Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Michael Yon


In my travels on the Web, I came across an article by Michael Yon, a correspondent who has been spending a good amount of time alongside our troops in Iraq. He offers a very frank portrayal of the war that is truly from the perspective of the soldiers on the ground.

He is far from naive about what is going on over there, and he seems not to be beholden to any political bias, so his perspective is particularly interesting to me.

My main complaint about the "news" that is made available about Iraq and just in general, is that there is always a political motive driving the person or company presenting it. The end result is not really "news" at all, but a subjective view of what is going on based on what the presenter wants you to think or feel about a topic.

This is frustrating to me and I imagine any person who simply wants to know what is really happening. When I am approached and asked what my opinion is on the situation in Iraq, I have to answer truthfully that I do not have enough good information to form a strong opinion. At the end of the day, I am left to doubt the completeness and accuracy of the information I have access to.

Michael Yon seems to me to be genuinely interested in informing, in an un-bias fashion, those who have ears to hear what is happening. I respect that and when he gets flack from the MSM because he doesn't toe the line like the rest of them he responds in an honest and truthful way, without resorting to the kinds of petty attacks he is subject to.

So if you haven't been to his website, have a look at his pictures and articles which show the human side of the war in Iraq, whether the human is your enemy or your friend.

2 comments:

Mr. Grey Ghost said...

Too bad for people who'd like some sense of balance in the news, more guys like this arent talked about more.

Bullfrog said...

I agree. In researching how Yon got started and how he keeps the operation going, I found that he absolutely refuses to take a job from anyone unless he has complete freedom over content and how it is presented.

As a result, he is completely independent and relies on donations and book sales to pay for his trips back and forth to Iraq and Afghanistan. How can you not appreciate integrity like that?

I am seriously considering buying his latest book, "Moment of Truth in Iraq". It sound good, you can read the first chapter on his website.