Major Combat Operations Begin in Iraq...

Michael Yon is, for my money, the most credible reporter currently working on the war in Iraq. He's a very interesting character whose life and talents have uniquely prepared him for this role. Yon is a former Special Forces warrior, so he has no problem getting the respect or attention of our soldiers or their officers -- and no problem understanding what they're doing. Where he really shines, though, is in his beautiful writing and ability to convey complex ideas eloquently and readably. As if all that wasn't enough, he's also a very talented photographer -- you've almost certainly seen some of his work.

For quite a while now, Yon has been successfully pursuing a career as a reader-supported, independent reporter. His only source of income at the moment is the "tip jar" on his web site, where appreciative readers make contributions of all sizes to help keep him going.

I've been reading Yon's work ever since he first started posting, and he's been the best single source of good information I've found about Iraq (and, to a lesser extent, Afghanistan). He has consistently been a critic of the war in Iraq -- not of the fact of the war, but of the way it has been executed. In today's dispatch, I sense some real optimism on his part about the major combat operations just starting today in Iraq. Yon is deeply knowledgeable about the situation in Iraq, and has much time with boots on the ground -- and he knows our military and its leadership very well. His choice for the perfect commander in Iraq: General David Petraeus, whom he calls "the doctor" below. Yon made that choice in 2005, and has been wondering ever since why General Petraeus wasn't back there and in charge. Now he is, and Yon is obviously impressed with the results, and seems to be cautiously optimistic about the outcome. Here's an excerpt from the dispatch, but you really need to go read the whole thing:

The doctor has made a decision: Al Qaeda must be excised. That means a large scale attack, and what appears to be the most widespread combat operations since the end of the ground war are now unfolding. A small part of that larger battle will be the Battle for Baquba. For those involved, it will be a very large battle, but in context, it will be only one of numerous similar battles now unfolding. Just as this sentence was written, we began dropping bombs south of Baghdad and our troops are in contact.

Northeast of Baghdad, innocent civilians are being asked to leave Baquba. More than 1,000 AQI fighters are there, with perhaps another thousand adjuncts. Baquba alone might be as intense as Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah in late 2004. They are ready for us. Giant bombs are buried in the roads. Snipers—real snipers—have chiseled holes in walls so that they can shoot not from roofs or windows, but from deep inside buildings, where we cannot see the flash or hear the shots. They will shoot for our faces and necks. Car bombs are already assembled. Suicide vests are prepared.

The enemy will try to herd us into their traps, and likely many of us will be killed before it ends. Already, they have been blowing up bridges, apparently to restrict our movements. Entire buildings are rigged with explosives. They have rockets, mortars, and bombs hidden in places they know we are likely to cross, or places we might seek cover. They will use human shields and force people to drive bombs at us. They will use cameras and make it look like we are ravaging the city and that they are defeating us. By the time you read this, we will be inside Baquba, and we will be killing them. No secrets are spilling here.

These operations, which just began today, are the same operations that Harry Reid declared a failure a few weeks ago -- before the soldiers were even in Iraq, and before the operation had even begun. Al Jazeera and similar Arabic media outlets have been carrying stories of gloating Al Qaeda members ever since. They claimed victory based on the statements of Reid, Pelosi, and other such surrender monkeys. If Yon's reporting is even close to accurate -- and based on his past performance, I'm confident that it's spot on -- then Al Qaeda is in for a memorable comeuppance. If he's right, our troops are in for a tough slog, one that will carry substantial casualties -- but Al Qaeda is in for much worse.

I'll be thinking of our troops today, and wishing them well. I made a contribution to Michael Yon, and I hope you will as well. Yon is embedded with our troops, headed into combat today; he's planning on filing daily dispatches via satellite.