Feed the children

Michael Yon's latest is written from Singapore, where he is resting, and goes back to the beginning of the Baqubah operation. Its main topic, however, concerns what happened after the fighting was done. It is the provision of food and brings in a lot of the sectarian politics that make Iraq so 'interesting'. Actually, there is another topic as well: the love of Iraqis for the camera. The caption of one of the many photos reveals why you probably haven't heard the story he is telling before.

[The initial fighting over] most of the Western press was now leaving Baqubah just when the real story began unfolding. Western media mostly missed the initial fight because they missed the signs, and then left immediately after seeing there was no brawl. 3-2 SBCT made no pretension of hiding their motivations for inviting me: they knew I was apt to stay around even if there was no fighting. They are a smart lot.

This article is just the first of two, and, as Yon himself says, it ends with "a shameful teaser".