Michael Yon: Shameful Allegations.

Update Sat March 6, 2010

1200
The sycophancy continues as Yon & his fans defame & malign Canadian Troops w/no facts to support their allegations.

15:30
Still NO Apology from Yon to Brig-General Menard despite having promised to do so yesterday



Harboring resentment because the Canadian gov't will not extend it's commitment in Afghanistan beyond 2011, resentful that four US Battalions are under Canadian command and apparently angry that were watching the Canada/USA Gold Medal Game, iconic mil-blogger Michael Yon published a series of false accusations soley blaming Canadian troops and BG Menard for an important bridge that was destroyed by a suicide bomber.

With out one fact to support him, Yon purposefully took aim at Canadian troops and a Canadian Brig.General, who have sacrificed so much for so many years in the war on terror in Afghanistan, accusing the troops and the General of "wasting time":

While some troops were wasting time fixated on the Olympics, 10 minutes away a major target was left vulnerable. If we can persuade the Taliban to play Hockey, or if we can learn to play their sport -- Guerrilla Warfare -- maybe we can score some points.

Our combat operations have been severely hampered. Confidence in this General cannot be high. If he cannot protect nearby targets of obvious significance, what next?

Yon launched a series of personal mini tirades over several days on his Facebook & Twitter page where he relentlessly continued to falsely accuse Canadian soldiers and a Canadian General of being responsible for " not protecting nearby targets of obvious significance."

Sad and Sickening: A General Officer should be fired.

This morning, we lost a soldier to a suicide bomb on a bridge just a short drive from this massive military installation called Kandahar Airfield. The bridge, which is important to us, was badly damaged and remains impassable to military traffic. Meanwhile, on this... bustling base, under-employed soldiers from various nations crowd around hockey games, live bands, and coffee shops. The damaged bridge is just a bicycle ride away from soldiers who are too busy celebrating Olympic medals to safeguard this bridge. The bridge is so close that I felt the explosion and saw the mushroom cloud. Our mission, and no doubt others, was cancelled because we could not get over the bridge.

The General in charge of security for this bridge should be fired.

Yon didn't stop there. A day later he would falsely identify Canadian BG Daniel Menard as the General in charge of security who should be fired.

Mike's biggest fans would have me believe that Yon was able to track down the General's name, but had NO time to verify if Menard was INDEED the General responsible for the security of the bridge.

Meanwhile, Mathew Fisher of Canwest wrote this fact filled piece about Yon's bogus accusations & allegations " Military Rebuffs Bloggers Call for Top Canadian General To Be Fired"

But since the story, published in the Vancouver Sun and National Post in Canada provided truths that simply didn't support Mike's purposely ill conceived narrative, Yon took to insulting the paper:

National Post" is a relatively small Canadian paper that has inserted itself into the subject of the Tarnak River bridge attack by publishing a story from Canwest News Service. "National Post" appears to provide the latest example of the shoddy war reporting that is contributing to the erosion of MSM".

And Yon didn't stop there.

He demanded publicly that Menard be fired, STILL without having ONE OUNCE OF PROOF that Menard was the General responsible for securing the Bridge. I guess Yon feels that innocent until proven guilty doesn't apply to Canadian Generals.

Yon continued publishing his false allegations and snide attacks about Menard on his Facebook page until today when this happened:

Got a call out of the blue from the office of Brigadier General Ben Hodges. We will meet in 90 minutes at his office.

Ooopps!

Summary of meeting with Brigadier General Ben Hodges: The result was unexpected. General Hodges courageously accepted full responsibility. My respect for him doubled in about 30 seconds. Henceforth, Strykers will "own" the bridge. Bottom line: problem solved. BREAK. Something very important came up tonight, so will ...give accounting Friday. The accounting will include an apology from me to General Menard.

Amazing how Yon's false accusations were forthcoming quickly and relentlessly, but the apology can wait! That alone speaks to his resentment towards Canadian Military in this particular Area Of Operation.

Some of Mike's most ardent fans and admirers (of which I am one) would like me to that believe that Mike Yon was simply too busy spewing forth his false allegations that he just couldn't find the time to do some fact finding.

Some would like me to believe he simply "erred"-------over the course of five days.

Some would like me to believe that Yon's relentless false accusations and demeaning insults about Menard and the Canadian troops was simply an 'honest mistake" and they would like me to believe that the intrepid & iconic Michael Yon-- who has been in AFG for an extraordinary amount of time-- and in that particular AO for while now --had absolutely NO IDEA about the Command Structure.

I'm sorry, but that is a bridge that is simply too far for me to cross.

Yon is many things, but he's NOT stupid. Yon is very well researched. He knows who is who and when Yon sets out to attack a 'target'-- it is done intentionally & willfully.

Why did Mike accuse Canadian troops of "wasting time" watching the once in a lifetime Canadian vs USA Gold Medal event, but has NEVER ONCE accused US Troops who watch the Super Bowl while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan of 'wasting time" even as suicide bombers inflicted casualties?

What would motivate a writer of Mike's caliber to relentlessly continue to falsely accuse Menard over several days, without taking ONE MINUTE to determine the facts?

A journalist with any credibility would have done his homework and checked the facts before spewing forth FALSE and MISLEADING allegations.

But in Yon's case, it took being by SUMMONED by US BG Ben Hodges days later in order for Yon to ascertain the truth and the facts.

And once Yon had ascertained the "mea culpa" from BG Ben Hodges, why didn't he DEMAND that Hodges be fired, like he demanded of Menard? Remember Yon wrote these words:

The General in charge of security for this bridge should be fired.

Mike's tone towards the General who was responsible US General Hodges was one of awe and admiration -- a drastic difference from the vitrolic tone he displayed towards BG Menard - a tone that was rife with anger, disgust! That is very telling!

What would motivate Mike Yon to relentlessly spew forth days of fact-less shameful allegations and purposeful lies about an honorable Canadian Brig.General?

Perhaps the answer can be found in this truth:

Mr. Yon's demand that Brig.-Gen. Menard be replaced hinted at a growing frustration on the part of some Americans that NATO has put four U.S. battalions under Canadian command in Kandahar.

"I can see how someone in the American forces might say: ‘Why aren't we under U.S. command?'" Mr. Fortin said. "But the Americans answer to a Canadian who answers to a British major-general who in turn answers to an American. This is coalition warfare at its best."