L'Affaire Meo Continues: Disgraced Journo Asks NATO to Muzzle American Milbloggers

There has been a most interesting development in L'Affaire Meo. Disgraced British journalist Nick Meo has asked officials from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to muzzle American milbloggers. Seriously. I'm not joking.

For those of you who have just joined us: London Daily Telegraph reporter Nick Meo behaved poorly while embedded with an American Army unit, and subsequently was called out by American milbloggers. As reported here and elsewhere, Meo accompanied our troops on a mission in Afghanistan. When the mission turned deadly, the uninjured Meo wangled an escape on board a Medevac chopper, and later filed an error-filled report that took pot-shots at the very troops who saved his life. American milbloggers, AKA The Pitchfork Brigade, correctly pointed out fabrications in Meo's published writings, and properly chastised him for dishonoring a slain soldier. Even a respected British journalist took umbrage at Meo's report: "I was appalled. It was a crappy piece of work."

In some small corners of our hearts, I suppose we all hoped Meo would listen and learn. But, no. He instead has catalogued the psychic wounds inflicted upon him by the milbloggers, and has complained about us to NATO! Yes, that is correct. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He went specifically for help to NATO's International Security Assistance Force, otherwise known as ISAF.

According to an Army source with direct knowledge of events:

"Apparently twice this month Nick Meo and the Sunday Telegraph contacted ISAF, who isn't within our chain of command, to intervene on the U.S. side and tell the soldiers and milbloggers to leave him and the Telegraph alone."

Huh? ISAF controls the Army, which controls the milbloggers? Um.... No. On both counts.

Apparently Meo believes otherwise. He sent ISAF copies of "hate mail" written by readers inflamed by what the milbloggers wrote. The worst piece of mail, apparently, expressed the wish that a stray bullet would find its way to Meo's camera; the rest were mostly from military families expressing disgust at Meo's behavior. In other words, the standard stuff we journalists and bloggers expect from impassioned readers who disagree with what we write (and far tamer than emails I've received, for example, from my Ex).

I'm not clear on what Meo thought ISAF could or would do, and I am even less clear on whether Meo or his employer threatened legal action.

The latter scenario raises a plethora of questions, such as:

Who would prosecute? Under which laws? Would they file through the International Criminal Court? Will the Pitchfork Brigade be dragged before the Hague? Are we at risk of being snatched from international airports and brought to justice? Should I now travel only under my Irish passport?

As expressed by my source:

"Hopefully ISAF has already told [Meo] and the Telegraph that they can't dictate we do anything since they're in a wholly separate chain of command, we act autonomously from them. "

Neither the Telegraph nor Meo nor ISAF has responded to my inquiries. In the meanwhile, I offer a public service announcement to my readers:

Do not threaten to physically hurt Nick Meo. If you see him on the street, do not pelt him with tomatoes nor flick boogers at his head. Do not call him bad names, stick out your tongue, nor make him cry.

Okay, that should keep me in good with the ICC.

Other than that.... Stay tuned for further developments.