WAR OF WORDS

From Milblogging.com:

A war of words has broken out between Michael Yon and Jim Hanson (who blogs over at Blackfive under nom-de-plume Uncle Jimbo) and Michael Yon earlier this week over on Blackfive.net. A number of bloggers and readers quickly defending the side of Uncle Jimbo after seeing some of the Michael Yon rants.

"Uncle Jimbo" Hanson and Michael Yon

This isn`t the first time; back in April 2010 a battle between Michael Yon and several milbloggers took place after negative comments Michael made about General McChrystal on his Facebook page.

The current war of words doesn`t look like it`s going to end anytime soon; over 100 comments have already been posted on a story that was published Friday. The post has become a verbal battleground for Uncle Jimbo, Michael Yon, and a number of other prominent bloggers and readers.

More details HERE



Comment: Uncle Jimbo and I know each other from Okinawa; we re-established contact around the time I retired from active duty and into what I do now, and just about the same time STORMBRINGER kicked off. He is what he says he is . . . S. L.



Uncle Jimbo posted a story this past Saturday called The Last Spiderbender - a cautionary tale about the dark side of Public Affairs - well worth the read.


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UPDATE: MICHAEL YON

A disturbing post about Michael Yon, from a reliable source: Uncle Jimbo at BLACKFIVE.

In August of last year I wrote this of Michael Yon. He is a fellow Green Beret, and he brings honor to the Regiment. I stand by what I wrote then; I don't know what to make of the current scenario.

Read Mike's words here and judge for yourself.

- Sean Linnane


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A WORTHY CAUSE

I don't know if you are aware of Michael Yon.







"He's fearless ... provides a candid, soldier's-eye view ... from the very unique perspective of being there with them for weeks and months at a time ... delving deep into the human component."

-General DAVID H. PETRAEUS
Commanding General
Multi-National Force, Iraq



Micheal Yon is ex-SF, and he brings honor to the Regiment with his heroic work covering the wars going on out there, reporting from Iraq and Afghanistan since December 2004. Read his creds HERE.

"No other reporter has spent as much time with combat troops in these two wars. Michael’s dispatches from the frontlines have earned him the reputation as the premier independent combat journalist of his generation. His work has been featured on “Good Morning America,” The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNN, ABC, FOX, as well as hundreds of other major media outlets all around the world."



Michael Yon is the 2008 Weblog Awards Winner for Best Military Blog.




As early as February 2005, Michael described the violence in Iraq as a civil war. In 2006, he said we were losing in Afghanistan. In 2007, he was the first reporter to claim the success of “the Surge” in Iraq. When he first voiced these opinions, they were extremely controversial. Now they are conventional wisdom.

Now Michael needs your help. He obviously does what he does for little or no pay:

"I cannot operate in the war without your support. If support does not substantially increase, I will be forced to abandon war reporting in September. There has seldom been much interest in the Afghanistan war. True interest has been starkly reflected in the support for this mission. Each journey into Afghanistan, since 2006, has bled out resources from my operations. Reporting from Afghanistan is not sustainable at this rate."

In his blog there is a fascinating story about helicopters in the war zone, specifically the static that lights up in the rotors (I've often observed this phenomena myself). Yon has coined it the Kopp-Etchells Effect, in memory of two KIA corporals; one American & one British.


Today is pay day - every G.I. out there is a millionaire. Go to Michael's site and crack the code on the PayPal thing. I am going to lead by example on this thing and scratch out a check for $25; if every one of my regular readers contributes the same, this will equal six months pay for Michael.

-SEAN LINNANE SENDS