MICHAEL YON REPORTS IN

Michael Yon sent this email today.

I was present today in Baghdad for the Transfer of Authority. Godspeed to the Coalition and to the people of Iraq. General David Petraeus is now running the war in Iraq. Anyone who knows much about the General might agree that David Petraeus seems to have been born and raised to win this particular war.

Frankly, the odds seem nearly impossible. Iraq is broiling and it's getting worse. Yet, there are glimmers of hope, and I see those glimmers with my own eyes here in Iraq. But make no mistake: America has asked David Petraeus to walk into a burning barn and perform brain surgery on a dying patient. If it can be done, David Petraeus is our man.

A new dispatch, Roughnecks, is available now. It contains some combat video shot from above. The previous dispatch, Hands of God, has an audio clip that was heavily downloaded for many days, making it slow to access for some visitors. For those who haven't had the chance to listen to it yet, there is a link built into the dispatch name above.

No one can predict the outcome of events here, especially those who have never set foot on Iraqi soil. But, given how vital the outcome is to our national interest, it is imperative that someone be reporting from the ground.

Michael Yon is an interesting man. Raised in Central Florida, he joined the Army, then Special Forces, then after the Army, became one of the first long term imbedded observers with the Duece Four in Mosul the first time. His early dispatches will become "classics." He's not a "journalist" in that NOBODY pays him except us....me, a lot of other guys, and you, if you'll help. He went on his own nickel, and then asked for support. Read his website and his past dispatches to see what I mean...then send him a few bucks to keep him there. the guy deserves it. If you're interested, read his autobiography, Danger Close. If you have my copy, please return it.

In "Roughnecks" there's a paragraph describing his refusal to take a pistol for self protection from a soldier who offered his..."against the rules," he said. What isn't said is that Yon got in serious trouble the first time when he picked up a rifle and fought in a deadly firefight which resulted in several American casualties. Serious trouble....he's an observer, not a fighter...and that's why her refused it here. Long term readers will recognize that, but unless you follow him, you can't realize how serious his work is, and how much jeopardy he's in along with our soldiers, who can fight back.

This, alone, differentiates Michael Yon from the "journalists" of the Green Zone, who's greatest risk is getting into Baghdad on an airplane, and they're fewer and farther between than ever. This also gives the lie to the "work" of William Arkin who was quoted several posts ago in Patriots Points. Only a damn fool cannot recognize his lies through the reports of Michael Yon.

Follow it over time. (And pay for it; find the payment mechanism on his Home Page). It's the only way you'll really know what goes on; good, bad, tragic, comic, victorious or defeated. If you think you're getting "reporting" from the kind of media that consider Arkin a "military analyst," you're wasting your time at Patriot's Points...and AMF.