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War. Nobody claims to like it, but the activity is as synonymous with society as the daily newspaper. In fact, the media loves wars. It might be gruesome, but as George Carlin said, we like it. People are drawn to the horror, the carnage and sometimes the pure futility of a conflict.

But how does the public make these decisions? One of the turning points of Vietnam was when Walter Cronkite came back from the South-East Asian conflict and said that it wasn't going to work. The media forms the public opinion on wars we cannot visit.

But how accurate is the media? With technology booming and accessibility from regions getting easier and easier, the media has to spread its focus and keep with what's interesting. Now more wars, events and conflicts can be covered and agencies can give viewers what they think they want: a quick snippet of a war somewhere that is supposed to give enough information to make a decision. But sensationalism and the public attention span often leaves the picture unclear or completely distorted.

Iraq is perhaps the best modern example of this. It's a war that is being widely covered — even local papers tend to carry a day's worth of news from the region. But all we see is carnage, insurgent bombs, civilian casualties, dead soldiers and a growing belief that America should get out. This is growing mantra of the status quo (and a convenient 'angle' for journalists), but is it accurate?

Not if you ask Michael Yon. "The Iraqi people and the Coalition are making this work. The enemy is brave, but so are the new Iraqi police and army. The enemy is smart, but so are many people who are stopping them." <> A writer for NAG and SA Computer Magazine, James Francis has done quite well with no formal training in journalism. While stories about technology and games pay the rent, his real passion lies in new grounds: the bleeding edge of internet culture, the fringe, the taboo and anything that seems worth telling people about. As technology explodes, it affects our cultures drastically. James likes sitting on the cusp of the chaos and staring into the abyss.

Yon wrote to Bill Steigerwald on PittburghLive.com: "The enemy is getting their butt kicked in Mosul. They are still deadly, but they are losing. Three new police stations were built this week. Peace can prevail here. They have been at war here for about 50 years. It's time for peace. Many of the Iraqis are weary with war."

One man and his blog

But pro-war sentiment with writers isn't uncommon. What makes Yon so special? His work first caught my attention when he posted 'Gates of Fire', a report detailing a gunfight between Deuce Four Regiment and insurgents in the city of Mosul. Unlike other writers Yon isn't a journalist, nor does he work for any news agency. The 41-year old author of books such as 'Danger Close' headed to Iraq to get the true story after chatting with friends in the military. He didn't know much, but he was skeptical about what the media told him.

What Yon went on to do wasn't possible a few years ago: with the power of blogging he has found a voice and an audience for his endeavour. Yon's words are fully funded by himself and donations from his readers. Granted, soon there will be book deals and news outlets have also been licensing his works.

But it all began with one man and his blog.

Why is Yon so special? His perspective is completely pro-American Military, but refreshingly first-person and hands-on. Though he doesn't approve of the war, his point of view is simple: Iraq needs the US to get back on its feet; progress is being made and the US has a responsibility in Iraq.

Cutting through the politics

His reports quickly cut through the political reasons behind the war: it's irrelevant by this point why the US attacked Iraq, what is important is progress made now. This comes across as Yon tells the stories of the soldiers and people in the conflict. His latest work goes in-depth into the recent Iraqi elections.

"The millions who voted sent a clear message: serpentine lines of ebullient Iraqis risked their lives — many died — to have a say in their futures. People voted by dipping their right index fingers into purple ink and casting their lot. The image of Iraqi voters proudly holding their stained fingers aloft became a symbol for the success of the election. In Baquba, many voters asked me to photograph them as they left the polling places, all smiles and purple fingers."

It's a first-person perspective on a brutal but misunderstood conflict. Yon tries to censor his work as little as possible (sometimes even ignoring military requests for secrecy). He runs a fine line of self-censorship and risking offending the military powers that be. But the soldiers are very supportive of his work, since it tells it like it is.

"Strykers are fast, but Opels are faster. We were roaring through little streets and along roads, horn blaring, cars zipping off the sides, the steady chatter of multiple radio channels colliding inside the Stryker. A Kiowa helicopter pilot radioed that he spotted the car. As the chase continued, the Kiowa pilot said, 'It's going about 105 mph.' 'How can the pilot know it's going 105 mph?' I thought. As if in reply, the pilot radioed that the Opel was outrunning his helicopter. Captain Jeff VanAntwerp came on the radio net saying he was moving his section into position to intercept the Opel."

Is it biased? Perhaps, though purely from an American Military point of view. Ideology and US political styling do not play a role in Yon's work; the point is a first person account of what's happening, echoing the ideals of New Journalists like Hunter S. Thompson and Marc Jacobson and perhaps hails a new form of New Journalism.

Above and beyond what Yon's doing, it's how he's doing it. His is an example of how one man can harness the web to tell a story and get the world far closer to the truth than a dozen mainstream media outlets combined.