Put this at the top of your "Must Read" list

Want to know how things are going in Iraq? Want to get an idea of what Iraqis think of how we're doing in Iraq? How they view our soldiers?

Michael Yon, an independent reporter and photographer, has been reporting from Iraq on these kinds of questions for the last few years. He's been on the ground with our troops, dodging bullets and photgraphing the ongoing battle. Over the last year he's been in a lot of those same places and seeing the progress that's been made. In particular, he has given us a view inside the "non-military" solutions for Iraq... and shows you the role that our troops are still playing in that "non-military" solution. I linked to a couple of his stories over the last year, one here about Muslims asking to Michael to get the message to their former neighbors -- Christians who had fled persecution -- to ask their neighbors to come home now that things had improved so much.

He wrote about the cajoling of Iraqi officials to jump start food delivery and the bolstering of local officials in solving the simple problems of everyday life like trash pick-up and re-building damaged neighborhoods.

You may or may not have followed Michael Yon's reporting over the last few years, though he has shown up in major newspapers and magazines, on TV, on the radio, and all over the web.

Either way, I think you'll get something new out of his book: Moment of Truth in Iraq. He draws on previous reporting and adds more to give you an idea of where Iraq stands today.

I ordered one of the early autographed copies ("Michael Yon, Mosul, Iraq 2008" - cool, huh?), and just finished reading it early Friday morning. Whether you agree with all his analysis and assessments or not, he ends with this important message and question (p. 227):

"The war isn't over yet. Victory remains in question. The
choice is ours, the time is now - for a moment of truth in Iraq.

What are we going to do?"

A steal at $13.96 right now at Barnesandnoble.com -- buy yours before they sell out. AGAIN.

Get Michael Yon's book today.