Mike Yon on Afghanistan

Posted By Blackfive

In the National Review Online, Michael Yon discusses the state of Afghanistan in three Op-Eds. 

In the first installment - Afghanistan's Other War (titled "Hooked" at NRO):

...Despite the increasing human toll levied by opium production in Afghanistan, there is still no coherent plan for stopping the violence, shutting off the flow of money to the enemy, and eradicating and replacing poppy in Afghanistan...

And now the second - Stagnation:

...Unlike many Islamic countries where anti-American sentiment is rampant, most Afghans were hopeful that the investments promised in 2001 would result in changes that improved their lives. They were genuinely happy to shed the Taliban. Now their views have shifted. Many Afghans turn to the Taliban now simply because they are the only group that delivers on both threats and promises. They may be the devil, but they are a devil who can get the job done...

Sounds Hezbollah-like (in Lebanon) doesn't it?

The third installment will be published tomorrow.

Update 09-18-06:  Mike Yon left this message in the comments.

There’s been a lot of talk recently that I have “switched sides,” or become pessimistic about the wars.  The former is not true, the latter definitely is.  We can win these wars, but we must radically change the way we are fighting.  I’ll not go into detail here, but suffice to say that I, too, do not like to deliver bad news.  I greatly enjoyed getting to write about our incredible soldiers – though I did not like being in Iraq or Afghanistan.  Readers should know that I funded the first 7 months in Iraq out of my own pockets, then finally began accepting support, and eventually started selling my book and photos.  I learned that when I wrote stories that made people happy, I made money.  When I wrote words that upset people, they stopped supporting my work, stopped buying photos and books.  And so, I have great financial incentive to write lies and make people happy with lies.  I do not get paid by anyone to travel to places like Afghanistan or Iraq.  That all comes out of my pockets.  So, imagine my plight when I am on the ground and am seeing mostly bad news in Afghanistan.  Further, I predict an absolute slaughter of NATO forces starting in the spring of 2007.  I hope to be wrong, but I doubt it.  We and our Canadian, British and other friends, are going to lose a lot of good people needlessly in Afghanistan.  I would not be surprised to see a base overrun in 2007.

I could sit here and lie, make you feel good, make you think we are doing better than the media is making out, but we are not.  In fact, I was the first source saying that we are losing in Afghanistan.  I wrote that six months before others picked up on it.  People stopped buying my work.  But more importantly, I told the truth.  And I told the truth that Iraq was in a civil war fully one year before practically anyone else did.  It hurts me very badly financially to tell you the truth, but you can’t pay me enough to lie when our people are dieing.

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Mike Yon on Afghanistan

In the National Review Online, Michael Yon discusses the state of Afghanistan in three Op-Eds. 

In the first installment - Afghanistan's Other War (titled "Hooked" at NRO):

...Despite the increasing human toll levied by opium production in Afghanistan, there is still no coherent plan for stopping the violence, shutting off the flow of money to the enemy, and eradicating and replacing poppy in Afghanistan...

And now the second - Stagnation:

...Unlike many Islamic countries where anti-American sentiment is rampant, most Afghans were hopeful that the investments promised in 2001 would result in changes that improved their lives. They were genuinely happy to shed the Taliban. Now their views have shifted. Many Afghans turn to the Taliban now simply because they are the only group that delivers on both threats and promises. They may be the devil, but they are a devil who can get the job done...

Sounds Hezbollah-like (in Lebanon) doesn't it?

The third installment will be published tomorrow.

Update 09-18-06:  Mike Yon left this message in the comments.

There’s been a lot of talk recently that I have “switched sides,” or become pessimistic about the wars.  The former is not true, the latter definitely is.  We can win these wars, but we must radically change the way we are fighting.  I’ll not go into detail here, but suffice to say that I, too, do not like to deliver bad news.  I greatly enjoyed getting to write about our incredible soldiers – though I did not like being in Iraq or Afghanistan.  Readers should know that I funded the first 7 months in Iraq out of my own pockets, then finally began accepting support, and eventually started selling my book and photos.  I learned that when I wrote stories that made people happy, I made money.  When I wrote words that upset people, they stopped supporting my work, stopped buying photos and books.  And so, I have great financial incentive to write lies and make people happy with lies.  I do not get paid by anyone to travel to places like Afghanistan or Iraq.  That all comes out of my pockets.  So, imagine my plight when I am on the ground and am seeing mostly bad news in Afghanistan.  Further, I predict an absolute slaughter of NATO forces starting in the spring of 2007.  I hope to be wrong, but I doubt it.  We and our Canadian, British and other friends, are going to lose a lot of good people needlessly in Afghanistan.  I would not be surprised to see a base overrun in 2007.

I could sit here and lie, make you feel good, make you think we are doing better than the media is making out, but we are not.  In fact, I was the first source saying that we are losing in Afghanistan.  I wrote that six months before others picked up on it.  People stopped buying my work.  But more importantly, I told the truth.  And I told the truth that Iraq was in a civil war fully one year before practically anyone else did.  It hurts me very badly financially to tell you the truth, but you can’t pay me enough to lie when our people are dieing.

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