Michael Yon

I’m going to try an experiment. While reading Michael Yon’s latest post, I’m going to type up my reactions and thoughts. If there’s something heartbreaking I’m going to grit my teeth and continue, as I want to see what comes out of doing this in real time.

However, this is a spoiler alert. First read his post by clicking this link here. I expect to comment on most of what he writes and that will spoil the story, which would be an awful thing to do to you, gentle reader.

The post came through at 7:00 pm GMT October 6, or 19:00 Alpha as we’re still on summer time. I’ve piled up a number of sources to refer to throughout so without further ado…

This is dated Tuesday the 4th but it arrived on the 6th, so I pause for a moment to wonder what the significance of that could mean.

There’s no question that something extraordinary is happening with regard to news and media consumption these days and what Michael Yon is doing is in a unique category. In his first posts from Iraq, back in January, he would write up his posts less than an hour after conferring with his army colleagues. You could tell he was asking tons of questions too which didn’t mean they were being answered:

“but Captain Williams avoids speculation…” 25 January 2005

The title of today’s post is ‘The Battle for Mosul IV”, the subtitle “Soldiers, Spies and Sheep”. He’s caught my imagination already. Soldiers and animals have figured prominently in his writing for the last ten months. I can’t remember anything he’s written about spies in his blog. The only thing I can find, from a quick flip through his memoir “Danger Close” is this:

“Who wants to be a spy? Yeah, it’s interesting stuff, but why build paranoia into your daily list of things to do and be?” p 182
“I was not interested in spooky-spy stuff and short strike missions…I was more interested in guerrilla warfare.” P 341
“Service members who attended DLI were prime targets for recruitment. A well-dressed FBI agent made us aware of some techniques used by spies to search for recruits.” P. 348

Back to this post. There’s a photo of a soldier and you can see the patch with the design on his left shoulder clearly.

There’s a brain teaser in the first paragraph which you don’t realise until the last sentence. I get it, comparing Mosul’s well known policing problems from this time last year to the collapse of the New Orleans police force last month.

The second paragraph goes right to the heart of what he’s been saying since his very first post.

“…fighting around Baquba, when reported at all…referred to as “just north of Baghdad”…journalists rarely venture into this backwater, though it is only a short drive from the capital.” January 22, 2005

“While many police stood their ground, undoubtedly performing countless acts of heroism that will never be known, the cops who fled got the most attention.” October 4, 2005

I believe the ‘main stream media’ (or ‘old media’) has a lot to answer for with regard to the reporting of the war this past year in Iraq and the first few days of the Katrina disaster. Here, he is reminding me of the role his blog has played in my changed point of view towards ‘old media’. He also gets in a bit of a dig at the governor of Louisiana, and makes the point that the US army ultimately was required to “roll in and restore order”.

His next sub heading ‘Disaster Relief 101’ relates to the numbering of American college courses. If it’s 101 it is the first course, for beginners, and is a colloquialism that is usually used scathingly.

Thing is, I’ve never noticed him use any sharp tongued tricks or scathing tone. Sometimes I don’t understand his references but I suspect he’s using code for his friends. He’s pretty straight about what he finds disturbing. Hmmm, will read on and see.

He explains a military euphemism “kinetic fight” and smoothly uses the description to move into one of the key attributes of his writing style, his use of humour. You have to be alert to it. You’re always rewarded.

He goes on to describe what happened after the “major combat” ended in Iraq. His use of the word “mess” reminds me of PJ O’Rourke’s comment in his last book ‘Peace Kills’ – “Iraq is a mess with a message, don’t mess with us.”

The comparison with Katrina is about the lack of planning. The deadlier aspect of Iraq is the ensuing guerrilla war that “grew to civil war proportions.” This has prompted a “full-spectrum fight” that includes building up the country’s infrastructure and providing training in security skills. At the same time, different coalition members have taken on the responsibility for different areas of the country.

Should have called this “Iraq War 101” as I’m learning stuff I didn’t know, including:

“…the United States oversaw the most dangerous central and north areas.”

This reminds me of the Normandy campaign. Do you know why Eisenhower assigned Omaha Beach to the American forces? Because he could see it was the most difficult. Great, 60 years on and this is still the case.

Now he starts to write with the edge that always makes me clench my jaw, describing what he saw on tv in March 2004. I need to start reading swiftly because he’s making me do so, drawing me towards whatever horrific battle is about to begin.

Arggghhhh. Then the laughs and the self deprecating humour. Then a reference to his lack of confidence in the shooting ability of the Iraqi police in those early days (and what has happened to that post, not even cached as far as I can tell).

The figures he quotes are awful, God bless those Iraqis who have fought and lost their lives. They are clearly inspiring their fellow countrymen, nearly 200,000 have joined the ISF and yes, the American in me does like detailed statistics.

Michael Yon rarely describes his feelings but I still make assumptions, all the time. After all, this is the guy who used the word “desolate” in the first sentence of his childhood memoir.

“The air was cold under overcast skies and the event was predictably somber. Yet the overwhelming sense from the hundreds of soldiers present was resolve.” February 1, 2005. The give away is the photo, showing grief and heads bowed.

“My worn out boots sat empty in the corner…my hands may be here but my head and heart are on the streets in the struggle.” May 14, 2005

A lot of what he writes requires you to stop and think more deeply. For instance, mentioning his own empty boots is gut wrenching if you know that when memorial services are held for soldiers, their empty boots are placed where a coffin would be.

His respect and approbation for the ISF is clear:

“Amazingly, these Iraqis continue to load up those little trucks and go to work…every one of their leaders has been wounded in combat…but they get right back into the fight.”

He ends on a call to action and a dig at ‘old media’. Having read this I wonder, who should I write to, what should I say?

He’s coined a phrase “cascading raid” and explains what it is so you can understand why “domino effect” is less descriptive. Cascades widen out, got it.

Everything to do with the sheep section is laugh out loud funny. But I’ve learned how Michael writes, he’s softening me up for something awful, so I’m laughing and I’m getting tense.

One of the joys of reading these posts are the zillions of aphorisms sprinkled throughout.

“Tactics based on faulty assumptions often backfire.” October 4, 2005
“War or peace, I can depend on the birds to sing in the mornings.” June 19, 2005
“Who controls words, controls man.” July 26, 2005
“The only reliable thing about most walls is that people will get past them.” July 21, 2005

His memoir ‘Danger Close’ is heaving with them:

“Everything can go from fun and games to life and death in a single breath.” P.32
“There is a killer in every human soul.” P. 123
“Highly stressful situations usually catch one completely off-guard.” P. 258

Ah oh, here it comes, that little girl, Farah, and the photos Michael took are powerful weapons in the propaganda war that I hope cascades over the months and years ahead. The painfully touching photo of Farah that has become famous is what first led me, through links from MichelleMalkin.com, to Michael Yon’s blog and I’m proud to say, I was instantly hooked.

I used the knowledge gained from his writing to stop ill informed rants from people I loved or respected. He gave me a great deal of confidence in debating with terrorist apologists. I remember those days, I was evangelical about the harm the media was doing to British and American attitudes and I would quote a story from his blog as illustration. I was a major pain in the neck.

Because he’s right:

“It exposed the terrorists in Mosul for who they really are.”

I’ve researched and written about the fact that a significant chunk of insurgents are not Iraqis but rather foreigners. Michael has written and spoken on the radio about this and repeats it here, when discussing the targeting of children.

“When the foreign terrorists targeted kids…after that photo had run…intelligence flooded in.”

He is a force for good in the world who writes like an angel and moves me to tears. His writing is so seductive and intense, if it was a drug it'd be class A and banned.

I handed a psychologist a page from his writing. She looked up at me with anguished eyes. “His brutal, blunt language makes me fall in love with him.”

I’ve been caught out a couple of times. The email saying a new post is up arrives and I click through, only to read a shattering story that upsets me. Two in particular ‘Angels among us’ (July 16, 2005) and ‘Gates of Fire’ (August 25, 2005) made me cry buckets. I don’t mind admitting this, I think they were designed to do just that.

“My face must have given away scepticism.” July 16, 2005

“But secretly, every time he asks, I feel a notch better.” Gates of Fire, August 25, 2005

I tried reading ‘Gates of Fire’ by Steven Pressfield. Great book, well written, I finished Chapter Six one night, folded the corner and went to sleep – only to dream vivid, big budget nightmares, all night long. I haven’t been able to pick it up again.

Michael Yon talks about the fact that, even now, “the military remains on constant vigil for elusive chemical weapons factories”. This is something I noticed while reading the book “Plan of Attack”. There are more than 40 pages in that book that reference concerns. Interesting to see that this is still a consideration.

More importantly, information about this “constant vigil” comes from a source I trust, which gives it far greater power than any deniers quoted in ‘old media’ either in the States or here in England.

Ah oh, here he goes again, I don’t remember reading about ‘Jeff’ in previous dispatches, but my stomach hurts, that’s a bad sign. The whole thing leaves me feeling shaky. Plus - bad idea to ask Michael to come visit, check. Or maybe it takes “six months of asking” (June 19, 2005).

Another aphorism pops up:

“In times of trouble, ordinary people seek out leaders and leadership matters.”

I’m closing in on the last couple pages and have just read this sentence: “It bears repeating that the Coalition IS winning in Mosul.” When Michael Yon says it, I believe it.

While ‘old media’ newspapers are losing circulation at a rate of knots and public bodies ban pictures of pigs because of supposed Muslim sensibilities (which I don’t believe by the way, too ludicrous) a handful of bloggers are writing passionately and for free about what is truly going on in Iraq and the other scary places in the world.

Sub title: “Now comes the hard part” – what, all that came before wasn’t hard, hard on my heart and stomach, this cannot be good. “How do we best help?” – please, please outline something that I can do, just one lone person far away from the battlefield and her country.

“Americans need to be told the truth, that this is probably a five-year fight.”

Five years from now it will be Autumn, 2010. That seems such a long time away. This ending is poignant but easier to take, almost uplifting. No tears this time. I feel a wave of relief.