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View Full Version : Why Is CENTCOM Kicking Michael Yon Out Of Iraq?



thedrifter
03-24-07, 07:08 AM
Why Is CENTCOM Kicking Michael Yon Out Of Iraq?
From CaptainsQuartersBlog

Michael Yon has provided some of the best reporting on the ground in Iraq. He embeds with the troops, reporting honestly on the ups and downs of our efforts there. He has proven himself courageous under fire and keeps returning to give Americans a clear view of the status of our mission. Now, however, Yon may find himself booted out of Iraq: "A general emailed in the past 24 hours threatening to kick me out. The first time the Army threatened to kick me out was in late 2005, just after I published a dispatch called "Gates of Fire." Some of the senior level public affairs people who'd been upset by "Proximity Delays" were looking ever since for a reason to kick me out and they wanted to use "Gates of Fire" as a catapult. In the events described in that dispatch, I broke some rules by, for instance, firing a weapon during combat when some of our soldiers were fighting fairly close quarters and one was wounded and still under enemy fire. That's right. I'm not sure what message the senior level public affairs people thought that would convey had they succeeded, (which they didn't) but it was clear to me what they valued most. They want the press on a short leash, even at the expense of the life of a soldier."

Some readers might recall that LTC Barry Johnson denied my embed requests in 2006, but after I wrote "Censoring Iraq," somehow the door opened up. Strangely, a couple days ago, LTC Barry Johnson invited me to be a panelist at a symposium in Washington D.C. on "the role of blogs and bloggers in the news environment today. The intent is to help PAOs better understand the issues involved." Call me suspicious, but my whiskers tingled on that one.

Colonel Austin Bay says it best: "This is stupid. Michael Yon and Bill Roggio are the best out there. Telling Michael Yon to exit the theater is the WWII equivalent of telling Ernie Pyle to quit filing dispatches."

Does the Army want to build honest support for the mission here at home? Or would they rather play bureaucratic games with one of the few journalists willing to go wherever our soldiers go? Someone needs a reality check at CENTCOM.

thedrifter
03-24-07, 07:09 AM
Tabula Rasa <br />
<br />
From Baghdad <br />
Recent mention of cooperation with FOX News kicked rumor into high gear, leading some long-time readers to lament my “selling-out” to a major outlet. Simultaneously,...

Scottyva
03-24-07, 04:58 PM
Although i am still stateside i am an active blogger regarding some of our activities in Africa. It appears that whenever some officers regardless of branch have someone who upsets their idea of how things should be they are silenced by any means necessary.

In my opinion this is someone writes about what he sees and not what someone else wants him to say.


Scott Morgan
Contributing Editor www.americanchronicle.com

Sgt Leprechaun
03-25-07, 01:23 PM
Which is why, of course..he must go. The army has too many warts and is a perfect example, IMO, of the emperor with no clothes.

Anyone pointing those things out becomes a threat to careers and, consequently, must go.