Michael Yon kicked out of Afghanistan

[longeyes]

This raises disturbing questions about our war effort, about many, many things...

Who In the MSM Will Stand Up For Michael Yon?
Posted by Ron Futrell May 25th 2010 at 3:52 pm in Mainstream Media, Military | Comments (49)
The best war journalist of our time has been kicked out of Afghanistan and the media could not care less.
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 soldier. 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.

I’ve seen reporters stand shoulder to shoulder with other reporters in situations that seem downright silly when compared to what we’re talking about here.  At a boxing news conference years ago one of the fighters didn’t like a certain reporter and didn’t want him there—so he kicked him out.  Those of us in the media departed together in a show of support. I’ve been kicked out of an NBA locker room, and watched the rest of the media join me in exodus. The media even stood by Fox News when the Obama Administration went after them last year. The media usually stand together on these issues, but not in this case.
They should exhibit one-tenth of the courage that Michael Yon has by standing up and demanding some answers as to why this administration is essentially shutting out a badly needed voice of reason and honesty in Afghanistan. If there is any time that the American public needs someone in country to give us an honest assessment of what is happening there it’s right now — and that man is Michael Yon. Are honest assessments something that makes this administration uncomfortable?
Stand up in a show of force and find out exactly why Yon is not where he wants to be and where he should be right now. Yon has always offered his spot-on reporting and remarkable photographs free of charge to other media. They have taken advantage of that, rightly so.  He survives on donations and is a truly independent voice in the war zone.
As we near this Memorial Day and we think of the ultimate sacrifice that has been given by those who serve, my challenge to the media who can’t wait to get to the Indy 500, the picnics at the parks, and the parades, is to man up and demand to know of this administration why the voice of the soldiers has been silenced in Afghanistan.

[dogmush]

What did he do to get kicked out?

$20 says he published classified data after being asked not to.  Any takers?

[Ron]

What did he do to get kicked out?

$20 says he published classified data after being asked not to.  Any takers?

Having read his work for years, I seriously doubt he published anything classified.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Michael Yon wake up call
Posted By Uncle Jimbo

UPDATE: My answer to Yon's request that I show my cards is here.

I did not want to write this, but I think it is important to do so. I'm not the only one who believes that either; the sentiment is fairly widespread. A number of members of our community have reached out to him and tried to help Yon out but have seen the same kind of behavior that has caused him trouble on his embeds. This isn't about slamming him, it's about telling him to wake the hell up.
Michael Yon has done some excellent reporting from both Iraq and Afghanistan, but if my count is correct he has now been kicked off four embeds. Each time he has excoriated those who booted him and blamed them for his predicament. There comes a time when you have to look in the mirror and accept responsibility. It is not a collection of incompetent public affairs officers or some conspiracy to silence truth telling, it is his own fault. He has broken the rules time and time again and then when that bit him in the ass, he bit back.

Now he has basically started firing in all directions including this unhinged post.

    Life was good before I went to Iraq. But after three friends were killed during the GWOT, and my growing mistrust for the media and for the US Government/Military, I quit traveling the world and went to war. The United States was in peril. I am American. Today, I do not trust McChrystal anymore than some people trust the New York Times, Obama or Bush. If McChrystal could be trusted, I would go back to my better life. McChrystal is a great killer but this war is above his head. He must be watched..

Let's be clear now, he didn't go "to war" he went "to the war". He is not a participant, he is a journalist. That sense of personal involvement has appeared many times in his actions and in his writing as he explains the failings of those running the war and our operations. Now he is telling us that Gen. McChrystal is over his head and needs to be watched? I'm sorry but if I have to choose between the eminently qualified and competent McChrystal and Yon, there's not even a question. If this was just one isolated incident I would not have bothered to do this publicly, but it is one in a long string and he has called his own competence into question.

Since his most recent boot from his embed he has been slagging our leadership and the conduct of the war in general; it is important to note that sour grapes are in effect. He has been complaining that McChrystal & his staff were somehow incapable of taking care of his needs.

    Crazy Monkeys: Senior Public Affairs people often make me think of crazy monkeys. (Like some monkeys I've seen in India.) They break into the cockpit and start flipping switches with no idea what the switches do. They keep doing it until something breaks or you beat them back. And just when you think you've beaten ...them all back, another monkey slips in. (This time by name of Admiral Smith.)

    The disembed from McChrytal's top staff (meaning from McChrystal himself) is a very bad sign. Sends chills that McChrystal himself thinks we are losing the war. McChrystal has a history of covering up. This causes concern that McChrystal might be misleading SecDef and President. Are they getting the facts?

    Next time military generals talk about poor press performance in Afghanistan, please remember that McChrystal and crew lacked the dexterity to handle a single, unarmed writer. 100,000 troops -- probably that many contractors -- and no room for one writer. How can McChrystal handle the Taliban?

OK that's about enough self-centered whingeing, and I can't believe he is questioning McChrystal's character. That's BS and low.  He 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.

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. I have plenty of stamps on my passport, have toured the most craptastic places on the planet, and now don't deploy anywhere w/o room service. I respect what Michael Yon has done, I just think he is acting like a jackass.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

An Open Letter To Michael Yon
Posted By Laughing_Wolf

Sent to him via e-mail and cross-posted at Laughingwolf.net

Michael,

A lot of good people are sending you messages today, and so I thought I would send you this short note.

No one is denying that you've done some good work in Iraq or Afghanistan.  In point of fact, most have said all along you have.  No one is saying you haven't done some good for others, for you have.  Your help with my second embed was and is much appreciated.

What people are trying to tell you -- friends, acquaintances, and others -- is that there is a problem and you and only you can address it.  This is indeed a rough form of intervention.  Uncle Jimbo has it right:  there is one common element to your multiple cases of being disembedded:  you.

You've asked me to highlight some of your posts, and help promote them.  Time has held up some of that, but a larger issue has been that I've been worried about and unable to honestly recommend your work.  Just look at the rants -- pointed out by others -- and look at them as if they had been written by another.  From calling people monkeys to making some rather outlandish claims about those in power at almost any level you are showing signs of burnout and more.  It's the more that worries me, and others.

My message is just one of many that I believe has come your way.  Those efforts, public and private, have not met with success, to put it mildly.  You have, in point of fact, slagged some of the people who reached out, and I suspect that such will come my way too.

You have done some good work.  But, your actions impact more than just you.  Your actions have hurt other good embeds as well as yourself.

Please stop, step back, and think.  Take some time before replying to myself or others.  If you can do that, and if you can admit that having this many people reach out to you should be telling you something, then I have hope.  If the response is what I expect given how you've dealt with things of late, well...

I hope you will stop, step back, and get some input from some good people, even some professional input.  Take the time, decompress, restock, rebuild, grow.  Everyone is not your enemy, and while not everyone is your friend quite a few are supporters.  That's a heck of a resource for you to have, and I hope you will use it well and use it to grow.

LW

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Having read his work for years, I seriously doubt he published anything classified.

I, too, doubt Yon would publish anything classified.

Yon did a lot of good work in the early years of Iraq, at a time when nobody in the news media was reporting honestly about what was happening there.  Since then, Yon's work has gone downhill.  Lots of ranting, not a lot of substance.  I'd be curious to hear what he did to get kicked out this time.  He may not like the fact that he got booted, but that doesn't mean the .mil was wrong to do it.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

you gotta love the self described greatest military blogger of all time.

[longeyes]

The issue for me is whether Yon is right or wrong, not whether he made enemies.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

shucks and i thought it was yon saying what you want/need to hear

[longeyes]

Yon may be right or wrong in his assessments, but a couple of nay-sayers with unknown credentials and one or two posters here who have no first-hand knowledge of what's happening in Afghanistan doesn't constitute an argument against Yon.

All I know is we've been in Afghanistan for nine years and no lasting miracles have occurred.  I ascribe this to bad strategy, probably deliberately bad, on the part of our political establishment, not on the military itself.  We are playing whack-a-mole while we attrit our military.  If we wanted to go the root of the matter, we would have dealt with Riyadh and other Islamic centers of influence a long time ago.  That we don't is what we ought to be concerned about.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

we would have dealt with Riyadh and other Islamic centers of influence a long time ago

ahhh now we get to the meat  tell us how the dealing should be done

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

but a couple of nay-sayers with unknown credentials

they're only unknown to you by choice 

[dogmush]

All I know is we've been in Afghanistan for nine years and no lasting miracles have occurred.  I ascribe this to bad strategy, probably deliberately bad, on the part of our political establishment, not on the military itself. 

Are you serious?

Or it could be that we are dealing with the worlds foremost multi-generational insurgancy, trained by the US, in a region that is known for tribalism and hating outsiders.

Or it could be that we don't actually want to level the place and kill everyone, but we're trying to cram 100yrs of social development and theory into A-Stan in less then a decade.

But yeah, I'm sure the evil politicians are deliberatly sabotaging our efforts.   

[longeyes]

Believe it or not, I don't know Uncle Jimbo or Laughing Wolf, but if I did theirs would just be two more opinions to weigh against Yon's and others.  As I said, we don't really know the facts, do we?  Let it out.

***

What's going on in the world of terror is planned, orchestrated, and financed from the top.  Perhaps you are the last to know.  Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.

***

Hey, dogmush, no one said the Afghanistan theater was easy going.  I'm saying it's the wrong theater.  As for political meddling and maneuvering, let's not be naive, about the fact that we are pulling our punches.  We have a lot of high-up Americans who are in bed with people in the Muslim sphere.  "It's just business," as Michael Corleone said.  Meanwhile, the madrassas and the mosques keep sprouting up, along with the endowed chairs.  Keep sleepwalking.

[longeyes]

quote from I'm My Kids' Mom:

we would have dealt with Riyadh and other Islamic centers of influence a long time ago

ahhh now we get to the meat  tell us how the dealing should be done

I've never been coy about where I think the problem really lies; surely you should know that if you've been reading my posts.  We are playing around the edges of the gang's crib.  That suits someone's purpose.  Not mine. 

[Dannyboy]

shucks and i thought it was yon saying what you want/need to hear

So then enlighten us as to what's really happening in Afghanistan.

[longeyes]

What did he do to get kicked out?

$20 says he published classified data after being asked not to.  Any takers?

Classified data?  You mean like not being able to shoot back unless the squad lawyer gives the nod?

[roo_ster]

I read all Yon's Astan posts as they were posted and there wasn't anything approaching a classification issue or OPSEC violation.

Thing is, Yon is definitely the problem. 

First, he has been making the point, loud & clear, that making Astan stable is a multi-decades-long effort.

And he's right.  Astan makes Haiti look like unicorns & rainbows, development, literacy, and every other metric you want to compare.  Then, toss in a bunch of different ethnics and exterior influence (Paki, Iran) and we're talking more a good century of American stability, investment, and TLC to bring it to, say, the level of Albania.

Very few folks like to hear the ugly truth about the very nature of Astan and Yon made no friends rubbing it in.

Second, Yon was explicit about the ultra-tight ROEs.

They are not secret, but it is embarrassing for Obama & the .mil to have to explain why it takes damn near an executive order to drop a bomb or arty mission.  The best/worst case was the August 2009 screw-up in Nuristan (far east Astan, in a valley in the mountains).  Our men at a small (platoon+ sized, IIRC) outpost with helipad had developed good relations with the locals and got good intel that several hundred insurgents were massing in a village a short distance away.  The local O gets on the horn & requests arty.  Denied.  Requests CAS.  Denied.  Requests Apaches.  Well, maybe, but they are in a neighboring valley and it will take hours to get there...

The several hundred insurgents attack and tear the place up for hours & hours.  Blow the ever-loving *expletive deleted*it out of the outpost, kill the friendly locals, and kill a bunch of our boys.  Finally, the apaches get there and the insurgents melt away.  The outpost was a total loss and now it is indian territory, again.

Third, Yon reported on the monumental cock-up that is the multi-national division of labor & responsibility he uncovered after a suicide bomber blew the hell out of a bridge.

Yon dug into just who dropped the baby and found a spaghetti mess of responsibilities.  Something like: Local Afghans had the bridge, someone else had the area around the bridge, another entity was responsible for the road, another for the whole area, off the road and excluding the immediate bridge area, etc., etc.  Enough dispersed responsibility so that nobody was on the hook yo keep an eye out for a splodeydope.

I'd bet dollars to donuts his digging into the SNAFU nature of ops in that area is what got him kanked.  WAY too many guys with lotsa brass on their shoulders ended up with egg on their faces.


Something not in Yon's control is that a whole lot of milbloggers have a hard-on for McChrystal.  Full-on guy-crushes on the Special Ops Ninja Master.  More than a little nauseating.  Heck, I worked for the man and thought him right competent, but I don't worship the ground he walks on.  It is entirely possible he is working under severe BHO administration constraints and/or coalition constraints.  Even so, it doesn't mean he can't hork it up or if he thinks BHO is truly on hte wrong track, he can resign rather than feed men into a shiitty situation.


I read a good bit about his embed with the Brits and what got him kanked on that one was his explicit coverage of the lack of material (helos, especially). 


What the .mil seems to want in an embed is a reporter with little knowledge.  Someone who, when they see something imitating a soup sandwich, doesn't recognize the soup sandwich.  Yon hollers, "Soup! I see soup! WTF is going on with this mess!?!"  This makes enemies.


Anyways, that is how I see it.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

so what got him booted the other 2 times?

[dogmush]

Classified data?  You mean like not being able to shoot back unless the squad lawyer gives the nod?

That is not true.


As far as my classified data post, I wasn't trying to accuse Yon of it, but rather guessing the quickest reason for .mil to boot a reporter. It did come out a little more accusitory then I meant.  I confess I've never read Yon's reports.  My info on Astan comes from my friends that were there recently or are there now.

[roo_ster]

so what got him booted the other 2 times?

Hell if I know. 

I read him off & on over the years, but only read him regularly after he went to Astan this last time with the Brits, the AF PJs, & our infantry.

(I am working some "south central-asia"-oriented projects and have done a general survey of the place to include terrain, atmo, tech level, settlement patterns, agriculture, etc.  For threat org, equip, tactics, etc. I have had to interview a number of folks who have fought there and have followed the operations and any reports I have been able to get my hands on.  Yon's blog is about 0.05% of all that, and served mostly to validate other sources.  Also, his photographs helped a good bit.)

What has appeared in his blog is more than enough for folks who find him inconvenient to give him the boot.  There is no need to invent other reasons.  I have little doubt that they didn't want him there in the first place and after unearthing the SNAFU after the splodeydope, many calls were made to influence his embed status.  If he is an irascible fellow, that would only add to the desire to see the last of him.

[roo_ster]

It does appear that some of what Yon reported on has had some effect on personnel decisions by coalition partners in Astan:


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jRpeQhT_C1ekvOO1ZNR4ShylvdEwD9G0R59G0

Canadian commander in Afghanistan dismissed

(AP) – 3 hours ago

KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — The Canadian military says the chief of Canadian forces in Afghanistan, Brig. Gen. Daniel Menard, has been relieved following allegations of an inappropriate relationship.

Canadian Col. Simon Hetherington made the announcement early Sunday. He said Menard's dismissal would not have an impact on Canadian operations in southern Afghanistan.


No mention of the Canadian BG's negligent discharges of his weapon or his part in the bridge suicide bomber cock up.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

what he do?  not enough rank to do an eisenhower?

[roo_ster]

what he do?  not enough rank to do an eisenhower?

Multiple affairs with subordinates is the stated reason.

Canadian gov't is mum about the BG's NDs and his portion of responsibility for the bridge splodeydope. 


I have not read any about the dust-up up to just a while ago.  I have a few observations:

Sycophants
For the love of Pete, the comment areas are sick with them.  Yon's & the other dude's, Uncle Jimbo.  Slightly nauseating.  Makes me glad I never delved into the comments of milbloggers before.  "Yon is a prince and can do no wrong."  "UJ is telling it like it is, grrr, and Yon said mean things about Bush & Cheney."

Obviously, these folks missed Jeremiah 17:5 "Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD."


Uncle Jim's Accusation
It boils down to a rumor, and UJ explicitly said he won't confirm who said Yon's embed was terminated or why...just that Yon broke the embed rules.

Not exactly what I'd call solid.

My Opinion of the Kerfluffle

Yon has criticized folks many in the milblogger community and their toadies revere.  The milblogers mention and the commenters go on about how it wasn't helpful for Yon to criticize Bush & Cheney back when Iraq was a complete mess. 

IMO, GWB was justly criticized by many.  I also believe that a lot of the sum total of the criticism was insincere & politically motivated.  The mendacious do not invalidate the criticisms of the honest.

They also will brook no criticism of McChrystal.  Now, I served under McC (several layers of command under) and can't claim to know him inside & out.  What I did see was good.  He was motivated & competent.  He was willing to stress his Os to see how they'd perform under stress.  He was personable.  He persuaded his LTC Army surgeon buddy (not serving under McC) to go on Mongaday with us, which was freaking awesome.  Surgeons in the Army don't need to slog through The Suck to get respect.  LTC Rawkinsurgeon did it anyway. 

But, McC also left the pooch well & truly humped when he spread or let misinformation about Pat Tillman's death by friendly fire go on without correction.  Dude's not infallible and the Tillman fiasco was an unforced error...an error relating to the reportage of politically damaging information.

Many of the milbloggers commented that it was Yon's criticism that got Yon kanked.  That McC didn't like it one bit.  If that really IS the reason Yon got tossed, that is not a violation of embed rules and not a screw-up on Yon's part, if Yon honestly reported what he saw & thought.

Yon's detractors have also made hay about his assessment of Astan as a great big ol' mess and that it would take decades of American intervention to make it stable.  After doing my own research for work, I am inclined to agree. 

Anyways, Yon could still be screwing up, but unsubstantiated claims of malfeasance on Yon's part are thin gruel.

[KD5NRH]

Something like: Local Afghans had the bridge, someone else had the area around the bridge, another entity was responsible for the road, another for the whole area, off the road and excluding the immediate bridge area, etc., etc.  Enough dispersed responsibility so that nobody was on the hook yo keep an eye out for a splodeydope.

I must be missing something here; it sounds like these people have already distilled and adopted the essence of the American way.