Wednesday, September 30, 2009

An Assessment On Afghanistan You Won't Hear Anywhere Else

Ed Morrissey from Hot Air has an interview with Michael Yon, a man whose opinion and assessment on all things related to our war on terror, I greatly respect. He speaks bluntly and honestly and from a perspective not equaled by any of the numerous armchair generals and pundits we have populating our news shows and media. Michael Yon has been reporting from or participating in this global war on terrorism from the beginning. He goes where angels fear to tread, and he does it mostly on his dime. You can help him to continue his reporting by hitting his tip jar.

This is painful to listen to, but listen to it we must. Sometimes the truth hurts, but it is the truth. Please take the time to listen to the whole interview.


If journalism was an honest enterprise this guy would have a wall decorated with not only his military honors but numerous journalism awards. He has been widely recognized for his iconic picture of an American soldier rescuing a young Iraqi who was the victim of a terrorist IED in Iraq, and when he speaks he is doing so from a perspective of having first hand knowledge. He isn't splashy. He doesn't try to get the exclusive and I would be very curious to see what kind of price the bad guys have put on his head. He presents an honest unvarnished look into our operations, something which has resulted in him having his embed status with US forces reviewed on numerous times and just recently resulted in his embed status with a British unit in Afghanistan revoked. He is not a propagandist; he is a reporter in the old school sense.

Kudos to Ed for getting the interview.

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