News from Michael Yon via email:

Greetings:

I am back in Iraq, currently in South Baghdad on FOB Falcon with 1-4Cav. This battalion is doing so well with counterinsurgency that it has not been attacked a single time since 9 September 2007. Their area was one of the worst in all Iraq before they got here.

Men of Valor Part VII (from my time with British troops in late 2007) is published.

My book “Moment of Truth in Iraq” is a work in progress; information about ordering advance (signed) copies is available here: Moment of Truth in Iraq.

There is not enough time to write long dispatches while the book is still in progress; I plan to run a lot of missions during February. But I will try to publish short dispatches nearly daily through February. I will not send an email with each new dispatch, so please check the site frequently.

There likely will continue to be an increase in US casualties as a result of the fact that Iraqi and American forces have their teeth sunk deeply into al Qaeda in northern Iraq. Iraqi and American forces are crushing the wind out of al Qaeda, but the enemy still has strength and is fighting hard.

V/r,

Michael

Baghdad

Read Men of Valor: Part VII of VIII:

The Welsh Warriors, under Major Steve Webb, set off to recon hiding places for tonight’s VCPs, or vehicle control points. The idea was merely to surprise passersby and politely search their vehicles coming from the direction of Iran—the border was maybe three miles away—for things like surface-to-air missiles and EFPs. No weapons coming across the Iranian border have ever been captured by Coalition forces. Practically nobody lives near the crossing, and the border crossing closes at 1600, so any traffic after that would be suspicious.

Moment of Truth may be ordered here.