http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nati ... t/2436549/
Part of his story was his debut about his doomed love:Journalist and war correspondent Michael Hastings has died in a car crash in Los Angeles.
Hastings wrote story credited with ending career of Gen. Stanley McChrystal
Hastings wrote about politics for the Buzzfeed news website
The journalist was 33 years old
Michael Hastings, a native Vermonter and a journalist widely known for his profile in Rolling Stone magazine of a general who commanded U.S. forces in Afghanistan, was killed Tuesday in a car crash in Los Angeles, according to multiple reports.
He was 33.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/books ... wanted=all
From Booklist
In 2005, at the age of 25, Hastings was sent by Newsweek to cover the war in Iraq. Eventually, his girlfriend, Andi Parhamovich, joined him, working for the National Democratic Institute to try to create democratic institutions. The story of their moving and ultimately tragic relationship forms the core of Hasting’s account. The book begins and ends with the horrifying terror attack that killed Parhamovich. In between, Hastings describes how two young, almost hopelessly idealistic people try to nurture and maintain a relationship amid the daily carnage in Baghdad. This is no sappy love story. There is, of course, affection, but there is also conflict as both show the stress of constant fear for their personal safety. This is also a rather brutal story of a society ripping itself apart. Particularly after the March 2006 bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra, sectarian violence rages with increasing savagery. No one is immune. Supposed noncombatants must travel in security convoys protected by private security firms. Parhamovich’s death is emotionally wrenching, but it seems almost predictable in this moving but deeply disturbing story. --Jay Freeman
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00307.htmlAmerican Killed in Iraq Was Set to Marry
By KIM GAMEL
The Associated Press
Friday, January 19, 2007; 9:44 PM
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Andrea Parhamovich was fully in control of her impending engagement, detailing the ring she wanted as well as helping to plan the formal engagement trip _ Paris, Valentine's Day.
Parhamovich was killed in an ambush in Baghdad, and the Newsweek reporter in Baghdad who planned to marry her said Friday she had e-mailed him just last week with specifications for the ring.
"We were going to formalize everything," said 26-year-old Michael Hastings, recalling that Parhamovich's ring finger was a size 6.
They had been dating for about two years and wanted to travel to Paris in February so he could propose on Valentine's Day, but the trip had to be postponed until March because of logistics and work demands, he said.
Parhamovich, 28, an activist with the Washington-based National Democratic Institute, died Wednesday in an ambush on her convoy as it traveled through one of Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhoods. An al-Qaida-linked coalition of Iraqi Sunni insurgents claimed responsibility for the attack.
The McChrystal article seems key
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/ne ... l-20100622
http://www.amazon.com/The-Operators-Ter ... 0452298962
Then there's this coverage though, which seems just as far fetched as his first book:
http://www.ibtimes.com/michael-hastings ... er-1314253At the very least, there are still many dots to be connected, but as is often the case with unusual news stories, the real conspiracy-theory fireworks are on Reddit -- in particular, one RIP Hastings thread in which users have been running amok with Reddit-esque guesswork about how Hastings’ enemies might have pulled off such a deed.
“I wonder how small a remote driving device would be,” one user speculated.
“Don't need that, just mess up his brakes and fuel line,” another user replied. “Car slides, crashes and catches fire.”
Others suggested “throttle sabotage,” a manipulation that would prevent a car from decelerating and which could explain the vehicle's reported high speed at the time of the crash. Yet another user postulated that the “unrecognizable” body suggests abduction, not murder. Finally, one Redditor issued a warning to journalists investigating the case: Don’t dig too deep.
“Stick with the party line if you want a long happy life,” the user posted.
So, how much of Michael Hastings life and/or death is real?
