War through the eyes of a blogger

By Stan Lowe, Chairman (retired), Wyoming Veterans’ Commission
Tuesday, April 8, 2008 2:17 PM MDT

Michael Yon is a writer and photographer. He became an independent war correspondent in Iraq after meeting many Iraq War veterans in 2004 at two military friends’ funerals.

They asked him to go over and write the truth. Those vets, like others, were embittered by the mainstream media’s obscene manipulation of war news for political purposes.

At first, he dismissed the idea until a childhood friend n- Rodney Morris, then a lieutenant colonel serving in Iraq n called, urging him to come over. So, in early January 2005, he went there and decided to stay.

He was in Baquba. Daily fighting there definitely was newsworthy. But, how to get his stories published? He had no connections with media organizations.

Though never a blogger before, in late January 2005 he blogged his first dispatch. Thus, a truthful alternative to the mainstream media’s manipulated war news was spawned.

He embedded with combat troops, traveled along the Iranian border, met with countless Iraqis, got in shootouts and personally witnessed homicides and bombings.

Blogging, when he started, was not considered an ideal journalistic platform. After “Rathergate,” though, and a few other major news scoops by bloggers, that perception changed.

His readership grew quickly. Soon, mainstream sources around the world were publishing his photos and dispatches.

Numerous writing assignments and jobs were offered, but he declined them. He wanted to retain his independence. At the same time, he explained, “I never turned my back on ‘the system,’ as I wanted to be at arm’s distance to ‘buck the system’ when needed but not be completely isolated, a position good for business ethics but lousy for the bottom line.”

By mid-2005, he was broke despite growing success. His camera and communications gear soon would need replacement.

So, “I put up a PayPal support button, and help flooded in,” he reported.

Within a week, he had a new top quality digital camera. Soon, he was able to buy the gear needed -n night vision, satellite communications equipment and better body armor -n to keep working.

Support, however, came at a cost. Assistants had to be hired and technical services acquired to handle the flood of emails and letters so he could focus on his work.

His writings are excellent, and his artistic photographs are popular gift items. Three Pulitzer Prizes in photography and reporting categories indicate their quality, and awards and acclaims continue coming.

Yon’s newest book, “Moment of Truth in Iraq,” will be on bookstores’ shelves April 23 but can be ordered now on his Web site, www.michaelyon-online.com.

His news articles that tell the truth about Iraq are carried in “Michael Yon: Online Magazine” found on his Web site, often with photographs.

One current magazine article reports an al Qaeda attack last year on a village of Yezidi people, a minority group n- like the Kurds -n victimized by Saddam Hussein. The attack turned a wedding party into hundreds of funerals.

In the past, this was intimidating. This time, the Yezidi men got their rifles and were ready as the next al Qaeda bomb trucks rumbled toward the village.

Another piece was Army Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Ricardo S. Sanchez’s speech at a Military Reporters and Editors luncheon in Washington, D.C.

A former commander of ground forces in Iraq, Sanchez named four war correspondents who demonstrated “integrity, objectivity and fairness to give accurate and thorough accounts that strengthen our freedom of the press and in turn our democracy.

“On the other hand, I have issued ultimatums to some of you for unscrupulous reporting.”

He gave numerous instances of arrogant abuse of the mainstream media’s power. Here are two: “Personal reputations have no value and you report with total impunity and are rarely held accountable for unethical conduct… The death knell of your ethics has been enabled by your parent organizations that have chosen to align themselves with political agendas.

“You are perpetuating the corrosive partisan politics that are destroying our country and killing our service members who are at war.”

Yon agrees. That’s why he’s there in harm’s way, to tell the truth.

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