost Ian Gelig. Halted many operations for DAYS. Lied about it. ND'd with his rifle. Lied about it. Affair with enlisted subordinate... Good grief.”
Yon was speaking of Spc. Ian Gelig who was killed when the bridge was blown up by a suicide bomber. Other soldiers were wounded. Civilians were killed. Arguably, these were preventable deaths.
Not for the first time was Yon, in the face of skepticism, proved correct.
I could write a book about his observations. I will never forget the night I found an article by Yon as I researched material about a young Army captain charged by the government with premeditated murder. I became interested after learning the captain was not present when the murder occurred.
Yon had no way of knowing how useful a dispatch he had filed at the time of the alleged murder, long before the captain was charged. Yon had actually written about an Iraqi colonel who was one of the captain's accusers. I emailed that article to the captain's attorney as soon as I found it. Yon couldn't possibly predict how helpful that article would be in placing the events surrounding the alleged murder in context. Yon simply wrote the truth as he knew it to be.
If you want to know what kind of writer Yon is—or for that matter, what kind of man he is—the best place to turn is his latest book, ‘Moment of Truth in Iraq,’ just published in paperback. It’s a remarkable account for those of us who are armchair analysts with a vested interest because we have people we care about placing their lives on the line in a desolate land known for sucking the life out of her own soldiers and those from foreign lands as well.
More importantly, the book focuses on what troops did right and wrong, but always with reverence and care given to the value of our military. Whatever he is or isn’t, Yon truly values the men and women who fight the good fight and if he perceives a dangerous policy, such as the current Rules of Engagement, he tells people about it.
As I read the book, I realized how miserably many in media have misunderstood this war, and how the same applies to many of us back home.
In an email Thursday morning, Yon wrote to tell me his situation has changed. A few bloggers, some under the cloak of anonymity, had accused Yon of breaching Operations Security by revealing too much information. At least one engaged in what some might call character assassination.
Yon’s email on Thursday said, "And all this nonsense about my being disembedded for OPSEC... Have been invited today by British and U.S. military."
Many of his fans—more than 35,000 on Yon's Facebook page alone—will applaud the news. They rely on Yon to tell them the truth, whether they like what they hear or not.
For those with loved ones there, once they come to know Yon, seek his reportage as a source of information many in big media distort--or more kindly put--may overlook.
Reader support is crucial to this mission. Weekly or monthly recurring ‘subscription’ based support is the best, though all are greatly appreciated. Recurring and one-time donations are available through PayPal or Authorize.net.
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To send a check or money order:
Michael Yon
P O Box 5553
Winter Haven, FL 33880-5553
I will continue to do my part in telling the stories that are not being told. Readers must also do their part by keeping the cash flowing. Cash is essential .
Thank you!
Michael
Order your copy today.
Comments
Keep your head down dude. Stay safe and keep up the good work.
JFM
Good luck, stay well
The real problem is resources. Logistics and manpower. There is just not enough, soon enough are in the right places. Too many people are safe in the large AOs, while too few infantry try to do jobs that should have at least twice the men and twice the assets. This disparity between the actual shooters and the POGs in the rear has always been true in the U.S. Military. It needs to change.
But don't look for a lot of changes made by the man that did write the manual.
Papa Ray
I'm hitting the donate button - join me if you can.
Please stay safe, looking forward to the dispatches.
Respectfully,
I would not let anyone from the Rolling Turd carry my luggage much less let them anywhere near my private life. They cannot be trusted, obviously!
Michael keep up the great work. Your fans are greater in number than any of the folks in power and that is probably what PO's them most;-)
Anyway good luck and stay safe.
At the end of the day, the Prez gets to make the call on who runs his war in AF, but he's now "dual-hatting" a combatant command and a theater of war (itself already dual-hatted) unless he replaces Petraeus as CENTCOM commander, which would amount to a demotion, as the new guy would then be Petraeus' boss. Doesn't lend itself to unity of effort so much as it lends itself to partial concentration in too many simultaneous directions. Oh, wait, that's our current President's MO anyway. So I guess it's OK then........I digress.
Civilian control of the military in our country is absolutely embedded in our Constitution, and rightfully as far as I'm concerned. The Congress as our representatives authorizes spending our money to pay for the war, but the Commander in Chief gives the orders to execute what Congress authorizes paying for. Accountability for outcome is his/hers regardless of success or failure. To leave that responsibility and accountability anywhere else in our system of governance is not only unlawful/unconstitutiona l, but leaves our leadership able to duck responsibility for sending us into harm's way, and makes the US military as much an independent mercenary organization as many of its detractors already like to think we are. That lack of accountability and responsiveness to the electors who ultimately pay and die for those decisions is the primary reason most of our founders chose to leave their countries and homes to come here in the first place.
Don't know if that helps or further muddles, but there it is.
And yes, it's VERY good to have Michael back in the mix telling us what he can see, find, and notice.
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