Mike Yawn...

I'm going to break that rule now, once, to make a point. Yon is upset with me because I answered questions and provided an honest, informed opinion about his last embed in Afghanistan at the request of several military bloggers. The truth in that case turned out to be a not-so-great thing for Yon, since the people I responded to used the information to question his motives for criticizing General McChrystal. Because I failed to remember the lesson from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and helped bloggers print the truth rather than the legend, I became part of the vast anti-Yon milblogging conspiracy and had to be punished when the opportunity arose.

Now, here's the privileged information: Yon will be back in Afghanistan in the future not because anyone believes he has brass balls or because he has been engaged in the verbal equivalent of kissing the ring since General Petraeus was picked to command the operation here. Yon will be back because of the public affairs officers whom he derides. Because we're professionals, because we don't hold grudges (for long), because we work our asses off in the often disappointed hope that opening doors for Yon and those who would violently disagree with him will actually help people understand what's going on. Yon will be back, too, because in the end he needs the crazy monkeys in PA more than we need him.

Read the complete post at http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2010/07/mike_yon.html