These Sheep Are Made For Eating.

I've made a horrible mistake of not blog-rolling Michael Yon before. The former Green Beret turned independent journalist shows why we - and more importantly, our Iraqi allies - are winning the war against the terrorists in Iraq.

A sample from his latest dispatch, The Battle For Mosul IV - Soldiers, Spies, and Sheep:

Colonel Noradeen wanted to put his office in the middle of Yarmook Traffic Circle, which might ring familiar to folks who have read my previous dispatches: it might well be the most dangerous traffic circle in the universe. On my first mission in Mosul, we lost two American soldiers and an interpreter just nearby after a man rammed his explosives-filled car into a B Company Stryker.

Sandbags cover the window of Noradeen's office. During one meeting, we took sniper fire, but it didn't make much difference—we were inside. Another day when I was not there, some mortars landed just outside Noradeen's office and heavily damaged some American Humvees. Those types of attacks are not show-stoppers, but giant truck bombs can flatten a building and kill the entire unit. Noradeen's current office was safe from giant bombs, but he wanted to move his office to Yarmook traffic circle—where shootouts and car bombs are guaranteed. Designing the outpost to withstand multiple simultaneous car bombs or giant truck bombs would require some thinking. When one of the American officers had asked Colonel Noradeen, “Why do you want an office at Yarmook Traffic Circle?” he answered simply, “If I build it there, they will come to me.”

Full stop.

That hung in the air.

One second.

Two seconds.

Kurilla said under his breath to one of his own officers, “That's why I love this guy.”

Go read Michael Yon, and come to understand why this war is being won.

One sheep at a time.