Michael Yon - Recent Dispatches

I hope you will take the time to read Mr. Yon's recent dispatches from the front lines in Iraq. I just finished reading his latest dispatches, and the I will post portions of these below with links to the complete disatch/Article. These are must read articles that give insight of the facts and shows how poor a job the Media we see on TV is doing. They take pistucres of car bombs or air al-Qaeda propaganda. It is sick how bad of a job the mainstrean Media/News is doing. We need to hear the facts not hype and assumptions. Mr. Yon has many links in his articles to videos he took and also there are many pictures.

Bread and a Circus, Part II of II

......That morning, still in Baqubah and trying to get the convoy organized, a truck driver had approached us with intention in his eyes. LTC Johnson closed on the man whom he suspected was a suicide bomber. My video was running as Johnson drew his pistol. If a bomb had detonated, Johnson and a few others would have definitely been killed. I might have survived—although in no condition to write these words—but had I, it would have been solely due to Johnson and the others having closed space with the man. But they actually risked their lives not to save mine, but his: they could have shot him from a distance of perhaps even 10m farther, but it happened so suddenly they just moved straight in. That was courage.

As it happened, the man who had closed space with us was simply an Iraqi coming forward to help start the convoy rolling. The Iraqi man—I’ll call him “Tonto” because he’s still in the thick of the war—owned some trucks and wanted to get his business going. Guts and capitalism make an impressive combination.......Full Article Click here

Second Chances

.......General Petraeus was Colonel Petraeus, Colonel Petraeus was Captain Johnson’s new commander. They were doing a live-fire exercise at a range at Fort Campbell when a young soldier named Specialist Terrence Jones tripped and accidentally fired his weapon while conducting a live-fire assault. The bullet from Specialist Jones’ weapon struck Colonel Petraeus, slamming through his chest and taking a piece of his back on the way out. Petraeus fell to the ground, bleeding out of his mouth. He nearly died. We could have lost one of the most important and influential military leaders in generations to a mistake. To a professional misstep.

The best that Captain Johnson and Specialist Jones might have hoped for was a painless end to their military service. I asked LTC Fred Johnson about the story of his own soldier shooting David Petraeus, and I asked how it could be that Johnson was still in the military. Johnson looked me in the eye and said something like, “Mike. You know what Petraeus did?”

“What?” I asked........ - Michael Yons full Article here

Updates on Baqubah

Getting the people food, water, fuel, electricty and the essentials needed to bring back some normal life. The American general in the Video gives a lot of credit to the Iraqis for getting the basic necessaties to the people in Baqubah, but I know the American Military actualy was a very big part of making that happen as quickly as it did. However they don't like to admit it or take any credit for a lot of great work they do to push local government and Iraqi army for the organization of essential items.

Brig. Gen. Bednarek on Operation Arrowhead Ripper

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This edition features stories on the killing of a senior al-Qaida terrorist in Samarra, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Conway visiting Marines in Camp Victory, U.S. Soldiers hunting for improvised explosive devices and Operation Eagle Ares. Hosted by Staff Sgt. Alana Ingram.

Video and Articles by Michael Yon

Hello, I hope you enjoy these Videos and articles as Much as I do. - Ian Bach

Recent unedited video from front lines near al Qaeda strong Hold city of Baqubah.

"Captain Baker gave an important interview on video. Captain Baker, who in Captain Clayton Combs’ words is “an excellent soldier,” is from the Kurdish north, but Baker said he is Iraqi first, Kurdish second. He said that American Special Forces had trained him. Apparently the Special Forces did a good job. Captain Baker and his Iraqi soldiers, or “jundi,” get high marks from American soldiers. In the video, Captain Baker shared interesting details about the killing of Zarqawi back in 2006. Zarqawi had been the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, until he was killed nearby by U.S. bombs." by Michael Yon - Reporter on a current embed with US forces on the front lines.

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7-rules-1-oath
"Colonel Townsend clarified the purpose of the meeting; it was not to formalize relations or to establish a chain of command, but to work out ways of cooperating to bring better days to Baqubah. "

'Colonel Townsend’s staff had prepared a slideshow that started off with a draft of “7 Rules.” The final version of the 7 Rules were open to discussion and suggestions from those in attendance. The rules were followed by an Oath, also still in draft."

by Michael Yon a Vietnam Veteren working to Reporting from the front lines of the War in Iraq

"Please read: "7 Rules: 1 Oath""

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Live video interview with U.S. Soldiers on the front line of the surge, fighting terroism and working well with the Iraqi Army.

"Video of interview with US soldiers: "Bless the Beasts and Children Part III."

Michael Yon - Drilling for Justice

Baqubah

by Michael Yon

There is much work to do here, especially if the Iraqi Police continue to perform below expectations. The absence of strong local leadership is a large part of the reason AQI was able to move in and set up a shadow government in Baqubah, complete with its own court system, torture house and prison. These three pegs of the AQI justice system have been found here in the past week. The judges who administer Sharia law and issue fatwas are called Muftis. A Mufti is a “high value target” because he would have deep connections in AQI in order to have such a trusted position of power.

Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) had tarnished its name here by publicly attacking and murdering children, videotaping beheadings, all while imposing harsh punishments on Iraqi civilians found guilty of violating morality laws prohibiting activities like smoking. The AQI installed Sharia court had sanctioned the amputation of the two “smoking fingers” for those who violated anti-smoking laws. In part because local sentiment was shifting against it, AQI synthesized with other groups and undertook an image makeover, christening itself “The Islamic State of Iraq.” But the new name was just lipstick on a pig here.

more here