Michael Yon

I've just re-read Michael Yon's latest dispatch, Jungle Law. Once again, I'm hugely impressed by his writing and reporting skills. Once again, this is the best journalism coming out of Iraq by far. No doubt about it. This post was superb- well crafted, exciting and insightful.

A few things in this dispatch really stand out. First, the info on the IEDs. Second, Yon's description of a fire-fight-

"then our guys [opened fire] with those little rifles they carry"

Time for an upgrade to a more manly cartridge?

Next, there was the action of LTC Kurilla- not ducking for cover, but taking the time to drag a detainee out of the line of fire.

And the Iraqi joke about paying 5,000 dinar a night to stay at Abu Ghraib. It must be awful.

Finally, there was this-

I walked back through the dark and did the radio interview by cell phone. During such interviews, I get the impression that people at home are losing faith in the effort, though we are winning. But at home they cannot see it, and when I said goodbye that time, I sat in the dark.

Thanks to Michael Yon, some of us know how the war there is really going, on a day to day basis and as up close and personal as we can get. Make his site a regular visit if you haven't already done so and get an insight into what's happening on the ground outside of the Green Zone in Baghdad.

If Yon hasn't been signed for a book deal something is seriously wrong. And if Hollywood wants to make a TV show or movie about Iraq they could do a lot worse than signing him to script it.