Moment of Truth in Iraq

Great book. Michael Yon really delivers the shit.

Reading this book I come to a couple of conclusions.

First, we're gonna be there a while. If we want this war finished right, we're gonna have to be there for a long ass time. Iraq is a basketcase. These people have no clue how to run a proper civil society. It's gonna take a long ass time for them to do this cause we can only do this by example. It's one thing to set all this shit down on paper, but they gotta be shown it can be done.

Second, we can't keep an indefinite presence. We've made some interesting allies who're coming to the conclusion that American power can help Iraq. The best example Yon gives is the 1920 Revolution Brigades. They're Iraqi nationalists and former officers in Saddam's army. They know their shit. They hate the occupation, but when they realized there are worse things in Iraq then the American military, they started getting their shit straight (not everywhere, but in a great many cases). However, these guys are not to be trifled with. The 1920s were teamed with AQI for a while until AQI showed what a bunch of fucking savages they are. Their alliance with our guys is purely for expedience. When Iraq becomes fully capable of supporting itself, we''re more then likely gonna have to step away. Obama is a damned fool if he thinks we can walk by 2010, but McCain is just as big a fool if he imagines an indefinite, open ended presence. I think these guys will put up with us for a while, but only cause it suits them.

Our guys over there are fucking outstanding. Period! That our guys are breaking their balls, getting results...the fact that some of these guys aren't household names is a shame. Thank God for guys like Michael Yon or their stories wouldn't be told at all.

Yon's book is an amazing insight. The stories are basically just expanded versions of what he puts on his website, but even if you've already read all the archives it's still worth owning. My one complaint is it's short. I started it...Friday? And finished it Tuesday morning. And I was taking my time. It's a breezy read. Yon isn't a trained journalist, he makes lots of errors, but he can fucking tell a story. He's brutally honest in his assessments. He's a former Marine, so he doesn't bullshit. No dissembling. It's a straight up journal of his time there along with his own personal observations. When he calls bullshit on a policy, he's got no agenda other then victory on his mind. He doesn't waste time arguing whether or not we should have gone in. We're there now, so the only thing that matters is victory.

It's about $20 bucks on Amazon and Buy so I recommend getting it while the getting is good.

Highest possible recommendation.