ot, Yon en route to Kabul, needs our support.
—
Af-Pak Reporting

Looking back on the Iraq war, for all the attention the media paid, their reporting was anything but balanced.

The outcome of the war was being negatively affected by irresponsible journalism, some of which was intentionally misleading.
We truly could have lost the Iraq war due in large part to journalistic travesties.
That we won the war despite the media demonstrates just how great our soldiers are.
And let’s never forget the price that the British and others paid, like the Poles, and even the Georgians.

An unintended consequence of the Iraq war was that we ignored Afghanistan/Pakistan, where things only got worse. Now many are calling Af-Pak “The Good War,” but let’s see how long that lasts. Our NATO allies hide behind the sturdy legs of the United States and Great Britain, who do most of the real fighting in Afghanistan, just as they did in Iraq.

Now that media attention is turning back to the Af-Pak war, let’s hope that the sum of their reporting will be more informed and less biased than what came out of Iraq. If the Iraq model is followed again, the Western politicians will say whatever is expedient, bending to popular pressure created by the media, many of whom understand the bending of truth better than Einstein understood the bending of light.

Meanwhile, the press will meander around like a herd of buffalo, occasionally stampeding in unison off a cliff, and taking public perception with them to the jagged rocks below.
—
I have just left Nepal and landed in Bangkok, en route to Kabul. My plan is to spend some time in Afghanistan, head back over to Iraq in late September, then possibly return to Afghanistan before the year’s end. In any case, I plan to keep my boots in Iraq and Afghanistan through the U.S. elections.

The last time I headed to Afghanistan, I spent far more money than I earned. Folks just didn’t seem to care about that war.

I am willing to stick it out, and have already proven that willingness in Iraq, but I simply will be unable to do so without generous reader support. These days support is scant.

Folks seem to think I got rich off Moment of Truth in Iraq (I didn’t). There will probably be no independent journalists who spend more than a month or so in Af-Pak during any given year. Same with the mainstream reporters I know. This means there will be almost no firsthand reporting from the Af-Pak battlefields, and less than a trickle comes to today. If readers want me there, I’ll commit, but reader support is absolutely critical.
I can’t do it without you, and your support is needed TODAY.
I should be in Afghanistan later this week.
—
Michael Yon

KABUL, Afghanistan: Afghan leaders celebrated Independence Day on Monday with a small ceremony inside a fortified military compound, in marked contrast to the parade and public festivities a year ago and another sign that Taliban militants are bearing down on the government.The top U.S. general in Afghanistan issued a rare public warning Monday that militants planned to attack civilian, military and government targets. Only hours earlier a suicide bomber killed 10 Afghans outside a U.S. base.
Click Here to read the entire AP article in the International Herald Tribune.
—
—
Ten French troops killed in Afghanistan -
ht – Deuce @ http://2164th.blogspot.com/