Congratulations to Bill and Bob’s Excellent Afghan Adventure for a very funny putdown of Robert Young Pelton’s Men’s Journal piece on Human Terrain Teams in Afghanistan. I don’t much care for Pelton’s writing either, but style aside, as a fellow reporter I’d like to offer a couple of random thoughts on the issue of fact versus fiction.
The thing with embellishment is that it’s meant to increase dramatic momentum. It’s really not good for anything else — you don’t exaggerate stuff that doesn’t carry your narrative forward. Conversely, real-life details are almost always drab and unpoetic and seemingly unconnected; it’s the context that makes them stand out. For example, when a leg is amputated in an Army CSH, there is no thrashing or screaming; the patient is sedated, and the limb is thrown into a red garbage bag. There’s no need for journalistic embroidery — no need to turn a shiver into a convulsion or a drugged-out mumble into a wail of agony. The horror is in the mundane little detail.
You can spot a tweaked bit of reality from miles away. All you have to do is look at how conveniently it fits into the atmosphere and dramatic arc the writer is trying to create — and how likely it is that such a thing actually exists. Does the U.S. Army leave the twisted hulks of blown-up Humvees lying around for all to see? Do they adorn their Black Hawks with skulls?* Is this the reality of a FOB in Afghanistan, or is it a writer trying to establish tension where there is none?
I’m in no position to know whether Pelton actually saw what he claims he saw. But I can say from experience that the temptation to colour your material is the greatest when the mission goes south — when you have set out to do something shit-hot and end up with a bunch of boring crap instead. If you think you’re an ace war correspondent and expect war to just happen the minute you set foot outside the wire, chances are it won’t.
Anyone who has plied this trade for any amount of time has had it happen to him once or twice. Even the best of us have on occasion been reduced to summoning the literary thunderclap out of a harmless raincloud. God knows I have. I suspect this is what happened to Nir Rosen on his road trip with the Taleban. And I have a hunch it may have happened to Pelton the Adventurer on his quiet embed out in the boonies.
[*UPDATE: Question answered: Apparently they do. See BABEAA’s updated post.]
Jari,
You are correct when you say “I’m in no position to know whether Pelton actually saw what he claims he saw.” but incorrect when drawing conclusions about my article.
Why not go to the Men’s Journal site and review my direct responses to the folks that don’t believe that helos have skulls on them and yes that is how things happened. But to your point about my need to invent a sense of tension…there was none.
Why not read the article? My focus is strictly on Jones and if you take the time to also read my bio you can see that not only was this my first embed after having a strict policy of no embeds but a welcome break from my normal ground work.
Keep up the good work. I enjoy your blog
best
RYP
Robert:
I did actually read through the comments.
I tried my damnest *not* to draw any conclusions about your story but merely to explain from a professional point of view why we sometimes do colour what we’ve seen.
I did, however, get the impression that your embed was pretty uneventful, but perhaps I’m wrong.
In response to RYP, I did read his article and since I have been there on the ground, I can say that he left me with a sense of unreality. It was utterly unbelievable. In short, I don’t believe it. There are outright lies in the article, things that cannot possibly be true, things that he could not possibly have seen… like describing the hand gestures of the gunner. He wasn’t on the intercom, because he described the headset as being for deadening the sound. In short, that was a lie.
Your focus on the LT was clear, biased, and unfortunate. I would like a simple answer to the question, RYP; why the hatchet job? What did you have to gain from it?
You duplicated your techniques for getting the Blackwater embed… schmoozing the brass and then assassinating the team, but there the motive was clearly profit. You wrote a book that confirmed everyone’s worst fears about Blackwater. How will you profit from this?
Why did you slander… and yes, it was slander… that young LT? He may have been goofy or whatever, but you lied about him, no doubt in my mind. Why the comments such as “lower tier liberal arts college?” Who made you the academic board of review, and what purpose did that serve?
I imagine that he probably didn’t have much use for you and then he complained that you were interfering, so you whacked him in print.
Now, you tell us YOUR side of it. It is either profit driven or childish revenge. Which was it, RYP?
PS… Thanks for the nod on my post, Jari.
Old Blue…Dude I already sent you an email but you can’t seem to respond. I say again: do you want to to actually prove what you are saying. You have my request. So man up, and grow a name and a wallet. I will be waiting.
I thought I was being quite charitable so I don’t agree with the hatchet job label. There are far more vocal critics out there. As your comments on untruths. As I offered you…how much money would you put up if I can prove them to be false. Its easy to say something, much harder to actually prove them. My charities await.
You clearly have no background on why the military, Blackwater and others invite me to hang out with them for extended periods of time. Perhaps there are reasons why programs request and need outside scrutiny?
Let me know if you want to put some money where your mouth is. You know where to find me.
RYP, I got your email, and I’m reading it carefully. :-)
I can tell you that I don’t take kindly to being threatened. :-| … Just a first impression. It did appear to me that you were threatening to sue me. Perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps you were just threatening to say mean things to me.
I hadn’t seen your email before I posted the above, by the way.
I do find it strange that you want me to pay YOU (or your favorite charity… samey same) to prove that you’re not propagating falsehoods. I would think that you’d like to clear this up as easily as you say that you can. Perhaps the controversy is somehow beneficial?
My blog is anonymous for a reason. it has been since inception and it will be for the foreseeable future. There are reasons for that having nothing whatsoever to do with you. Unmasking myself to you at this point would be ensuring that came to an end at a time not of my choosing. As the cobra told the dying man, “you knew I was a snake when you picked me up.”
You may call me Blue.
I’ve seen what you do after you get to know people. :-( Blackwater and the last military group you were invited to “hang out with” both wish they never met you. It seems that people trust you until you prove that to have been a mistake. I don’t care to become part of that crowd. Thanks for asking.
That being said:
If I have missed the truth, I am always up for discovery. Hey, I’m just a veteran of that specific area and I know what makes sense and what doesn’t. I’ve worked with the same type of people. I know what their jobs are and what they do. I know what normal looks and feels like there. What you wrote doesn’t look or feel normal. This is contrasted with an article by Steve Featherstone that made me say, “Yep, that’s what it feels like.” Truth feels like… truth to one who has been on that ground.
You of all people should know that.
Sure, I’m up for discussion, if you’ve got some information other than just assuring me that’s the way it was. You say that you’ve got proof of it all. Most places, when someone tosses the bullshit flag, it’s time to show and tell. Nobody asks the flag thrower to pony up anything. You told the tale, you’ve been called on it, and you claim to have proof that you’re not disclosing. This is the part where you show your cards. You want for me to pay you to see your five aces. I say show me the cards.
You said I wouldn’t apologize; on that you are wrong, RYP. If you can prove me wrong, I’ll put up a post entitled, “Mea Culpa,” and I will itemize what you have proven me wrong on. I’ll publish your pictures for you if you’d like. When I make an error, I own it.
Mind you, I found a lot to contend with.
Asking me to pay you to prove that you’re not a purveyor of untruths? Does that sound weird to anyone else? It sounds bizarre as hell to me.
First of all, I’m not a cash cow. If you think you’ve tied in to some rich kid you’re going to skin, you’re wrong. My favorite charity is my kids, although if you look at my archives you can see that Fisher House, Soldiers’ Angels and the Wounded Warrior Project have all benefited from my assistance.
You said you want to talk about this. Now, before I can consider the threats and the invitation you want to discuss it here… that’s fine. Very impatient. You know where to find me.
I don’t make threats, there is even less to discuss. You won’t publish the photos and I find your constant anonymous posting and incorrect speculations pointless. You know what needs to be done and I am sure you will do it. I would strongly encourage you to stop adding more insinuations if you are not prepared to back those up as well. I have clearly explained to you in private why you are not well served by your approach.
After that there are more important things on this planet to focus on.
Peace Out.
RYP
Hmmm.. I think it’s way too soon to do a “Peace Out.”
http://susankatzkeating.blogspot.com/2009/02/pitchfork-alert-snarkiest-man-alive.html
Dear RYP,
I am posting this here since you seem to be engaged, and I frankly don’t wish to leave this on your site, thereby legitimizing you.
You have got to be freaking kidding me. RYP, you self indulgent piece of shit. (Yes, an ad hominem attack. I suppose it comes from having attended a “lower-tier liberal arts college”)
Who the hell do you think you are?
Clothe yourself in all the trappings of journalistic integrity you want, but nary a veteran who has ever served will lend any credence to your fiction.
You challenge Blue to “prove” you wrong, knowing full well that any “proof” is conjecture, since it will always devolve to a “he said/she said” battle.
But that isn’t really what you want is it?
What you want to do is firstly to engage in more self-aggrandizement. Firstly for your “physical courage” in embarking on your adventure (you’re an “adventurer” right???); secondly for your Intellectual Superiority (“See ME! the GREAT ME!! I dodge all accusations!!! I AM GREAT”);
and lastly, to be idolized by your band of armchair groupies who’s idea of danger is a hot coffee that might burn them.
You engage in the same sort pendandic self-centered mockery that is the hallmark of adolescent bullies
“Grow a Wallet”??? You fuckstain, real soldiers don’t exactly have the disposable income readily available to intellectually dishonest, morally bankrupt cowards such as yourself.
You portray yourself as such the hero, and perhaps you are in the auto-biography of your self-delusion. But the plain fact of the matter is that you are a WANNE-BE. Much more so than than what you portray young Lt Jones as in your article.
Your incessant need to aggrandize yourself vis-a-vis those you disparage is your tell. When you look in the mirror, you see only the man you might have been had you the courage to DO, instead of flit about as some sort of 19th Century British fop in search of something to stimulate your otherwise vacuous existence.
You have successfully deluded scores of people for years, but you picked the wrong crowd to fuck with this time.
Real men, real heroes know the sound of Bullshit hitting the wall all too well.
It goes splat. Just like your article.
So kindly go fuck yourself.
Peace out.
/Jaeger
(Former Infantry Officer, 82d Airborne Division.)
Bill
I am sure Old Blue can defend himself but he did the right thing. He didn’t put his money where his mouth was and saved quite a bit. Although he was off base he understood where the line is. I think he is entitled to his opinion but not fabricating information that is false.
In your case I am going to assume that you are Grumpy? I hope you didn’t hurt yourself banging your dick on the keyboard so hard… but once again its about the article not the author. You can always buy a dog and kick it if you have anger management problems.
Get mad about soldiers not being able to do their job when they are away from family and friends, get mad about extraordinary amounts of money paid to civilians and get mad about programs that take away from soldiers and their benefits but don’t get mad about someone you have never met.
The phrase “lower-tier liberal arts college” is Jones description of his education not mine. I left high school when I was 16 and lived in a car so I don’t know where your anger comes from. Either way Jones is a very honest, sincere person and I wish people who don’t know him (or haven’t read the article) would visit his own blog and get to know him.
As for your opinions of me and your tone, you would fit right in on the Black Flag Cafe :))
Peace out
RYP
I did promise to plead “Mea Culpa” on this very website when he provided any evidence that he was telling the truth. He did, and I’ve written about it over at my site under a post titled “Mea Culpa.”
Please go and read it.
Jari, thanks again for the very kind nod.
All, thanks for the support.
RYP, you’ve pissed off a lot of people and I’m calling your bluff as well. I don’t buy it. I barely stop short of calling you an outright liar, but that’s what I think you are.
You take one of us on, you take all of us on:
http://www.soldiersperspective.us/2009/02/19/the-unraveling-of-pelton/
Guys. I appreciate the lively discussion, but keep it civil, will ya.
Those who can – do. Those who can’t write about it for Men’s Journal (where snark qualifies as “reporting”).
Pretty much the way it is and the way it’s always been.
[…] and ask for my humble opinion on the matter. I spent the better part of a day reading various blog postings and related articles and I got a strong sense of déjà-vu. Then it hit me; Pelton was trying to […]
[…] by allegedly threatening at least one critical blogger with a lawsuit on the grounds of libel. (see here, and here). I would prefer to see an open discussion and an airing of all possible facts, rather […]
Hey RYP, I DO think you are a LIAR, I DO think you are unprofessional and I think you are a thief becuase every day you are breathing oxygen you are stealing from the rest of us.
You have done some great work in your career, Bravo to you for that. This article was not one of them, and I guess you think the things you have done in your past make you better than others or above the law of ethics and integrity.
I would love to take you back to Afghanistan and show you the “reality” of Afghanistan and our operations there. Not sure you would make it back though as it takes guts and conviction to make it in a place like that.
RYP,
I Just saw you appear on Studio B with Shepard Smith, commenting about the recent troubles in Libya. I was quickly reminded how much of a dishonest journalist you really are. In fact, I was a bit disappointed that any professional news organization regularly has you on and passes you of as an expert in middle-eastern affairs. So, I decided to google your name and thus I came across this blog and your childish responses.
You see, I was the SECFOR Platoon Leader for the Headquarters of TF Warrior and was responsible for Personal Security for COL Spellmon, the commander. I worked regularly with the HTT (they fell under TF Warrior), providing them with convoy security as they traveled throughout our AO. LT Jones and I were well acquainted, although I wouldn’t necessarily classify us as friends, I thought he was a well intentioned officer and genuinely liked him. I was furious how you portrayed him in your article.
Rather than waisting the next hour picking apart your article and pointing out its lack of integrity, I’ll just leave you with the following: I see mention of wagers above. I would put in every cent of every dollar I own in a bet that would prove your embellishment and dishonesty. I am that confident in the truth as I and the rest of my platoon remember it. Relative to you, I guarantee I dont have that much money.
I’m going to go ahead and email foxnews and studio B and explain my dissatisfaction with their choice of “experts.” I’m willing to bet, as is apparent in the blog responses above, that you’ll threaten with libel lawsuits and hide behind the fact that you could afford such legal pursuits and I cannot.
My email: brian.craig.capra@us.army.mil. I’ll even give you my phone number at your request.
[…] It seems that Pelton doesn’t take criticism lightly. In a completely unrelated matter, his account of Human Terrain Teams in Afghanistan for Men’s Journal also draw criticism, from the U.S. Army no less. When confronted by a blogger about his article, Pelton wrote: […]