Michael Yon has his second of two dispatches up, telling of the difficulty of getting food to the people in Baqubah.

Breaking that wedge. LTC Johnson—who is hardly in these photos—finally makes an overt threat with the weapon he was going to open those doors with. His threat was shameless. Johnson pointed to me saying that he brought the press along so that the world would either see them for what they were: heroes or villains. Perhaps other writers might be offended, or felt used, but Johnson was simply telling the truth, and nothing disarms basically honest people more than shameless truthtelling. In any case, the camera was working. The bureaucrats were not simpletons. They never told me to turn off the camera. To their credit, they were duking it out in front of God and everyone.

Finally they agreed. They had stated their arguments, and not just rolled over, but they agreed to release the food shipments.

There were still hours of paperwork to do. They asked LTC Johnson if he wanted to come back, but we all sensed that maybe they really had not agreed, and doubted whether they were every bit as wiley as they at first seemed.

Hours passed by. We were on the edge of Sadr City where we could get flattened. As the paperwork oozed forward, we ended up sitting with the bureaucrats, listening to war stories from when they had been in the Iraqi Army. One showed us scars from a mortar, the other said he spent years as an Iranian prisoner. The topic of al Qaeda came up and sparked a discussion that I captured on videotape.

While we talked, one of our Strykers outside was attacked with a grenade. Apparently someone tried to throw it in the hatch (sometimes they get lucky), but missed. It was loud, but everyone was okay. The paperwork had just been completed, so this signaled a good time to leave, but LTC Johnson insisted on having his group of Baqubah officials and soldiers leave under the protection of the Iraqi Army.

We waited inside at the COP for several hours, and there I talked with LTC Fred Johnson about the war, and he asked how I thought it was going, and I said that some parts obviously were improving. The new plan actually seems to be working despite the hysterical reporting back home. We need more Tontos in Hollywood, in the media and in the Congress. We’ve got plenty in the military.

LTC Johnson asked what I thought about Petraeus, and when I said “He’s tops,” that’s when LTC Johnson told me about the shooting incident described in detail in the dispatch “Second Chances.”

The loading process was actually faster and smoother than expected, and we returned with dozens of trucks to Baqubah. The bureaucrats had even given extra truck loads as a “gift.” Beware of the creditor. Of course they had launched some plan. I have no idea what it was, but clearly they were up to something. I got word later that even some weapons might have been smuggled into Baqubah in one or more trucks.

When the convoy finally arrived in Baqubah, the local media was there, along with Provincial leadership, and LTC Johnson gave full credit to the Mayor and other leaders right there in front of the Iraqi media. It was straight out of a Bruce Willis movie where Johnson saves the day, then watches from out of the spotlight as the Mayor and Governor get all the credit. Nobody mentioned Tonto.

Go read the whole thing and see what life is like in Iraq for our troops and the Iraqis.