7 Rules: 1 oath.

• Author: Abrahamson, James
• Position: Http://michaelyon-online.com/wp/7-rules-1-oath.htm - Website overview - Brief article

Site reviewed: http://michaelyon-online.com/wp/7-rules-1-oath.htm

By Michael Yon (Independent journalist/photographer)

A self-financed, self-taught combat journalist and photographer whose reports from the field have won him a wide following, Michael Yon joined an American unit as it crossed the line of departure for the second phase of The Surge and headed for Diyala province and the al Qaeda stronghold of Baqubah. (See Kagan http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/818pmqsq.asp for background on U. S. strategy.) Thirty days later, with the town secured, Yon described an Army effort to begin rebuilding its political infrastructure and put more of its security into the hands of the Iraqi Army and local leaders.

In this role, perhaps best suited to a Foreign Service Officer, Colonel Townsend, commander of the 3-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, practiced American diplomacy as he negotiated a set of rules with Sunni insurgent leaders now become "Baqubah Guardians" and then won their formal commitment...