Posted on 03/24/2007 8:21:27 AM PDT by radar101
I would agree that I have no problem with him picking up a rifle and using it to defend those around him, and ultimately, himself.
You are correct that writing about it can cause complications among the Green Zoners (probably moreso than the enemy who only cite the 'rules' when it hampers our war effort).
Gen. Brooks is probably under the guns of the MSM (America's enemies right here at home) as much or more than the terrorists.
Yon has been one of the best for calling them as he sees them--warts and all, and his photography has been tremendous.
I don't have a beef with Yon. I happen to like everything I've read of his. That said, even good people can get crosswise, and until I know more I won't impugn his motives...or BGEN Brooks.
I'll leave that to armchair experts and toughguys like you.
"Just as I figured, tenderfoot."
The only time I would have ever called myself a "tenderfoot" was at NATO HQ outside of Brussels (had already been moved from Paris), which was more like an international military pissing contest than anything else.
In Korea when we weren't freezing we were sweating and when we weren't sweating we were drenched. When the roads were not frozen like Siberia, they were 50% earth & 50% water. I was not a "tenderfoot" there, but my feet sure thought so.
I don't go by an officer's public record. I go by what the men under them think, and by the character they demonstrate or fail to demonstrate. Many of the trinkets on the breast come far too easily; most just by being somewhere at the time.
That's the funny part.
"I know that our enemies draw no distinction in this conflict, but his actions provide further motivation for the targeting of all embedded journalists. (at least in the MSM's eyes)"
They'll be targetted anyway.
"My bet is that there was a heck of a lot of flack coming from the major media outlets demanding his ouster from Iraq, and in the end, the General gave in to MSM media pressure."
Ideally, we'd reconsider this whole "embed" thing. It was a bad idea in Vietnam. It's a bad idea now.
It does remind me of an older PBS (late 80's) panel discussion on ethics, where one journalist said that he would not intervene in a similar circumstance if US soldiers lives were threatened. I think that it was Dan Rather but I'm not positive.
You are talking reality, I'm merely dealing with media perception. I think that it's a given that most of them live in a fictional universe. Unfortunately, Michael Yon is a good journalist who has admitted to fighting for the US and not for the media. He is a traitor in their eyes.
"Unfortunately, Michael Yon is a good journalist who has admitted to fighting for the US and not for the media. He is a traitor in their eyes."
http://www.mrc.org/Profiles/wallace/welcome.asp
Too many people like this in the press.
That was the infamous episode where Mike Wallace intimidated Peter Jennings into changing his position and agreeing that warning the Americans would be wrong because "journalists" must be "objective".
We know the sequestered journalists who never leave the green zone are responsible for giving us questionable information. Assuming the enemy depends heavily on what our media is reporting, don't you think that the same misinformation can actually mess up the enemy strategy?
Of the journalists I have seen actually imbedded with the troops, I totally trust Ollie North. Geraldo rivera was booted for his non compliance of CENTCOM rules.
This is war. We are so sensitive about losing troops (we should be). But casulties happen enough without a journalist running his mouth about operational security.
Loose lips sink ships.
"Could you stand by and watch an American serviceman be killed or would you pick up a weapon to stop it?"
Of course I would pick up a weapon because my life would be in danger. To the enemy, we all look the same.
To us, the enemy wears no uniform.
Perhaps I know little about Yon. I am sure there is more to the story than any of us know.
I guess the MSM would be overjoyed to eliminate any reporters who give out factual information that disputes their version.
It is truely hard to find journalists we can trust on any subject.
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