Nick Meo - The Most Self-serving and Incompetent Journalist in the World
Posted: 22 Oct 2008 06:38 PM CDT
This is a MUST READ.

The following is a case of gross imcompetence and massive egoism. There are some great reporters out there - the NY TImes has them, CNN has them, Fox has them, the Christian Science Monitor has them.

And then there's Nick Meo of the Telegraph UK...this guy is a real piece of work. Two of the soldiers involved in his articles have contacted me as well as officers and sergeants on site. This is the greatest honor I could have, to speak for those soldiers who can't speak out for themselves.

Nick Meo should be shunned. His ass should be un-credentialed and tossed out of theater on the slowest garbage scow.

We begin with a self-agrandizing article written by Nick Meo titled "The night I was 'killed in action' by a Taliban ambush". I encourage you to read the sickening piece of garbage for yourself.

The convoy started with a line from a second-rate war film. "I've got a bad feeling about this mission," said Major James Becker, as his unit of National Guardsmen - the US version of the Territorial Army - and Afghan National Police set off through the chaotic traffic of Kandahar city...

Meo goes on to refer to the soldiers as "part-time soldiers who had been in Afghanistan for six months."

I think Major Baker, and just about every other guardsman there, would disagree that they are the US version of "the Territorial Army" or "part-time" which is something that would be apparent had Meo actually knew what he was writing about.

He goes on to criticize Major Baker's "dreadful Mohican-style army haircut" which brings to mind Bobby De Niro's character in Taxi Driver. Perhaps Nick Meo is clueless to the history of the mohawk. Perhaps this photo, taken in merry old England before our paratroops dropped into France on D-Day, might jar his memory...notice the Pathfinder to the right of Ike. Another "dreadful Mohican-style army haircut":


Meo may be ignorant of history but he knows his movies.

Next, Nick Meo discusses Specialist Mitch Chapman. He says Chapman is from the NY National Guard, but SPC Chapman is from the Illinois Guard. He says that Chapman, his driver of the Cougar leading the convoy, has never driven a Cougar before.

...At the wheel was Mitch Chapman, a young New Yorker who cheerfully told me that he had never driven the 13-ton monster before. He apologised in advance for his driving and told me to strap in tight with the racing driver's harness. His advice was to save my life...

The ARSIC PAO responded with a clarification. Chapman had just spent a week in Cougar driving training on Kandahar airfield. And, getting details wrong about a soldier who's advice saved Meo's life shows a blatant disregard for his memory and the truth.

It gets even worse after the Jump....

Next, Nick Meo writes another blurb that really gives you an insight into what kind of man he is:

...On top, manning the heavy machine-gun, with his head poking out of the vehicle's hatch, was Scott Dimond, a 39-year-old father of four. I didn't talk to him before we set off, which in a way I am now grateful for. Less than an hour later he was dead...

Instead of doing Dimond a service by honoring his memory, Meo thinks he is a total stud for going on this convoy but he's too much of a ***** to get to know Corporal Diamond, who I have found out via soldiers on the ground, was one helluva soldier. One officer referred to Diamond as "stellar."

After the Cougar was hit by an IED, Meo states:

...Crouching between the vehicles, I watched as infantrymen poured fire into the night. They had no night-vision goggles or flares, and some were standing in the beams from their vehicle headlights. Heavy machine-guns and grenade-launchers were hammering furiously in what the Americans call suppressive fire, to keep the enemy's heads down.

The British would have regarded this level of fire as excessive, and perhaps even trigger-happy. Thousands of rounds must have been used...

But previously he had written:

...as the soldiers tried to force a way through the chaotic traffic, firing flares at drivers who wouldn't move and trying to spot which cars might be driven by suicide bombers. One flare bounced off the windscreen of a lorry driver who came too close...

And then later:

...I couldn't understand why there were no helicopters yet. A sergeant switched on a night-vision camera and saw what he decided was a bunker, although God knows what it really was. He directed one of the heavy guns to fire at it. I hoped it wasn't an Afghan family's house....

So, first, did the soldiers have flares and NVGs or not? It seems Nick Meo says they do.

And then let's look at his assumptions. First, that the Brits would have been less aggressive after being hit. Nick Meo is alive today because of the response of the soldiers around. him. "God knows what it really was" is how he portrays the potential for civilian casualties, but then writes:

...I realised that I couldn't hear the snap, whistle or impact of any bullets. The soldiers seemed to think they were being shot at, but I didn't detect any incoming Taliban fire. Easyrider's casualty figures would surely have been higher if trained guerrillas had followed up the bomb with an ambush...

But after the Cougar had been hit (earlier in the article) Meo wrote:

...I could hear a heavy machine-gun thumping. It seemed to be some distance away and I guessed it was a Taliban ambush...

According to ARISC, they were firing at a bunker. Nick even confirms the danger from the bunker by the above.

Nick Meo describes the soldiers as "scared", "panicky", "Fearful", but I want you to go to the Telegraph site and watch the video.

You can read the rest and understand that the one who was panicky was Nick.

...By now a Medivac helicopter was on the way. I wasn't wounded, except for bruises, but I didn't want to take the same road back, so I asked to go aboard the Black Hawk if there was room...

Now, about that video that Nick was filming. He writes that on two separate occasions soldiers asked him to stop filming. This could have been for a few reasons, but mainly for security of the reporter.

Later, I received the real reason the soldiers wanted Nick's video. He was filming the dead and the dying. When being treated for non-existent wounds back at Kandahaar, Nick Meo denied having that footage. When pressed, he recanted.

No wonder the soldiers were angry with him. I can only imagine if a parent or friend of the Fallen soldiers had seen that footage.

I received a note from a soldier who arrived on the scene 20 minutes after the IED hit the cougar. He writes:

I was on scene with another USPMT (Police Mentor Team) within 20min of this strike. We remember seeing this ****** on the scene and telling him to turn off his camera.

His version of events has a basis of truth but he has added way too much to the story.

For starters, they did not put out thousands of rounds and he was not listed as a cat A.

Let me know if you would like me to write a point by point rebuttal to this retards story and I will be happy to do so in between our daily patrols of the same road he was too afraid to drive back down.

The story could have been about the loss of a truly exceptional soldier who joined the guard after retiring from a decorated career as a police officer or about the undermanned team that went on daily patrols in one of the most contested areas of A-stan. Instead, he made it about himself. He should be exposed for the ****** that he is.
After asking about the above soldier's claim that Meo was never listed as KIA (after all, he was there), I received word from the ARSIC PAO that Nick Meo was listed as WIA. Of course, he wasn't wounded, but WIA status allowed him to bug out on the medevac with the wounded and Fallen.

The whole Post-It Note thing was a lie.

AND, when offered to attend the ramp ceremony for Corporal Dimond, Nick Meo refused to attend if he couldn't videotape the event.

Our men and women, citizen soldiers, are fighting for a greater cause than themselves. Nick Meo is all for himself. He can bugger-off.

You can contact the Telegraph's editors at this email address. Or better, email a polite and to the point Letter to the Editor for the Daily Telegraph or the London Sunday Telegraph.

Update: Yes, as noted from a few emails, this might be a first my use of language not family appropriate. It's warranted.

Update 2: Check the comments. A TV Station in New Hampshire is showing the video of CPT Dimond. A Soldier's Wife has left a phone number to call to demand it's removal and an apology to the Dimond family.

You can go here and leave a comment for the Station. leanna left the comment below.

Leanna commented 18 hours 56 minutes ago:

I find this video to be one of the most distasteful things I have ever seen the media do. The fact that our family was completely blind sided with this by WMUR after they were asked not to post it. There is so much pain already this was completely horrifying and hurtful. My brother fought for our freedom, including the right to free speech and to see it abused in such a manner is so disgusting. WMUR should be ashamed.
Leanna Dimond -Thackeray
Update 3: Bouhammer, an OEF vet, is all over this too.

Update 4: A medic on site leaves this comment here:

just to further debunk nick meo, I was one of the medics on scene approx. 20 min after the IED struck, there is no way in hell that we categorized him as a priority A which is actually reserved for the seriously injured that have a chance of survival if he would have been listed as KIA he would have been a priority D. If memory serves me correctly he was made a Priority C to get him on the bird and out of the area, there was no need in having an unarmed civilian around that would have to be babysitted by another soldier. I also had to tell him to stop filming out of respect to one of our fallen brothers. Furthermore if they had not laid down suppresive fire there was probably a good chance that Easyrider would have been overrun, given the circumstances of the situation. So in retrospect he should be thanking them that he is still alive, and not beheaded with his body parts displayed on a bridge somewhere which I'm sure the Taliban would have done, they don't really make distinctions especially when you're traveling in a military convoy. I am glad that we are able to expose Nick Meo for the "****er" that he his.

Absolutely horrible. Here is my response to teh UK paper

As a two-time vetran of OIF, I found Nick Meo's article about riding with a US unit in Afghanistan, extremely disturbing. I would hope that as an editor of one of the world's more prestigious publications, you would have done a better job of actually editing, before rushing his story to print.
Meo, contradicts himself in the story on several occasions. And, I don't believe I have ever read a more self-serving piece of drivel. It is obvious to me, that Meo, is there to try and make a name for himself, and, try to pick home the lasses back at the pub with his war stories when he returns home. His own cowardice comes shing through in his own story, and his lack of human decency in respect of a fallen soldier is mind-boggling.
I would ask you to please, in the future, think before you help Meo spread any more lies and half-truths in your paper.

Sincerely,
Bill Epps
USA

You might want to read what Meo said, then have it interpreted for you.

telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontline/3223963/Afghanistan-The-night-I-was-killed-in-action-by-a-Taliban-ambush.html

Meo has been writing in, and about, Afghanistan since 2004. He also writes on other subjects. Obviously his writing doesn't suit everybody and particularly when the story isn't a particularly 'good' one.

This particular post has had a greater 'spread' than Meo's original piece.

PS:Is 'Blackfive Media' an acceptable link under the revised TOS?

I note that, as seems to be SOP for such hatchet jobs, the originator of this diatribe forgot to put his name on it. Some of our discriminating posters found it and put it up.

This omission, IMHO, puts him in the same category as the "coward" he castigates. At least Meo had the moral fibre to put his name on his report.

'twould seem that the original poster has not hid who he is,or am I missing something?

quote:

Originally posted by TomGustafson:
'twould seem that the original poster has not hid who he is,or am I missing something?

You, and I both, are missing the name of the 'original poster'. He is indeed "hiding".

Who is that? The reference here is some entity called 'Blackfive Media' which, no doubt, copied it from elsewhere - there hundreds of internet posts of this derogatory article. None I can find are attributed to the author.

Nick Meo responds:

I had described what happened after Easyrider company ran over a massive bomb on a road convoy to Helmand Province. The vehicle I was in was hurled into the air and landed on its roof, killing the top gunner and injuring two soldiers. The small unit then fired thousands of rounds blindly into the night – from automatic rifles, grenade launchers and heavy

machine guns — in an area where there are many villages, as well as Taliban guerrillas.

For writing about this, the bloggers have called me a coward, a liar, a fantasist, anti-American, and a cheap Brit journalist. One urged the Telegraph to demote me to covering dog shows, not wars. Another blog described what the Taliban would have done to me if I had been taken captive. He was clearly disappointed that it hadn’t happened.

There was also reaction from family members of soldiers involved in the attack – they knew, for instance, that I had been told to stop filming and were angry that I hadn’t, although as an embedded journalist I was entitled to do so and was not hampering operations.

One message purported to come from a soldier who was there. He wrote: 'You Coward piece of S---’. He advises me never to step inside a US base again, or on US soil, for my own good.

The US military has not challenged my reporting and the bloggers’ criticism is vague. Perhaps they were disappointed that I didn’t produce a straightforward tale of stirring heroism on a bad night in Kandahar.

Things got nasty even during the incident because the soldiers, clearly badly shaken, didn’t want to be filmed and demanded my camera. I didn’t hand it over because such footage of what happens in the aftermath of a bomb attack is rare.

Following an ambush it is standard US military procedure to switch weapons to fully automatic and pour out rounds. This is called suppressive fire and does not involve careful aiming. It kills attackers, saves soldiers’ lives and keeps the heads of ambushers down.

But such devastating gunfire also kills and wounds civilians. Hundreds of Afghans have been hit in the past two years in such incidents.

When civilians are killed Nato spokesmen usually blame the Taliban for attacks that force soldiers to defend themselves, killing non-military personnel in the process. The Taliban, knowing that US or British forces will be held responsible for the carnage, often explode bombs in markets and towns.

I don’t know whether Easyrider killed any civilians that night but I suspect the bloggers were angry because I pointed out that there may have been peace-loving Afghans out there in the dark.

Not unnaturally, the US military prefers to highlight the courage of their soldiers — men such as Scott Dimond, the father of four who died because, like all Easyrider volunteers, he wanted to stop terrorism. I certainly did not want my story to dishonour his death.

What happened that night on the Kandahar road was not part of a struggle between square-jawed good guys and bad guys wearing black turbans, as the bloggers perhaps imagine the war

to be. It was a horribly everyday incident in a deadly conflict in which men kill each other in terrifying and sometimes chaotic conditions.


telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontline/3259938/Nick-Meo-hits-back-at-Afghanistan-battle-report-slurs.html

Ah,gotchya!

I've never been in a firefight,I can't pretend I know what it's like.Civilian's peace loving or otherwise,are bound to get killed.To have more people stand against the Taliban the better,the sooner they can take back they're country for peace loving and other more productive desire's as well.

quote:

Originally posted by popsiq:
You might want to read what Meo said, then have it interpreted for you.

telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontline/3223963/Afghanistan-The-night-I-was-killed-in-action-by-a-Taliban-ambush.html

Meo has been writing in, and about, Afghanistan since 2004. He also writes on other subjects. Obviously his writing doesn't suit everybody and particularly when the story isn't a particularly 'good' one.

This particular post has had a greater 'spread' than Meo's original piece.

PS:Is 'Blackfive Media' an acceptable link under the revised TOS?

Why should you have to interpret it? I am able to read English. To see is to say.

Does this count?

http://bouhammer.com/wordpress/?p=1792

Spread the Word: A cowardice act by a reporter
October 22nd, 2008 Bouhammer Posted in Afghanistan Tour, News Stories |

Nick Meo was an embed journalist from the UK who was recently in the Khandahar area embedded with PMT and ETT mentors of TF Phoenix. I have been alerted to some terrible articles he wrote about that experience. Articles full of lies, slander and twisted truths. Articles that pump his own ego and try to make him seem more than he is, but at the same time show him as a coward by jumping on a medevac helicopter to leave the combat area rather than ride back, and he was not even wounded.
Please feel free to try emailing him at nick.meo@telegraph.co.uk, or you can try emailing the newspaper at telegraphenquiries@telegraph.co.uk if the address for Nick does not work. Let them know what you think of his lies, twisting of the truth to make it feel worse and his utter dis-respect for the American soldiers that protected him. You can also make an international call to 0800 316 6977 and let them know how you feel.
I hope you read this entire blog, send the link to your friends and spread the word to other blogs, etc. Nick Meo and the editors of telegraph.co.uk need to know this type of reporting is not appreciated, respected or wanted by citizens of this world.
Here are some of the lies and terrible things he has said, as noted by the ARSIC-South Public Affairs Officer (PAO):
Mentioned that our National Guardsmen, deployed with the 27th Brigade Combat Team, who have been deployed from their homes since January, are a ‘territorial army’ and a “part-time soldiers” shows how little you know about our soldiers deployed here in southern Afghanistan. National Guardsmen across the United States of America can be deployed for plethora missions- they range from federal active-duty for missions abroad and for state missions that may include snow storms, ice storms, hurricanes, floods, and much more.
Referred to a “dreadful Mohican-style army haircut” as you referred to Maj. James Becker, the PMT Team Chief, which I found wholly disgraceful and uncalled for. I don’t know what you think Maj. Becker did to you, to deserve a statement like that, but I was embarrassed for you for making such a statement- especially about a man and soldier who is professional and as hard-working as Maj. Becker. Maj. Becker helped save your life and you should be grateful you had such a soldier leading the convoy you were on and the soldiers in his Police Mentor Team.
Referred to Spec. Mitch Chapman as a New York Army National Guard soldier. Had you actually researched anything about Spec. Chapman, you would have easily learned Chapman is from the Illinois National Guard, but alas, you probably didn’t feel the need to properly research anything for your article, as is obvious from reading it.
Quoted Spec. Chapman as saying he had never driven a Cougar vehicle before. In fact, Spec. Chapman had just spent a week on Kandahar Airfield attending training to know how to properly drive the Cougar vehicle.
“I didn’t talk to him before we set off, which in a way I am now grateful for. Less than an hour later he was dead.” How low can one go, Nick? I was appalled to read the statement where you referred to Cpl. Scott Dimond, who was the gunner for your vehicle- providing security for his fellow soldiers, the convoy, and of course you, a reporter. Is this how you honor a fallen soldier of ours- by being thankful you never met him? Cpl. Dimond was out there risking his life for his fellow soldiers and you, and he was killed in action doing that job. Cpl. Dimond was an excellent soldier and you would have been lucky to have met him. Dimond was the standard in the United States Army- professional, met and exceeded standards, was proficient at his job, worked hard, and was always there for his fellow soldiers- a stellar soldier by far.
You wrote many inconsistencies in your story- ranging from accounts that our soldiers used flares and then later said they didn’t have flares or night-vision “cameras”. In one sentence you reported that our men fired flares at drivers who didn’t move. Then, later- half-way through the article, you mention our soldiers had no flares or night visions “cameras”. Then, later, you wrote that “a sergeant switched on a night-vision camera.” Which is it?
You Portrayed our soldiers with descriptives such as: panicky, fearful, and scared. But, based on the video clips that you provided us, of the event, and a sworn statement you wrote- we have a clear picture that our soldiers, in your own words, “were conscious and talking.” That doesn’t sound like screaming to me- which also wasn’t shown in the video you have of our men. It seems to me you were trying paint a portrait of a situation that was not true; to dramatize a situation that wasn’t how you pretended to see it.
You provided more inconsistencies about small-arms fire “some distance” away and then you tried to pretend that our men were pouring out excessive fire. For instance you wrote: “The British would have regarded this level of fire as excessive, and perhaps even trigger-happy.” If the enemy is down-range, as you also described at one point in your article that they were, then using any type of firing at the enemy would guarantee the Taliban wouldn’t be able to come close to you and you’re alive today to vouch for that method.
You made plenty of overt and overzealous assumptions when you wrote about U.S. Soldiers firing their weapons into the night. For example, the comment: “Could be Afghan homes out there” and “although God knows what it really was” when referring to a bunker the men fired upon. Assumptions as far as a reporter is concerned are worthless in this situation; assumptions by trained soldiers, deployed to the most volatile region on the country -southern Afghanistan, are ingrained through training and working the battlefield day in and day out.
The “demanded my camera as evidence” comment is exactly what you expected when our Investigating Officer came to see you the very next morning after the incident…You might recall this as the moment when you first bold-faced lied about having any footage of the scene…. Then, when asked by the Investigating Officer you said no, you didn’t have any footage. But, when pressed further, you caved in, admitting you did in fact videotape the scene after the attack. Luckily, we were forewarned that you in fact did that, by our soldiers who stopped you on the scene. You were videoing the death of a soldier and a comrade; no wonder the men were agitated with you.
“I wasn’t wounded,” you wrote… “ so I asked to go aboard the Black Hawk…” You were so scared yourself and yet you can be so judgmental about U.S. soldiers. You made our soldiers, doctors, and emergency care technicians waste their time on taking care of you when you admit you were fine. Atrocious.
The statement where you claimed I (the PAO) said you were deceased is an absolute lie, but I know you wanted to use that type of lie so that your claim about you, a journalist, would receive accolades from your fellow journalists, editors, and other bosses, and be seen as an absolute journalistic hero is in fact wholly false…..The part about a post-it note is also just as false, but typical of the drama you were trying to create in your story.
In addition to all of this, Nick, you were provided a rare opportunity to attend the ramp ceremony honoring Cpl. Scott Dimond on his decent home. When you were asked if you wanted to attend the ramp ceremony, your reply was that if you couldn’t cover the ceremony, by writing about it, then you didn’t want to attend at all. It’s so disrespectful, despicable really.
In the third paragraph (of the second story) you wrote that four members of Easyrider’s PMT team were killed in a Cougar MRAP- False! If you did the proper research that you should have done, you would have known that the it was members from a different PMT team that were killed in June in and they were in an MRAP, not the Cougar MRAP. Obviously researching the facts for your story is just simply lost on you.
The link to the articles are:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontli...-Taliban-ambush.html
and
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontli...-than-for-years.html
UPDATE- My buds over at Blackfive.net have also written a blog entry about this guy. Check it out at http://www.blackfive.net/main/2008/10/if-you-are-in-t.html#more

quote:

Originally posted by JOgershok:
Does this count?

http://bouhammer.com/wordpress/?p=1792

Spread the Word: A cowardice act by a reporter
October 22nd, 2008 Bouhammer Posted in Afghanistan Tour, News Stories |

Nick Meo was an embed journalist from the UK who was recently in the Khandahar area embedded with PMT and ETT mentors of TF Phoenix. I have been alerted to some terrible articles he wrote about that experience. Articles full of lies, slander and twisted truths. Articles that pump his own ego and try to make him seem more than he is, but at the same time show him as a coward by jumping on a medevac helicopter to leave the combat area rather than ride back, and he was not even wounded.
Please feel free to try emailing him at nick.meo@telegraph.co.uk, or you can try emailing the newspaper at telegraphenquiries@telegraph.co.uk if the address for Nick does not work. Let them know what you think of his lies, twisting of the truth to make it feel worse and his utter dis-respect for the American soldiers that protected him. You can also make an international call to 0800 316 6977 and let them know how you feel.
I hope you read this entire blog, send the link to your friends and spread the word to other blogs, etc. Nick Meo and the editors of telegraph.co.uk need to know this type of reporting is not appreciated, respected or wanted by citizens of this world.
Here are some of the lies and terrible things he has said, as noted by the ARSIC-South Public Affairs Officer (PAO):
Mentioned that our National Guardsmen, deployed with the 27th Brigade Combat Team, who have been deployed from their homes since January, are a ‘territorial army’ and a “part-time soldiers” shows how little you know about our soldiers deployed here in southern Afghanistan. National Guardsmen across the United States of America can be deployed for plethora missions- they range from federal active-duty for missions abroad and for state missions that may include snow storms, ice storms, hurricanes, floods, and much more.
Referred to a “dreadful Mohican-style army haircut” as you referred to Maj. James Becker, the PMT Team Chief, which I found wholly disgraceful and uncalled for. I don’t know what you think Maj. Becker did to you, to deserve a statement like that, but I was embarrassed for you for making such a statement- especially about a man and soldier who is professional and as hard-working as Maj. Becker. Maj. Becker helped save your life and you should be grateful you had such a soldier leading the convoy you were on and the soldiers in his Police Mentor Team.
Referred to Spec. Mitch Chapman as a New York Army National Guard soldier. Had you actually researched anything about Spec. Chapman, you would have easily learned Chapman is from the Illinois National Guard, but alas, you probably didn’t feel the need to properly research anything for your article, as is obvious from reading it.
Quoted Spec. Chapman as saying he had never driven a Cougar vehicle before. In fact, Spec. Chapman had just spent a week on Kandahar Airfield attending training to know how to properly drive the Cougar vehicle.
“I didn’t talk to him before we set off, which in a way I am now grateful for. Less than an hour later he was dead.” How low can one go, Nick? I was appalled to read the statement where you referred to Cpl. Scott Dimond, who was the gunner for your vehicle- providing security for his fellow soldiers, the convoy, and of course you, a reporter. Is this how you honor a fallen soldier of ours- by being thankful you never met him? Cpl. Dimond was out there risking his life for his fellow soldiers and you, and he was killed in action doing that job. Cpl. Dimond was an excellent soldier and you would have been lucky to have met him. Dimond was the standard in the United States Army- professional, met and exceeded standards, was proficient at his job, worked hard, and was always there for his fellow soldiers- a stellar soldier by far.
You wrote many inconsistencies in your story- ranging from accounts that our soldiers used flares and then later said they didn’t have flares or night-vision “cameras”. In one sentence you reported that our men fired flares at drivers who didn’t move. Then, later- half-way through the article, you mention our soldiers had no flares or night visions “cameras”. Then, later, you wrote that “a sergeant switched on a night-vision camera.” Which is it?
You Portrayed our soldiers with descriptives such as: panicky, fearful, and scared. But, based on the video clips that you provided us, of the event, and a sworn statement you wrote- we have a clear picture that our soldiers, in your own words, “were conscious and talking.” That doesn’t sound like screaming to me- which also wasn’t shown in the video you have of our men. It seems to me you were trying paint a portrait of a situation that was not true; to dramatize a situation that wasn’t how you pretended to see it.
You provided more inconsistencies about small-arms fire “some distance” away and then you tried to pretend that our men were pouring out excessive fire. For instance you wrote: “The British would have regarded this level of fire as excessive, and perhaps even trigger-happy.” If the enemy is down-range, as you also described at one point in your article that they were, then using any type of firing at the enemy would guarantee the Taliban wouldn’t be able to come close to you and you’re alive today to vouch for that method.
You made plenty of overt and overzealous assumptions when you wrote about U.S. Soldiers firing their weapons into the night. For example, the comment: “Could be Afghan homes out there” and “although God knows what it really was” when referring to a bunker the men fired upon. Assumptions as far as a reporter is concerned are worthless in this situation; assumptions by trained soldiers, deployed to the most volatile region on the country -southern Afghanistan, are ingrained through training and working the battlefield day in and day out.
The “demanded my camera as evidence” comment is exactly what you expected when our Investigating Officer came to see you the very next morning after the incident…You might recall this as the moment when you first bold-faced lied about having any footage of the scene…. Then, when asked by the Investigating Officer you said no, you didn’t have any footage. But, when pressed further, you caved in, admitting you did in fact videotape the scene after the attack. Luckily, we were forewarned that you in fact did that, by our soldiers who stopped you on the scene. You were videoing the death of a soldier and a comrade; no wonder the men were agitated with you.
“I wasn’t wounded,” you wrote… “ so I asked to go aboard the Black Hawk…” You were so scared yourself and yet you can be so judgmental about U.S. soldiers. You made our soldiers, doctors, and emergency care technicians waste their time on taking care of you when you admit you were fine. Atrocious.
The statement where you claimed I (the PAO) said you were deceased is an absolute lie, but I know you wanted to use that type of lie so that your claim about you, a journalist, would receive accolades from your fellow journalists, editors, and other bosses, and be seen as an absolute journalistic hero is in fact wholly false…..The part about a post-it note is also just as false, but typical of the drama you were trying to create in your story.
In addition to all of this, Nick, you were provided a rare opportunity to attend the ramp ceremony honoring Cpl. Scott Dimond on his decent home. When you were asked if you wanted to attend the ramp ceremony, your reply was that if you couldn’t cover the ceremony, by writing about it, then you didn’t want to attend at all. It’s so disrespectful, despicable really.
In the third paragraph (of the second story) you wrote that four members of Easyrider’s PMT team were killed in a Cougar MRAP- False! If you did the proper research that you should have done, you would have known that the it was members from a different PMT team that were killed in June in and they were in an MRAP, not the Cougar MRAP. Obviously researching the facts for your story is just simply lost on you.
The link to the articles are:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontli...-Taliban-ambush.html
and
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontli...-than-for-years.html
UPDATE- My buds over at Blackfive.net have also written a blog entry about this guy. Check it out at http://www.blackfive.net/main/2008/10/if-you-are-in-t.html#more

Yepper that counts. Has all the earmarks of a circle jerk, not too much thought and lots of hormones.

Once you get past the dishonor and lying, what is it that makes Meo's fiction so important?

quote:

Originally posted by popsiq:

quote:

Originally posted by TomGustafson:
'twould seem that the original poster has not hid who he is,or am I missing something?

You, and I both, are missing the name of the 'original poster'. He is indeed "hiding".

Who is that? The reference here is some entity called 'Blackfive Media' which, no doubt, copied it from elsewhere - there hundreds of internet posts of this derogatory article. None I can find are attributed to the author.

If any one is hiding behind his or her posts it is "The Mighty Guinn?" How dare he claim the original poster is anonymous. Other than the handle, first, and last name, he is a specter. My profile is there for you (and anyone else) to see. I use my name. Do not even think that I am hiding behind the skirts of someone else.

Nick MEO is still scum in my book.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: JOgershok,

quote:

Originally posted by popsiq:

quote:

Originally posted by JOgershok:
Does this count?

http://bouhammer.com/wordpress/?p=1792

Spread the Word: A cowardice act by a reporter
October 22nd, 2008 Bouhammer Posted in Afghanistan Tour, News Stories |

Nick Meo was an embed journalist from the UK who was recently in the Khandahar area embedded with PMT and ETT mentors of TF Phoenix. I have been alerted to some terrible articles he wrote about that experience. Articles full of lies, slander and twisted truths. Articles that pump his own ego and try to make him seem more than he is, but at the same time show him as a coward by jumping on a medevac helicopter to leave the combat area rather than ride back, and he was not even wounded.
Please feel free to try emailing him at nick.meo@telegraph.co.uk, or you can try emailing the newspaper at telegraphenquiries@telegraph.co.uk if the address for Nick does not work. Let them know what you think of his lies, twisting of the truth to make it feel worse and his utter dis-respect for the American soldiers that protected him. You can also make an international call to 0800 316 6977 and let them know how you feel.
I hope you read this entire blog, send the link to your friends and spread the word to other blogs, etc. Nick Meo and the editors of telegraph.co.uk need to know this type of reporting is not appreciated, respected or wanted by citizens of this world.
Here are some of the lies and terrible things he has said, as noted by the ARSIC-South Public Affairs Officer (PAO):
Mentioned that our National Guardsmen, deployed with the 27th Brigade Combat Team, who have been deployed from their homes since January, are a ‘territorial army’ and a “part-time soldiers” shows how little you know about our soldiers deployed here in southern Afghanistan. National Guardsmen across the United States of America can be deployed for plethora missions- they range from federal active-duty for missions abroad and for state missions that may include snow storms, ice storms, hurricanes, floods, and much more.
Referred to a “dreadful Mohican-style army haircut” as you referred to Maj. James Becker, the PMT Team Chief, which I found wholly disgraceful and uncalled for. I don’t know what you think Maj. Becker did to you, to deserve a statement like that, but I was embarrassed for you for making such a statement- especially about a man and soldier who is professional and as hard-working as Maj. Becker. Maj. Becker helped save your life and you should be grateful you had such a soldier leading the convoy you were on and the soldiers in his Police Mentor Team.
Referred to Spec. Mitch Chapman as a New York Army National Guard soldier. Had you actually researched anything about Spec. Chapman, you would have easily learned Chapman is from the Illinois National Guard, but alas, you probably didn’t feel the need to properly research anything for your article, as is obvious from reading it.
Quoted Spec. Chapman as saying he had never driven a Cougar vehicle before. In fact, Spec. Chapman had just spent a week on Kandahar Airfield attending training to know how to properly drive the Cougar vehicle.
“I didn’t talk to him before we set off, which in a way I am now grateful for. Less than an hour later he was dead.” How low can one go, Nick? I was appalled to read the statement where you referred to Cpl. Scott Dimond, who was the gunner for your vehicle- providing security for his fellow soldiers, the convoy, and of course you, a reporter. Is this how you honor a fallen soldier of ours- by being thankful you never met him? Cpl. Dimond was out there risking his life for his fellow soldiers and you, and he was killed in action doing that job. Cpl. Dimond was an excellent soldier and you would have been lucky to have met him. Dimond was the standard in the United States Army- professional, met and exceeded standards, was proficient at his job, worked hard, and was always there for his fellow soldiers- a stellar soldier by far.
You wrote many inconsistencies in your story- ranging from accounts that our soldiers used flares and then later said they didn’t have flares or night-vision “cameras”. In one sentence you reported that our men fired flares at drivers who didn’t move. Then, later- half-way through the article, you mention our soldiers had no flares or night visions “cameras”. Then, later, you wrote that “a sergeant switched on a night-vision camera.” Which is it?
You Portrayed our soldiers with descriptives such as: panicky, fearful, and scared. But, based on the video clips that you provided us, of the event, and a sworn statement you wrote- we have a clear picture that our soldiers, in your own words, “were conscious and talking.” That doesn’t sound like screaming to me- which also wasn’t shown in the video you have of our men. It seems to me you were trying paint a portrait of a situation that was not true; to dramatize a situation that wasn’t how you pretended to see it.
You provided more inconsistencies about small-arms fire “some distance” away and then you tried to pretend that our men were pouring out excessive fire. For instance you wrote: “The British would have regarded this level of fire as excessive, and perhaps even trigger-happy.” If the enemy is down-range, as you also described at one point in your article that they were, then using any type of firing at the enemy would guarantee the Taliban wouldn’t be able to come close to you and you’re alive today to vouch for that method.
You made plenty of overt and overzealous assumptions when you wrote about U.S. Soldiers firing their weapons into the night. For example, the comment: “Could be Afghan homes out there” and “although God knows what it really was” when referring to a bunker the men fired upon. Assumptions as far as a reporter is concerned are worthless in this situation; assumptions by trained soldiers, deployed to the most volatile region on the country -southern Afghanistan, are ingrained through training and working the battlefield day in and day out.
The “demanded my camera as evidence” comment is exactly what you expected when our Investigating Officer came to see you the very next morning after the incident…You might recall this as the moment when you first bold-faced lied about having any footage of the scene…. Then, when asked by the Investigating Officer you said no, you didn’t have any footage. But, when pressed further, you caved in, admitting you did in fact videotape the scene after the attack. Luckily, we were forewarned that you in fact did that, by our soldiers who stopped you on the scene. You were videoing the death of a soldier and a comrade; no wonder the men were agitated with you.
“I wasn’t wounded,” you wrote… “ so I asked to go aboard the Black Hawk…” You were so scared yourself and yet you can be so judgmental about U.S. soldiers. You made our soldiers, doctors, and emergency care technicians waste their time on taking care of you when you admit you were fine. Atrocious.
The statement where you claimed I (the PAO) said you were deceased is an absolute lie, but I know you wanted to use that type of lie so that your claim about you, a journalist, would receive accolades from your fellow journalists, editors, and other bosses, and be seen as an absolute journalistic hero is in fact wholly false…..The part about a post-it note is also just as false, but typical of the drama you were trying to create in your story.
In addition to all of this, Nick, you were provided a rare opportunity to attend the ramp ceremony honoring Cpl. Scott Dimond on his decent home. When you were asked if you wanted to attend the ramp ceremony, your reply was that if you couldn’t cover the ceremony, by writing about it, then you didn’t want to attend at all. It’s so disrespectful, despicable really.
In the third paragraph (of the second story) you wrote that four members of Easyrider’s PMT team were killed in a Cougar MRAP- False! If you did the proper research that you should have done, you would have known that the it was members from a different PMT team that were killed in June in and they were in an MRAP, not the Cougar MRAP. Obviously researching the facts for your story is just simply lost on you.
The link to the articles are:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontli...-Taliban-ambush.html
and
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontli...-than-for-years.html
UPDATE- My buds over at Blackfive.net have also written a blog entry about this guy. Check it out at http://www.blackfive.net/main/2008/10/if-you-are-in-t.html#more

Yepper that counts. Has all the earmarks of a circle jerk, not too much thought and lots of hormones.

Once you get past the dishonor and lying, what is it that makes Meo's fiction so important?

A lie told often enough becomes the truth.
Lenin (1870 - 1924)

"The most dangerous untruths are truths slightly distorted."--G. C. Lichtenberg (1742–99), German physicist and philosopher

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." Sir Winston Churchill

This message has been edited. Last edited by: JOgershok,

A few facts and commentaries that the incessantly offended might wish to know (but probably don't because it might deflate their righteous indignation):

i) In Britain the reserve (as opposed to regular) component of the Army is called the Territorial Army, it is a force of ordinarily part-time soldiers who train evenings, weekends and at annual camps who then deploy full time alongside and often within regular units. Much like the National Guard in fact. Therefore in referring to the troops in his article as territorial or part -time the journalist is being in no way pejorative, he's just using recognised British terms.

ii) The tendency of American soldiers, even commissioned officers, to shear themselves like sheep is a source of mild amusement to the British and calling the major's barnet a “dreadful Mohican-style army haircut” is merely a descriptive turn of phrase that would gain instant recognition from readers. It's worth noting that Queens Regulations actually stipulate a minimum length for officers' hair.

iii) The British probably would consider what Americans describe as "suppressive fire" excessive and you will find many accounts by not just British journalists but soldiers who marvel (often derisively) at the amount of fire that American troops will unleash at everything, anything and nothing when they fear ambush. British doctrine eschews this and their first drill tends to be aimed at identifying targets, partly I suspect in a holdover from a fear in Northern Ireland of hitting friendlies or neutrals and partly because Britain held on to the semi-auto SLR long after the US adopted the M16 any journo who had been in Helmand would therefore find the difference in tactics striking.(I must admit that I had thought that Petraeus' new doctrines had reduced this practice in the US Army for the reasons that Meo gives, the collateral damage in Iraq from undirected fire in ambushes was cited as a major cause of Iraqi unrest.

iv) No journo worth his salt is going to give his camera to military investigators unless pressed because the footage has a habit of "disappearing" if it makes the army in question look bad.

v) The impression I got from the article last week was that that mission was the first one in which the driver had driven the Cougar operationally not the first time he had ever driven one.

vi) “I didn’t talk to him before we set off, which in a way I am now grateful for. Less than an hour later he was dead.”, seems a remarkably candid statement and not one that in any way criticises the dead man.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Bladensburg,

[QUOTE]Originally posted by popsiq:
Nick Meo responds:

Popsig, as you know, I've posted numerous times that the indiscriminate use of air power, acting independent of ground action, kills innocents, alienates the population, and should be halted.

But in the incident we are talking about above, the situation is completely different. It's unfortunate that innocents might be killed, but that's the price of fighting a war. The responsiility rests completely on the Taliban who set up this ambush.

If you bomb some village that the Taliban left two days before, the people are going to blame You for bombing them. If the people are aware that a firefight was innitiated by the Taliban, most of them will draw the correct conclusions. These people have been fighting all their lives and know up from down.

Dave

quote:

Originally posted by Grachus:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by popsiq:
Nick Meo responds:

Popsig, as you know, I've posted numerous times that the indiscriminate use of air power, acting independent of ground action, kills innocents, alienates the population, and should be halted.

But in the incident we are talking about above, the situation is completely different. It's unfortunate that innocents might be killed, but that's the price of fighting a war. The responsiility rests completely on the Taliban who set up this ambush.

If you bomb some village that the Taliban left two days before, the people are going to blame You for bombing them. If the people are aware that a firefight was innitiated by the Taliban, most of them will draw the correct conclusions. These people have been fighting all their lives and know up from down.

Dave

So Meo was wrong?
He's not alone in misunderstanding how unarmed civilians (innocents) can be responsible for what fighters - the Taliban (ie armed civilians) do. But he does know that they are.

But then Meo ain't a soldier. He may have been shot at, too, but he wasn't shooting back. He certainly was blown up, but he seems to have taken that as 'part of his job'.

These people may have "been fighting all their lives", that's their business. What makes you think it's ours?

quote:

Originally posted by JOgershok:

quote:

Originally posted by popsiq:

quote:

Originally posted by TomGustafson:
'twould seem that the original poster has not hid who he is,or am I missing something?

You, and I both, are missing the name of the 'original poster'. He is indeed "hiding".

Who is that? The reference here is some entity called 'Blackfive Media' which, no doubt, copied it from elsewhere - there hundreds of internet posts of this derogatory article. None I can find are attributed to the author.

If any one is hiding behind his or her posts it is "The Mighty Guinn?" How dare he claim the original poster is anonymous. Other than the handle, first, and last name, he is a specter. My profile is there for you (and anyone else) to see. I use my name. Do not even think that I am hiding behind the skirts of someone else.

Nick MEO is still scum in my book.

No response from popsiq aka Mighty Guinn? How strange

http://billandbobsadventure.blogspot.com/2008/10/now-yo...e-me-talk-about.html

Here's some answers,etc to Meo's"Look at me" article

quote:

Originally posted by billdawg24:
http://billandbobsadventure.blogspot.com/2008/10/now-yo...e-me-talk-about.html

Here's some answers,etc to Meo's"Look at me" article

Here is an example:

Now for some serious lying;

"As I walked towards the terminal, not quite able to believe that I was back to safety, a young woman in army uniform introduced herself as Amy Bonnano, the Public Affairs Officer who had arranged my "embed".

"It's great to see you," she said. "We had you listed as Category A."

What did that mean? "It's the worst scenario. It means deceased."


Now here's where it's time to get real, Nick. 1LT Bonanno wrote you a letter about that, Nick. She was the other party in that "conversation," and she says that it didn't even occur. Did you read that letter that she wrote you? What made you think that she would keep your dirty little secret? What made you think that she wouldn't let others know that you are a liar?

The note about being reported as KIA? Yeah, she threw the bullsxxt flag at you on that one, too. Great high drama, Nick. Total lie. Called on it by the officer on whose desk that note supposedly resided; yet you protest.