Michael's Dispatches

What would the NYTimes do if Michael Yon were kindnapped? Keep quiet or print it because it is news? I'm pleased Mr. Rhode is safe and commend all of the media silence. However, when the lives of American and coalition troops are at risk, the press is all too willing to print what it pleases. The double standard is at best categorized as "troubling".

A true Conservative NEVER lets up on our enemy, The New York Times. You had a chance to put that horrid publication in its place and you allowed it to escape. You betrayed the Conservative movement.

It's absolutely grotesque that the press would be so careful to protect news about one of their own while happily filling their pages with endless details about our top secret intelligence programs. They don't care how many soldiers they kill with their leaks but when it comes to one of their own, they actually give a damn about secrets. It is a genuine shame that this turd survived his ordeal.

@Ira and the Coward: Just goes to show the sick people don't just live in Afghanistan and Iraq. Wanting the death of a human being simply so that you can score points against a newspaper shows psychopathic tendencies. Check yourself in for a psychiatric check up - you people are a danger to society in the same way as al-Qaeda.

Ira and the anonymous coward are disgraces to America. To suggest that Mr. Yon should have ignored the requests to stay silent about Rohde's escape and put his life in danger just because you don't care for the New York Times is beneath contempt. I am disgusted.

Thanks for doing the right thing, Michael, and congratulations to Rohde and his wife.

According to them, you must be a radical right-winger or you are some commie pinko. No middle ground. Thankfully, there are a lot of moderates out there who care for truth and America before whacko partisanship. Mike, keep pushing the truth.

Let's face it Rohde was there for fame and fortune(greed). The riches to be gained from a book and the adulation of his peers and public if he should win a literary prise. I don't begrudge him that as long as he did not put even one member of the US military at risk and efforts to gain his release were the same as for any other US or Allied Troop.
People who go to Afghanistan, Iraq, Etc. voluntarily are there for because they want to be and have something to gain either monetarily, psychologically, or spiritually. Greed, self serving, egotistical you pick the reason.
If they get kidnapped that is just part of the deal, no one made them be there.

The press was right to keep it quiet, but the question posed above are valid. Would the press keep quiet the kidnapping on Mr. Yon or maybe sit on a story for a while to save American lives? The press do their jobs but keep it in mind that their stories do have consequences to peoples' lives.

Maybe some go to discover and reveal what is actually happening.

As a former member of the armed forces, I can tell you that nobody in the military is doing it for free. Maybe we ought to think about them the same way, according to your logic.

Maybe we ought to just think the same way about Mr. Yon? He's just a gloryhound, why bother caring what happens to him? Of course there are occupational hazards, but that doesn't mean we don't respect the people who take those on for a higher purpose. In the case of the press, it's in the name of letting the American people know what their soldiers are doing.

Mr. Rohde managed to survive and good for him. I find it curious that the enemy didn't proclaim his capture over these many months and then do to him what they have done to many. John Solecki, the kidnapped American working for the UN in Pakistan, got little notice when released though; he was exchanged for some imprisoned Taliban leaning insurgents. We'll see how Mr. Rohde's story plays out in the media.

"A true Conservative NEVER lets up on our enemy, The New York Times. You had a chance to put that horrid publication in its place and you allowed it to escape. You betrayed the Conservative movement."

Besides being a lame statement, you're assuming Michael is a conservative. You know what they say about "assume"

Michael, when you get details about how he escaped, I hope you will write about it. Was it a military rescue? Was he able to get free by himself? Thanks, Michael.

Whether to go public or not?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-06-22/how-danny-pearl-helped-save-david-rohde/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsC3

Thank you for informing us, Michael, as the press certainly doesn't...at least with the truth you present. I read every dispatch with interest and always come away with a new appreciation for what is happening with the fight for freedom in places we never dreamed we were. Our gov't sure does share positive information regarding these places as you do.

Have noticed comments made which include any criticism of our leader(s) (where criticism is quite earned I might add) is not posted...are we to believe you, as the press does, edit and exclude anything nonpositive toward our gov't in OUR fight to KEEP our freedoms? Hope you aren't falling into the same category as the U.S. press...in O's pocket!

Valerie,
Can you provide an example of a comment made but not made where criticism is earned but not posted? I am confused with your post. Just seems gratuitous to me.

Scott....have noticed your attitude (perhaps a tad self righteous are we?) in previous posts. Obviously the example is not there because it was not posted.

Admittedly, I was wrong....for (this time) my comments did make the post. Perhaps it was a glitch previously, or perhaps these words were not as offensive...be it as it may, I am not swayed by sarcasm but will keep proudly expressing my opinion.....just as Michael does and all of us should during these very dangerous times. Regardless of attempts at intimidation.

Can you understand why your post was confusing? I think we are pretty much able to say what we wish once we sucessfully accomplish the verification/anti-bot hurdle. Glad you are behind restoring our freedoms. Some find it dangerous.

Quick comment from Michael: Am about to reach Afghanistan. Long road ahead.

Comments are not edited other than for profanity. We don't edit comments and my webmaster is told to let all comments stand. But am told that our software will take out profanity. Kids read this site and I do not like profanity flying around, but that's the extent of the censorship. Some have complained that the software can be difficult to negotiate. For that, I apologize, and agree! I do not know why some people have problems posting comments, but we have had some complaints and are trying to figure this out.

But comments can be interesting: If I say people in Nepal love Obama (they seem to), many Americans will say I am an Obama supporter and am drinking the Kool-Aid. When I went to the inauguration...I was actually in D.C. on separate business…this was seen as a political statement. The inauguration was just down the road. Who would miss that? After the inauguration, I flew to Israel. When I say that Israelis seem to deeply mistrust Obama (they seem to), eggs and soda bottles fly my way. I just report what I see and hear. Good, bad, ugly.

Post what you like here. The software goes for curse words but those don’t include names like Bush or Obama.

Remembert to not ignore those occasional warning bells that go off in the back of your head. Time to gear up and focus. Be safe.