E-mail Message Says US Military Censoring News

UPDATE: The Belmont Club is now posting this message. Richard Fernandez is somewhat more cautious than I was in attributing the message to Michael Yon (as claimed). As I noted in a comment to the Belmont Club post, I believed the message to be authentic because: (1) as Fernandez observed, its contents are consistent with the general nature of earlier statements Michael Yon has made about Iraq; (2) shortly before the e-mail appeared, I saw similar comments on the PJM story signed by one "Michael Yon"; (3) the e-mail address on the message is the same one from which I've received updates from MY before; and (4) if someone else were falsely using MY's name, I believe he would have caught wind of it by now and we would hear about it. However, it is highly unusual for a responsible blogger like Michael Yon to make serious accusations such as these without providing backup. So I am following Richard's lead and posting this with the caveat that I haven't positively confirmed it to be authentic, nor received any independent confirmation of the allegations contained in the message. Also I am removing the name of the individual who is the subject of the accusations.

I'll post more when I know more.

UPDATE: This message is now confirmed as authentic.


Michael Yon, via e-mail bulletin:

Pajamas Media recently reported that there are only 9 embedded reporters in Iraq. Many are blaming this on the media, and while I can never be called an apologist for mainstream media, I can say with certainty that the United States military is censoring.

It remains unclear if this is a general policy, though there are recent inquiries to the office of the Secretary of Defense. I await response. Or, perhaps, the censorship is merely the policy of LTC ****** who is responsible for operations involving embeds. ****** is said to be the most quoted man in Iraq . I've learned to trust nothing he says. I do know for a fact that ****** has been untruthful with the media. If ****** calls me on this, I'll take the time to prove it.

While sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, sisters, brothers and friends, fight and die in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military apparently is preventing journalists from telling the story. They attempt to deflect accusations of censorship by allowing in just enough reporters to appear transparent.

I'll post updates on the website as the situation unfolds. ...

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