Last Sunday evening we were scheduled to talk to Michael Yon live from Baghdad. Given that he is half a world away and in a war zone, it is sometimes not that easy a thing to get him on the phone. In his most recent Dispatch, Michael explained what happened and apologizes to our listeners. That was entirely not necessary, because Michael has been a great friend of the show, is welcome anytime, and heck, these things are bound to happen.
Intelligence had come in, and the 1-4 headed off for a raid to get a couple guys who were said to be murdering people. I was scheduled to do a radio interview with WRKO in Boston on my cell phone at 4:30 a.m., and I greatly wanted to tell the people at home about the 1-4 Cav and the seminary, but my ride was going to a raid. And soon we were running through the early morning streets of a densely packed neighborhood, when a voice started crying over a loudspeaker — ALLLLAAAAHHHHHH…..—- that was spooky, and I was actually making video while running. After 15 minutes or so of running and fast movement, we made it to the target house. I was sweating in full under the bodyarmor and helmet. Birds can be heard on the video before the morning twilight. Our soldiers moved to the entrance. The gate was pried open, and our guys were in, led by a soldier wearing PVS-15s and black shoes. My deepest apologies to listeners of WRKO, but I could not turn the phone on during combat operations. Time to go.
Michael also had an email exchange this week with our friend Dean Barnett on the situation in Tal Afar. As usual, his assessment was straightforward, honest and free of any agenda. Here is what Michael had to say,
The civil war is very real. It’s not an apparition or a politically-contrived term. The flames of civil war are real, and the flames were not made hotter by calling them fire. It is what it is. But the term “civil war” does not describe the entirety of the violence here. Yes, the civil war is real, but Iraq is far from a state of anarchy. The government truly is becoming stronger. I spoke with some Baghdad police yesterday, and they actually brought up the topic of the attacks in Tal Afar. These Baghdad police brought up the apparent fact that the Tal Afar police engaged in reprisal attacks and murdered civilians. The Baghdad police were disgusted, disgusted that Iraqi police in Tal Afar apparently had murdered innocent women and children.
Yes, the civil war is very real, but not everyone here is a party to it. There are many, many Iraqis who want to see their country come together. I see these Iraqis all the time.
Michael
As you know, Michael is a truly independent voice in Iraq, delivering the news as he sees it, the good, the bad and the ugly. If you can, please support his work. The length of his stay in Iraq is entirely up to support from his readers. Well, almost entirely up to his readers.