Article

2007-10-22 Iraq

Michael Yon: "Resistance is futile: You will be (mis)informed"

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Posted by Mike 2007-10-22 08:46|| || Front Page|| [5 views ] Top

#1 The MSM is responsible for this outrage. They are responsible for the failings of the PR war. They are responsible for the failing security because of the PR bullshit. They are traitors, plain and simple and should be treated as such.

Posted by DarthVader">DarthVader 2007-10-22 09:29|| 2007-10-22 09:29|| Front Page Top

#2 WSJ is only "right" on their op-ed pages. The hard news is "left". Michael is too pragmatic and too embedded vs. lounge lizard type reporter for hard news at WSJ. If he goes op-ed then he is right-wing biased. No win. Best to have him picked up by NNA or other syndicate.

Posted by Jack is Back!">Jack is Back! 2007-10-22 09:30|| 2007-10-22 09:30|| Front Page Top

#3 After WWII, the Communists tried to infiltrate the film industry in order to gain a lever for molding public opinion in America. However their rough handedness (they threatened to throw acid in Ronald Reagan's face) led to left-oriented actors like Bogart distancing from them and to ironbar fights with right wing people like Kirk Douglas. That plus the fact that the few "Commie movies" getting abyssal audiences and raised hostility against their producers led to the studios purging their staff of Communists (the so-called witch hunt in Hollywood who had little relation with Mc Carthy's activity).

The more I think about it the more I believe that if Communists tried to control teh movie industry they would also try to infiltrate the MSM. After all this is a much better lever on public opinion than Hollywood. You can also bet that since the stakes were higher, the people controlling teh operation woumld be better and would not make the same mistakes than the "Hollywood Commies". Perhaps tehy didn't proceed directly but by infiltrating the teachers in journalist schools (ie the peole who would decide who would graduate). The goal was fill th MSM with people who were not necessarily Communists but at least left-orinted, America haters and manipulative. I think they succeeded. The fruits were to be seen twenty years later when Americans were lied out of Vietnam. I think we are still reaping those fruits.

Posted by JFM">JFM 2007-10-22 10:57|| 2007-10-22 10:57|| Front Page Top

#4 Darth what good is pointing out that a scorpion acts like a scorpion? It's their nature. I fault DoD and the Generals in particular for acting like the frog thinking the scorpion would act otherwise. All wars are fought on two fronts, on the battlefield and at home. During WWII the War and Navy Departments ran a large scale PR program. Since the end of WWII the Generals have been happy little children to outsource the telling of the story to MSM. It saves them lots in manpower and expenses. What they have failed to grasp from Vietnam to today, is that you can win every fight with the enemy on the field of combat and still lose the war at home. Their suppression of the troop blogs, instead of coopting them and exploiting the technology and means to get the message directly home, demonstrates their abject failure to conduct the full spectrum of war in the modern world. Simple - offer a better quality product free and you'll get a big chunk of the game. That takes a commitment of resources the Generals do not want to do.

Posted by Procopius2k 2007-10-22 11:03|| 2007-10-22 11:03|| Front Page Top

#5 What is the name of the one reporter at the New York Times who did good work in Iraq? John Burns? How about forwarding this to them, or would that turn them Mr. Yon in defence of their profession?

Posted by trailing wife 2007-10-22 12:00|| 2007-10-22 12:00|| Front Page Top

#6 Hmmm... The Washington Post is a member, however, The New York Times is too cool to belong.

Mrs. Bobby thinks the WaPo has redeeming values; she has no such illusions about the Times.

Posted by Bobby 2007-10-22 12:19|| 2007-10-22 12:19|| Front Page Top

#7 TW, Burns was the Baghdad bureau chief for the NYT until just recently, and indeed he is the real thing - a professional, fair-minded, very smart, and thorough. I saw this first-hand. He earned and received superior access, because we knew he'd get it right. He's no youngster, has been to a few rodeos, and is a very savvy guy. It was interesting to see how the whole press contingent respected him, even the more numerous average types who were less sophisticated, less experienced, and therefore naturally "skeptics" about all things US or military. I think he exerted a dramatic positive influence on the younger bureau colleagues (Semple, Tavernise). The mystery always was (and we never raised it directly, seeing no point and wanting to avoid putting him on the spot) how a consummate pro like Burns interacted with the pathetic lefties back in New York who edit the paper. My impression was that his copy was barely touched. If one has the stomach and patience, one could examine the past few years of NYT coverage and note a big difference between most Iraq-origin reporting and that coming from the Beltway. Michael Gordon also deserves an honorable mention. I like to think of him as "growing on the job", as his earlier military reporting, including the book on the '91 war, I found superficial or unpersuasive. But he's put in the time on the front lines episodically the past two years and delivered some detailed and often positive stuff.

The poison Yon notes - which clouds minds from Bali to Buenos Aires to anywhere the BBC is heard - is the most depressing thing. No, scratch that - the MOST depressing thing is coming back to the US from Iraq and finding the levels of indifference, hostility, and misinformation among "educated" Americans I've encountered.

One could go made just imagining how the world would be if major media, academia, and related elites had any understanding, moral compass, or intellectual integrity ...

Posted by Verlaine 2007-10-22 23:51|| 2007-10-22 23:51|| Front Page Top

#8 Make that "could go MAD" .... ahemm.

Posted by Verlaine 2007-10-22 23:53|| 2007-10-22 23:53|| Front Page Top

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