Posted on 05/25/2010 7:42:06 PM PDT by MestaMachine
The best war journalist of our time has been kicked out of Afghanistan...
Let the administration boot Helen Thomas out of her seat in the front of a White House press conference and there would be outrage. Remove Jonathan Karl from the Capitol and media would revolt. Kick Andrea Kremer off Sunday Night Football and there would be pandemonium.
And yet nobody in the media seems to have much of a problem with Michael Yon being removed from the front lines by Obama/General McChrystal. Yon has openly stated the problems in Afghanistan right now and how we could lose this war, unless changes are made. He has been critical of the current rules of engagement that have put our troops in danger and could actually make this war like the Vietnam that the leftist media claimed it was early and often when Bush was president (it’s strange you don’t hear those comparisons from them anymore).
Yon’s reward? He’s lost his embed status, banished to Bangkok. Yon could return but his access might be limited and you can’t just pop in and out of that theater like it’s the neighborhood movie palace. Mess with Yon enough and his resources wear thin, but his patience will not. You will not stop this Marine. He is the ultimate warrior for those who fight and die for this country. His reports are honest, chilling, gripping and are as reflective of the battles they represent as anything I have ever read. But this administration is making it as difficult for him to do his job. You can’t believe this is by accident. The most critical battle in Afghanistan is about to take place, the battle for Kandahar, and the voice of the American soldier is not allowed in.
(Excerpt) Read more at bigjournalism.com ...
Thank you. will check it out.
It would appear not. . .
We probably won’t hear much about it. It was done by the Anointed One and one of his chief lackeys.
zero hasn’t given a press conference in almost a year, so who are they gonna ask, even if the press was inclined (which they’re not)?
Good guy or bad guy is subjective and has no meaning. He was the first, and only, elected Prime Minister in Thai history to serve out his term. He was also re-elected but his second term ended early when he was thrown out by a coup.
He was a brilliant businessman and politician and got elected by catering to the poor rural vote which had usually been ignored by Thai politicians in favor catering to the middle/upper class. In a country where the Royal Family is seen as the patron of the poor, this upset the political dynamics tremendously and led to the coup.
After the coup, a number of government agencies were setup to retroactively create laws to ban politicians aligned with the former PM from politics. After these politicians were banned from politics, the deck was stacked and the current PM, Abhisit, was 'elected'.
As a side effect of the coup, this led to an even greater political awakening in the rural poor as they saw their champion being thrown out by the established power base in Bangkok.
The protesters in Bangkok have been calling for new elections to finally put a properly elected Prime Minister in position. Abhisit is dead set against it since he, and his party, know they will be thrown out. Instead of simply calling for new elections, something he was very vocal about when he was in the opposition, he chose to use violence to crackdown on the protesters resulting in over 80 dead and over 1500 injured.
Uncle Sam banished me to Bkk back in the 60's.
Best three years of my life.
it’s time......
America needs to be led by warriors , not lawyers
Mr. Killjoy , good to see you again , but odd to see you na
song san nai toxin . khao pben tua heea asat , nah salapao ...
Nee , mai chawp khao lua gern ;^) Khao die dee kwa
BTTT
There are currently between 40,000 and 50,000 websites blocked in Thailand with the majority of those being political websites. Websites that are critical of the government are immediately blocked from being accessed within Thailand.
The two English language papers are growing more authoritarian every day. The better of the two, the Bangkok Post, just signed an agreement to be the public mouth piece of the Thai Government so don't expect any criticism there. There is currently an all out assault on foreign media (CNN, BBC, et al) for daring to report some of the truth that happened during the crackdown this month.
People have been arrested for Les Majeste and one is currently serving an 18 year sentence in solitary confinement for giving speeches critical of the Royal Family.
Abhisit talks a good game. He is always harping on democracy, the rule of law, and all the other buzzwords but has shown himself to be more authoritarian than anyone could have guessed. If you don't believe Democracy is right for Thailand, than so be it. But if you see Thailand as a Democracy, Abhisit, and his handlers, must go.
The MSM won’t stand up for Yon, either.
The fact that Yon isn’t under contract with any of a number of MSM organization is as severe of an indictment of their judgment as can be made. He is, quite simply, the Ernie Pyle of this war.
Usually, only a media reporter could be so uninformed. Bullets are to cartridges as flour is to bread as cement is to concrete.
Great military blog? This from Michael Yon on his Facebook page:
“BLACKFIVE: Integrity Questioned
Though I am working on Afghanistan dispatches, during breaks over the next days I will address some those who took part in the blog lynch mob. Will start with BlackFive since it’s fairly famous and influential.
I will address only one or two important errors at the various blogs who took part, and kindly request their response.
Blackfive published:
“[Michael Yon] has claimed he was told there was no room for him to embed, well that is not what I heard. It appears he was again removed for violating the embed rules. At some point you need to own up to the fact that it’s not the rest of the world.....it’s you. That point is now.”
The author at Blackfive also published:
“Disclaimer: I have not embedded...ever. I am not going to embed because I don’t want to. I like being in the rear w/ the gear.”
—
Blackfive clearly stated that I was lying.
Here is an email from PAO ending my embed:
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: FOUO
Michael,
First, thanks for all the great work you’ve done since arriving in February. I hope the three months you’ve spent here was what you hoped for and that you’ve gotten all the support you’ve needed.
Unfortunately, we have an extremely long wait list of other professional journalists (81!) that we need to give an opportunity. We’d love for you to come back at some point and I wish you the best in your remaining time here and safe travels in the future.
Take care.
V/R
Brian DeSantis
MAJ, IN
Commander
Media Support Center
Regional Command South
Kandahar Airfield Afghanistan
brian.desantis@afghan.swa.army.mil
Okay, my name is cleared from Blackfive’s charge of lying.
Blackfive published, “...well that is not what I heard. It appears he was again removed for violating the embed rules.”
Blackfive is on thin ice, and it’s integrity is in question. Blackfive is kindly asked to provide hard evidence that it was told that I violated embed rules.
This is a moment of truth. Show your cards Blackfive.”
Usually, only a media reporter could be so uninformed. Bullets are to cartridges as flour is to bread as cement is to concrete.
Yes, but it's still a true statement.
Last night, I pulled my engine into the garage. (I pulled the rest of the car in as well.)
Just messin' witcha. Have you ever seen this graphic?
Contact every law enforcement agency from town to state, to FBI to CIA and tell them to unload.
Banished? A U.S. General has the power to banish a civilian TO a place? Maybe FROM the theatre but the point of destination ought to be up to the civilian or his editors.
Thanks very much for shooting me that link; I hadn’t read the story before. Turns out the much-vaunted “CSM Prosser beat a haji to death with his MICH” story is NOT true, but still one hell of a story, regardless.
I just have two questions:
1) What the HELL was that 2LT thinking?
2) How big a tool is that MAJ that grilled Yon about the weapon usage? He didn’t even try to get the 5 Ws. Typical field grade...
McChrystal, I have words for, but I cannot post them here. Suffice to say that I sincerely despise every political General that ever lived, and I met a few.
Amen. And bears repetition and some editing if you don't mind:
Maybe they could send You to Phuket so he could interview Anderson Cooper while he is interviewing all the 'don't ask don't tell, just do it' boys in the band.
I get the feeling that CSM Prosser might’ve had a few words with those two afterwards?
Yon’s dispatches when he was embedded with the 1/24 are classics IMO...Ernie Pyle-level stuff. And honestly, men like LTC Kurilla are the kind of warriors that this civilian would LOVE to see with stars on their uniforms running things over there.
Yon’s had a bit of a dustup with a lot of milblogs recently—Blackfive, This Ain’t Hell, Mudville Gazette, some others. I’m not quite sure what the story is though.
}:-)4
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