Michael Yon to return to Afghanistan

Band-e-Amir in Bamyan Province is Afghanistan's first national park; it consists of six spectacular turquoise lakes separated by natural dams of travertine. [CIA World Factbook; photo and caption.]Michael Yon just wrapped up a series of dispatches from Nepal, Afghanistan, Thailand and Burma, and he will return to Afghanistan in February. It’s been almost a year since he was last embedded with troops there, but he hasn’t exactly been away from action. He left Afghanistan in 2010 and headed to Southeast Asia. Then he returned to Afghanistan alone.

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Michael Yon invited by Brits and US to embed again

by Kay B. Day

Michael Yon has been invited to embed again by both Great Britain and the US.Michael Yon isn’t a correspondent who sparks a neutral reaction in the reader. You either love him or you don’t. There’s not much of an in-between.

In April Yon’s embed in Afghanistan ended abruptly. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, was in charge and some of Yon’s fans blamed the general. The official reason given was “overcrowding by journalists.”

In a dispatch announcing the change, Yon wrote, “Haven’t seen a journalist in weeks.”

In the preceding month, Yon had pulled no punches in his dispatches,  criticizing Canadian Brig. Gen. Daniel Ménard who commanded Task Force Kandahar. Yon took some heat for that one too, until the truth came out.

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Yon’s paperback release of ‘Moment of Truth in Iraq’ an eye-opener

By Kay B. Day

'Moment of Truth in Iraq' pulls the reader into a unique journey into the dark heart of war.Michael Yon’s ‘Moment of Truth in Iraq’ has just been released in paperback, and if there’s one book that makes sense of the war, this is it.

Most pundits, analysts and academics don’t see war up close. Yon has and he pulls the reader into accounts of combat in the field and political negotiations in tribal meeting places. Above all, the book details what America faces in bringing together factions in a country with a history like that of many others—manipulation by imperial powers both in the West and in the East.

Yon describes in great detail the value of troops working alongside Iraqis who above all, just wanted their country restored to functionality. We take clean water and electrical power for granted in the US, but Iraqi villagers were shorted on those necessities even before Saddam Hussein was removed from power.

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Canada finally sacks top soldier in Afghanistan

By Chris Carter

Fabrics on display at a bazaar in Kabul. [Photo courtesy CIA World Factbook.]Following a series of damaging events, Canada has sacked its top soldier in Afghanistan.

Until this week, Canada's top soldier, Brig. Gen. Daniel Ménard, commanded Task Force Kandahar, preparing for what could be NATO's most major operation since 9/11. But after a female Canadian soldier confessed to having an inappropriate relationship with Ménard, both soldiers were sent home, and sources are saying that Ménard's military career is likely over.

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War correspondent waiting for answers on January arrest at Sea-Tac

It’s hard to imagine. One minute you’re an independent war correspondent—that’s rare as a polar bear in South Beach, by the way—and you’re back on US turf, making your way through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The next minute you’re basically being arrested by Customs and Border Protection.

Why? No one really knows, but it happened, said Michael Yon, and apparently, CBP asked him who he worked for and how much money he makes.

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War correspondent’s reportage shows so much depended on a simple bridge

Commentary by Kay B. Day

Spc. Ian Gelig was killed when a suicide bomber drove onto the Tarnak River Bridge. [Photo from US Army 82nd Airborne Div.]For an idea of the complex command structure necessary when different countries form a coalition in wartime, look no further than a post by war correspondent Michael Yon who is currently reporting from Afghanistan. The Bridge, a story posted by Yon on Thursday, discloses challenges in covering a country known for historic British and Russian military blunders. What’s even more intriguing is how much capital rests on a simple bridge in a country where transportation is tricky even on a good day. Yon wrote, “In Afghanistan, there might not be another route for hundreds of miles.”

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