Michael Yon: Ministry of Defence gave me “zero warning”
Following on about my earlier post on Censorship in Afghanistan I have a reply from one of the comments that indicates that Michael Yon was not happy about how his embed with UK forces ended . Daniel Bennett at the Frontline Club had this to say about what he had heard from Michael Yon in an E-Mail.
In an email I received overnight, Michael Yon claims the Ministry of Defence “cut off” his embed with the British Army in Afghanistan with “zero warning and no chance for me to prepare.” As I highlighted yesterday, Yon had been embedded with 2 Rifles for the last five weeks. The MoD denied that Yon’s embed had been “cancelled” claiming he had come to the end of his allocated time period and that other journalists were waiting for embeds. Yon, a former Green Beret, argues that “it’s silly to lump me in with the war-tourist sorts who come here for a month or two (usually a week or two). Among those who do come, most rarely if ever go on true combat missions to see what our lads are dealing with. He claims there is “no journalist in the U.K. or the U.S. who spends more time in combat”. He remains specifically unhappy at what he felt was a lack of warning that his embed was ending: “It’s too expensive and dangerous” to operate in Afghanistan knowing that “amateur-hour is running the show” at the MoD. Citing “thousands of dollars in direct costs, logistical headaches and lost opportunities,” Yon says it’s not sensible to cover British troops when he did not know if his embed might end “from one hour to the next.” He said the problem could have been “easily solved by giving me even a few days notice,” and he remains suspicious of the fact his embed ended hours after he had published a post entitled ‘Bad Medicine’.
Interestingly the MOD then replied to Daniel officially with this comment.
Michael Yon’s embed with British forces has not been cancelled and we are disappointed that he has chosen to characterise it as such. We have hosted Michael with British forces for five weeks, some two weeks longer than originally planned.
We welcome Michael’s thorough reporting of the work of British forces and we have no objection to his recent piece entitled “Bad Medicine”. All journalists embedding with the UK military are given access to troops without censorship. However all materials coming out of theatre is checked to ensure that key tactical details that would aid the enemy are not being made public. Michael’s dispatch was subject to these checks and was given the go-ahead.
This was posted by the MOD. You can find a copy at www.blogs.mod.uk
I’m fairly sure especially after reading this story from Richard North at Defence of the Realm who I believe. Richard speculates that by taking together Michael Yon’ story and the MOD’S own account we get a very disturbing picture about what was really going on in Sangin and how bad the situation really is that area. Richard speculates
With the two hulks blocking the road (and then booby-trapped), it must have been these which finally closed off Pharmacy Road, effectively isolating PB Wishtan, forcing it to be re-supplied by helicopter. And, when – as Yon but not the MoD tells us – a supply helicopter was attacked by an RPG, which cannot have been long after the Mi-26 had been shot down, one surmises that helicopter flights were suspended, leaving the base cut-off and under siege.
Thus, it would appear, Operation Flint was not simply a “route clearance” operation. It was an emergency relief force to break the siege of PB Wishtan, before its supplies ran out and it was over-run.
This is, effectively, borne out by the MoD itself, which tells us that, 22 hours after 2 Rifles deployed, the road was declared clear as the soldiers reached Wishtan. The rest of the night, we are then told, a “convoy resupplied Wishtan with everything from fridges to missiles.” That detail is not mentioned by Yon.
That is what this convoy must have been all about. Several of the photographs show the convoy driving through Sangin market, which is the route to PB Wishtan from Jackson. We are looking at a relief convoy, breaking the siege – hence the elation of the Wimik driver.
Such is speculation, of course, but it all fits. And it explains the sensitivity of the MoD to Michael Yon’s report – and its eagerness now to rush out its own version. The last thing the MoD wants is anyone to realise quite how desperate the situation really is in Sangin, with a Company base not three miles from the main FOB Jackson having been cut off by the Taleban.
That subsequently, the Taleban were effectively able to isolate FOB Jackson on election day also tells you a great deal about the security situation in Sangin, and the strength of the Taleban. Operation Flint – or at least the MoD version of it – seems to be hiding that in plain sight.
Richard says this is speculation but it sounds like it could be close to the truth and this is what Yon may have been very close to revealing. Only time will tell if this is the case in Sangin.
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