Posted on 06/26/2010 7:42:19 AM PDT by yoe
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.”
McChrystal kicking Yon out, if true, reminds me of this by Col. John Boyd:
“If your boss demands loyalty, give him integrity.
If your boss demands integrity, give him loyalty.”
Get a load of this. His recent. “Per Mike Yon on Facebook: If we are going to make a success out of this war, must start squeezing out and choking off the irresponsible “sources.” People who care will start writing letters to editors/producers who link to websites such as Blackfive and Mudville Gazette. Must start telling mainstream sources that when they link to milkooks, we stop paying attention. Please leave comments at mainstream message boards encouraging people to ignore milkooks.
There are some good milblogs who should get more attention (such as Small Wars Journal), but others need to be choked off. We have a tough, bloody war ahead, and should refuse to put up with this nonsense. The information battlefront is half the battlespace, and you are in it. Please fight hard from your position.
It’s time to get active. I will get back to the war and focus there. On the home front, please choke off Blackfive and Mudville Gazette. When you see links to them from MSM sites, please contact editors and producers, and also leave public comments that responsible people do not listen to milkooks.”
http://tcoverride.blogspot.com/2010/06/irresponsible-sources.html
Sounds familiar.
"Not only is the Department of Justice Blog Squad going to reach out to nontraditional media like TPM Muckraker or the Muffled Oar, but they are also tasked with fostering anonymous comments at conservative leaning blogs such as the Free Republic. They are also tasked with fostering anonymous comments, or comments under pseudonyms, at newspaper websites with stories critical of the Department of Justice, Holder and President Obama."
The Obama Justice Department's Secret Blogging Team http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2356817/posts
Haven’t heard a word from Michael, is he okay or what?
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