I've been reading Yon's stuff for a while now.

Kurilla is one stone-cold bad-ass mofo. Deuce-four will be hard-pressed to replace him.

It's an incredible article. Yon probably could use an editor, but it still makes all the MSM reporting look like a pile of puke.

The thing that really made me angry was the "catch-and-release" policy. Dammit, how are the warfighters supposed to prevail when the lawyers are sending the bad guys right back out there?? Gah!!

This is one more reason why it's so important the Iraqis get up to speed. They're not nearly so perfectionistic about due process. Not that due process is a bad thing, far from it, but come on already. We can't put known terrorists back on the streets of Mosul to kill our soldiers.

Some more good news on that front btw:

US general sees significant withdrawal in Iraq

The US is expected to pull significant numbers of troops out of Iraq in the next 12 months in spite of the continuing violence, according to the general responsible for near-term planning in the country.

Maj Gen Douglas Lute, director of operations at US Central Command, yesterday said the reductions were part of a push by Gen John Abizaid, commander of all US troops in the region, to put the burden of defending Iraq on Iraqi forces.

Note that our wonderful press immediately tries to cast it as a retreat driven by political pressure. Sigh.

In the best tradition of Ernie Pyle. Pulitzer material compared to the regular MSM crap...

I broke into tears when I read LTC Kurilla was shot three times. I also wonder if the two soldiers that refused to engage will be reprimanded for their lack of action.

This is great writing. Tell me again why the MSM doesn't pick this stuff up? I was hanging on to every word. This would sell papers. What great heros!

This is great writing. Tell me again why the MSM doesn't pick this stuff up? I was hanging on to every word. This would sell papers. What great heros!

Someone drank up all the kool-aid?

Razorgirl, you've touched on an amazing internal contradiction in the MSM. They're acting against their own self-interest by refusing to cover this kind of story. Ratings/circulation would dramatically improve if people were hearing/reading this stuff. Is there another explanation besides opposition to Bush and the war that explains them doing something so short-sighted and detrimental to their own bottom lines?

This is great writing. Tell me again why the MSM doesn't pick this stuff up?

then they would have to admit that they have no one on staff who is willing to button up with troops, get to know them and accompany them on missions, and then write about what they see, not what their editorial boards want to hear.

From what I've read on many responses to this article, the two "non-movers" will be better judged upon their next exposure to enemy fire. Yon did them a great service by not naming them. They still have an opportunity to become a part of the Deuce-Four. After all, they've got to know that they've been ID'd as someone who didn't get into the fight.

Actually, I hope that they don't take a stupid risk in their next encounter in an attempt to wash away any shame they might feel from the Gates of Fire.

Freezing in combat happens. If you survive, don't let it happen again.

I've noticed one MSM failing preventing them from running this type of story that isn't a *political* bias so much as a "time" bias. And even stupider, and more contrary to the MSM's own interests, than political bias, I think.

Basically, Yon's story would be considered "old news." I remember this from the start of the war in Iraq, back when the networks actually tried to cover stories. There was a lot of good combat footage available... but it wasn't LIVE, because it took a day or three to get it cleared by the military, and to physically get the footage to the network. But dramatic footage from the front lines kept losing out to live "BREAKING NEWS" from Baghdad hotels, where the reporters actually knew less about what was going on than their people back in New York.