I got an email from Michael Yon attributing the cancellation of his embed with the British to thoughtlessness and bureaucratic oversight. he writes:
The specific problem for me was that MoD cut off the embed with zero warning and no chance for me to prepare. … MoD is giving the reason that my long stay is prompting uproar among journalists who cannot get embed slots. I’ve embedded longer in Iraq with combat troops, for instance, than any journalist of any sort. I don’t buy their backpedalling now that this is public, but even if they are being truthful the truth itself is lame reason to stop me embed. There is no journalist in the U.K. or the U.S. who spends more time in combat. It’s silly to lump me in with the war-tourist sorts who come here for a month or two (usually a week or two). Among those who do come, most rarely if ever go on true combat missions to see what our lads are dealing with.
Part of the problem is that bureaucracies designed for the transient type of journalist will probably find a Michael Yon a square peg in a round hole.
The “two week tourists” are there to report on the troops.
Mr. Yon is reporting on the war.
While both have their place, the difference is crucial to our understanding of their efforts. The guys in charge of the embeding should know this, but I am not certain they follow Mr. Yon, so wouldn’t know a political ploy from a request for a feature story.
For what little it’s worth
http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/ContactUs/AskAMinister.htm
What a loss. Yon is the very best. Reminds me of Ernie Pyle’s reporting from WWII. I forward them to several people including a Marine Colonel (Ret) who lead the assault on Baghdad and they find them wonderous.
The policy needs to change. Best to Michael. A real war correspondent!
What a loss. Yon is the very best. Reminds me of Ernie Pyle’s reporting from WWII. I forward them to several people including a Marine Colonel (Ret) who lead the assault on Baghdad and they find them wounderous.
The policy needs to change. Best to Michael. A real war correspondent!
So why are comments closed on the Kennedy thread?
I thought I read that Yon picked up anther embed PDQ, so mostly a loss for the Brits. Our British allies have had their struggles – everyone has, it’s not easy winning a war – but Yon’s reporting makes them look generally competent and valuable, worth having as allies. Without his reporting, I suspect a growing segment of America will come to regard them as less and less worthwhile. Most Brits who make the news in American these days are idiots. Yon showed a different and much better side of Britian.
Well, the Brits making news again are the MoD dolts who cut off the embed, so there you have it.
Apparently Mr. Yon has quite a few Brit fans that where following his reports on British units and are upset with the MOD’s actions.
maineman,
Finis
Regarding Yon and by extension the Kennedy and Obama and Dodd etc. scandals, control of the narrative is more important to the bureaucrat then effective activity. If Yon concentrated on stories of Troopers thinking of Mom’s blueberry pie and prayers the folks back home in Britain support the NHS then the desk jockeys would be eager to have him around. Real reporting that discloses how to improve the function of the organization reveals errors and abuses. Does the US Senate want newshounds telling people about the waitress sandwiches that boozy Kennedy and Dodd made or do they want tame journalists who pen stories about the Lion of Camelot?
Yon is simply great.
The Brits have fought hard in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Their political leaders back home have been less steady.
We are lucky to have the Brits in Afghanistan and their work would documented by Michael Yon. Now we will miss that.
Mr. Yon had been reporting that soldiers from 2 Rifles had been dying around him from enemy gunfire, rockets, and bombs. It may not be Omaha Beach, but this is still a very dangerous place. Perhaps this is something that is meant to be so Mr. Yon can keep reporting.
“Apparently Mr. Yon has quite a few Brit fans” toad@7.
Including me, and to me this is very sad news, and very wrong.
Yon’s interest in, and respect for, the various soldiers he meets is heartening, and whoever who made this decision should be examined as to what it reveals about their own attitude to our troops.
I am not going to speculate that this is the result of Jihadi penetration of the MoD, but trying to damage the morale of our troops and their families is not exactly a loyal action, is it?
But I will bet that Yon has many friends out there. Maybe the Lithuanians will find him a place to stash his kit…
Wretchard,
Why are you protecting Ted Kennedy from comments?
You know this question will surface in one form or another over the next few days so why are you covering for this now dead Seantor?
Maineman #5 and Habu #12 you’re both out of line. This is Wretchard’s house. He can run it as he damn well pleases.
And, I might add, he runs it damn well.
De mortuis nil nisi bonum.
Res ipse loquitor.
I’ve closed the Kennedy thread because he’s dead and my simple old manners are not to speak ill of the dead. But the problem of Mary Jo naturally came up. Who will remember her? Because in a way, Ted Kennedy’s funeral is her second funeral. I decided in the end to put up a clip of his own words which say it all. I don’t think anyone can watch Kennedy’s narrative of events and not realize why he could never be President.
Wretchard,
Kicking Yon out has everything to do with Yon’s mentioning of the human cost of the MoD’s helicopter parsimony.
The Brits are in the middle of serious combat operations in Afghanistan and the UK Ministry of Defence turned down repeated requests for more helicopters by theater commanders.
PM Gordon Brown’s people then requested a Chinook so he could visit the troops and “PR away the problem.”
He was turned down flat by those same theater commanders because the choppers were needed for combat operations.
Then the UK ministers around Brown found out that General Sir Richard Dannatt, the outgoing head of the British army, had been allowed to go on a farewell tour of the conflict zone aboard a borrowed American Blackhawk helicopter, accompanied by the BBC.
Brown’s ministers hit the roof, and fell into a political trap.
Read at the first link below for what happens next, it is one of the best set ups and take downs of political suits by uniformed military that I have seen in 20 years.
See this link:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6719361.ece
and see this one as well:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/5885929/Government-slaps-down-minister-over-shortage-of-helicopters.html
Lord Malloch-Brown’s intervention in the row over the lack of helicopters for British troops is particularly damaging for the Prime Minister because his role as Foreign Office minister includes responsibility for Afghanistan.
Mr Brown has been under considerable pressure from the military over equipment levels in Afghanistan. On Tuesday it was disclosed that a bomb disposal expert had become the latest victim of the conflict with the Taliban, the 18th British death since the start of the month. The UK death toll is 186 since the start of operations in the country in 2001.
Last week Gen Sir Richard Dannatt, the head of the Army, criticised Mr Brown and ministers for failing to supply enough men, vehicles and equipment. Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of Defence Staff, also insisted that more helicopters would save lives.
However, Mr Brown has repeatedly said troops had enough resources to do the job despite the recent increase in British deaths.
Lord Foulkes, the former Labour minister has condemned Sir Richard and Sir Jock for criticising ministers over troop numbers and lack of equipment, claiming the comments “threaten to undermine” the UK’s effort in Afghanistan and give “succour to the enemy”.
13. herb
First off I NEVER take orders from a guy named Herb.
Secondly, people set up websites and “invite” people to come to that site and comment on what they have written.
When you have guests, which is what contributors are, then you treat them not with distain but with honor and respect because THEY are the ones making your site run ..no contributors..no site…so Herb (wait I’m spewing milk through my nose) yeah Herb you’re no enforcer , just a fawning parasite suck up…but you have potential to be a great suck up.
Sic iustus combibo absentis
W, yes, you do run a great site.
Kicking Yon out has everything to do with Yon’s mentioning of the human cost of the MoD’s helicopter parsimony. The Brits are in the middle of serious combat operations in Afghanistan and the UK Ministry of Defence turned down repeated requests for more helicopters by theater commanders.
I understand, from sources I’m not going to quote, that one British soldier died for lack a piece of basic equipment that was used in a ground assault. It’s in public record that the commanding British general in Afghanistan has flat out accused the Brown government of cutting corners, so I’m fairly sure it’s an issue that is well known.
Wretchard,
There IS no one on the British side who is covering their soldiers with a tithe of the depth and insight that Yon provides. If you’re British and want to know what is happening with your country’s troops in Iraq or Afghanistan, Yon was pretty much the only decent source. You would think the BBC was ashamed of them.
Kennedy: I watched that video. I had never seen it before. I couldn’t watch that man’s face any longer after about five minutes of it. It embarrassed me to even watch such a contemptible display of abject grovelling. It speaks incredibly poorly of Kennedy that he didn’t have the decency to withdraw from public life after such an egregious display of cowardice, weakness and poor judgment. It speaks even more poorly of the Massachusetts voting public that they would have allowed this man to continue to represent them in the U.S. Senate. Incredibly poor form on the part of all involved.
Maybe the wellsprings of human courage and judgment just run dry after time. New England, which was for so long a pillar of moral rectitude and virtue, has since about the time of this video slowly degenerated into a slough of immorality, criminality and politically correct stupidity. I can’t think of a Senator in the entire region whose hand I would be willing to shake. The shades of men like Daniel Webster, John Adams and Joshua Chamberlain must be deeply grieved.
Know the truth and it shall set you free. Speak the truth and usually it will get you indicted or crucified. Jesus learned this the hard way. So, apparently, has Mr. Yon.
LOL –herb –do NOT take that ‘habu-special’ personally. It’s a habunian art-form, to be appreciated in all its fiendish glee.
anyway, TK comments are being made on the nearby thread, so there’s no editing going on of TK comments. having one ‘no comment’ thread is clearly the site’s attempt to maintain public decorum, and as such is the most biting critique of the senator that could be made –that is, a shun, because his life speaks for itself, beyond any comment’s poor power to add or subtract.
as far as w’s decency in not wishing to speak ill of the dead –i’d agree, except for what he did to MJK, Robert Bork, and so so many others. These people had far more than harsh post-mortem comments taken from them –and with such careless and arrogant malice that it dirtied for the forseeable future the fabric of American politics –but as far as TK was ever concerned, bugger the consequences. Any person doing such stuff has in my mind forfeited any right to decency such as that being shown by our host. Who of course has every right to maintain his own light as he sees it.
I read Michael Yon’s postings while IN Iraq and heard things not covered elsewhere when the MSM was trying to peddle the lie that we were losing. Truly Britain’s loss.
WRT Kennedy, I respect Richard’s stance but do not really understand why it is not acceptable to call a spade a spade, even when the spade dies. Truth is truth even in death. And I’ll stop there in accordance with the host’s wishes.
habu:
You are off my list of rational contributors. I only pointed out your lack of manners. You are what you are. I’m sorry.
Buddy:
As the semi-vino philosophers said, “Thank you for your support”
mac: “Maybe the wellsprings of human courage and judgment just run dry after time.” You are so so so wrong. We have 10^6 people under arms at the present. We have not yet failed. Go meet the soldiers. Go meet those who took the Oath. the springs are no where near dry. Thanks be to God.
I have a theory about England that WWI and WWII killed everything that made that place work (ie the upper/middle classes) and the socialist revolution of the 1950′s was the result of a lack of civilizational gonads since they were all killed in that existational fight.
America sucked the good out of the Yurps thru immigration really fairly efficiently since there wasnt much there to start with and the opportunity here is immense. In other words, them that had the goods came here and the rest waited on the socialists to come and help them rise to the Nirvana that the state would provide. Well, how has that worked out??
Our current problem is that there is a regression to the mean that leads to the same disease here.
Not speaking ill of the dead?
It’s a very nice sentiment but it is farcical on it’s face and drilling deeper simple a cop out. We all do it all the time.
Entire libraries are full to overflowing with works on Hitler,Mao,Stalin and Mohammad, all whose work was the planned death of millions. Kennedy’s policy positions and actions placed this country in a position that cost people,young people their lives.
So please spare me the righteous manners mantra. It makes me puke.
Habu,
You are a man who obviously takes consider pride in being effective in his actions. May I submit to you that at the moment you are failing to reach your own high standards? There are serious issues, such as Holder and the Agency, on which you probably have much to say that those who come here want to hear. However we are not with you and for whatever reason, even if you were correct in your facts, you are not connecting with your delivery.
This is not my house. May I suggest that it will we hope still be here tomorrow?
habu, here’s what a slimeball i yam. I hate to see middle roaders (AKA ‘the people who swing elections’) derive sympathy (for such as TK) from reading what middle-roaders will percieve as meanness. so i can flame TK nearby and also agree with herb and wretchard. What’s a few days of not tearing down the black crepe right in front of people whose votes we will soon need, if we don’t want another TK looming up in his vast vacated space place.
besides, w could’ve simply skipped any ref to TK at all –it wasn’t required by the blog’s theme, after all. Instead he opened a forum, tho preferring that the fireworks be in another room out of deference to…well i don’t know who, can’t speak for any but myself, but MY answer would be, “…out of deference to middle-roaders whose votes went wrong terribly last November and must must must come back next year or we are well and truly permanently screwed.”
no, it’s not hypocritical fake manners at all –it’s just trying to not shoot own foot.
25. Lifeofthemind
I thought I connected very well
in pointing out that when one invites guests the host is honor bound to provide the best he/she have in the way of courtesy and hospitality.
Now if the guest turns out to be a pest, you don’t invite then back.
So far I have not urinated on the floor or mention the horrid food, I have simply noted the responsibility that host owe their guests. Asking questions of a totally reasonable nature isn’t the same as defecating on the sofa, we’re here to discuss issues and ted kennedy’s great death is newsworthy.
Now that’s easily understandable English, well stated, and easy to understand. So if I am not reaching people well, that’s a real pity. One thing you fail to understand is that I do not write what I write to curry favor with hoi polloi or to get elected Homecoming king. Let them be mad at me…heck I’ve been shot at with hostile intent on four continents, so a few noses out of joint doesn’t bother me a hoot.
Herb,
I’d venture to say that of those million soldiers, there aren’t a tremendous number of them from New England. I don’t think the country as a whole has run dry, but New England…well, that’s a different story. I grew up there and know how things were when I was young. They’re far different now, and the change has been much for the worse insofar as character is concerned.
Habu,
While I must confess that your response is one that I find personally effective and shrewdly directed at me I still think that it was unwise to press the issue of the hosts wishes in this matter. This is a place to focus on ideas not individuals. Any response that descends into an ad hominem directed at another guest (as was yours directed at herb‘s name) weakens the ability of all to use this fragile forum. It is analogous to someone waving a molotov cocktail around in a survival shed while a storm rages outside. Consider that bob and myself disagreed strenuously over a tactical matter that we both care about. Nether of us descended into personal ridicule.
Habu: I just dont respond well to rudeness. I dont know you and will not address your character. I can however address your expressions above as some of the rudest I have seen on this site. A guest should behave as a guest and not complain about the house rules. If you dont like the house rules go somewhere else.
Ill take a back seat to no one here in my lack of regard for that clan and their effects on civilization. However black the thoughts I may have about TK, I think its improper to vent on him in public right now. YMMV.
I dont agree that we should refrain from strong opinion so that we avoid offending the mushy middle. The mushy middle are learning the results of weak opinion and will learn more in the rushing future. Getting their instruction with the bark on it is necessary for the lesson to be successful.
i still thinks an opinion blog is no place for opinions.
wretchard said:
>so I’m fairly sure it’s an issue that is well known.
“Well known,” yes.
If you care enough to look.
Currently, intensely, credibly and continuously reported in real time by a non-BBC english language source — No.
Yon’s work gives a right now, in your face, human dimension to the cost of the MoD’s failures.
The MoD just made sure that non-coverage of of their screw ups would continue.
herb,
Personally I think that it is proper to discuss the many crimes and failings of EMK. What I support is Wretchard’s decision to create a no comments thread that linked to a description of one of his crimes and allowed him to speak for, and damn, himself. There was something almost Zen like and pure in that display. The lily does not need gilding. Munch’s The Scream would not be improved by appending a montage of the subject’s family history. As I said before on this thread as to why I think our host chose chose that course, “Finis.”
Separate from that work of art there is much to be said.
There are many technical improvements that could be made to this format. A link to an associated Social Networking site with chat, private messaging and whisper capabilities would be nice. Improved formatting and blogging features, such as buttons for inserting hyperlinks, bold or italics, are always a good idea. An indicator as to when a new thread starts would help. Links at the bottom of the page to preceding and following threads are on other blogs. Built in spell check exists this side of heaven. A limited refresh to display new comments is technically possible. At least now we have an Edit feature.
Habu / Herb — one name is milk-spewing the the other’s not?
NahnCee: yup.
Looks like I pretty much killed this thread. Oh well.
Elderly Thread, looking at the corpse cart: “But I’m not dead yet!”
I trace the closed TK Comments contretemps in this thread to Herb’s #13, which improvidently rendered a good, sound opinion as a jarring, personally-aimed scolding, the bristling reactions to which surprised me not at all.
Michael Yon survived where Michael Kelly sadly died. But he has upheld the tradition of great war reporting, even if the wars are wrong-headed and poorly conceived. A great reporter, he pissed off the British Ministry of Defense I presume by writing coolly and accurately what courageous British and Ghurka volunteers were doing with minimal support and attention. One of the reasons wars endure as we know is that boys like to get dirty and not wash, test their courage, and discover some source of our nature that most deny. Describing it as honestly and clearly as Yon does clearly makes some people in power really unhappy. The troops get screwed again. Michael’s offense: he put a heroic and very human face on the work of these brave soldiers.