I hate to be just a linker, but this story deserves a big link in order to spread it as widely over the internet as possible. From the outstanding Michael Yon via the venerable Instapundit. 

THANKS AND PRAISE: Michael Yon emails: “I photographed men and women, both Christians and Muslims, placing a cross atop the St. John’s Church in Baghdad. They had taken the cross from storage and a man washed it before carrying it up to the dome. A Muslim man had invited the American soldiers from ‘Chosen’ Company 2-12 Cavalry to the church, where I videotaped as Muslims and Christians worked and rejoiced at the reopening of St John’s, an occasion all viewed as a sign of hope. The Iraqis asked me to convey a message of thanks to the American people. ‘Thank you, thank you,’ the people were saying. One man said, ‘Thank you for peace.’ Another man, a Muslim, said ‘All the people, all the people in Iraq, Muslim and Christian, is brother.’ The men and women were holding bells, and for the first time in memory freedom rang over the ravaged land between two rivers.

As others have noted, this picture is mindful of the famous photograph of soldiers planting an American flag on Iwo Jima. That photograph, plus the photograph of the sailor kissing the nurse in the New York City streets when World War II ended, were the photographic icons of that war. Could this photo end up being the iconic standard of the war in Iraq? I think that it’s possible.

Michael Yon has served his country in this war in a way that the American mainstream media has not. The mainstream media rarely ventured outside the safety of the Green Zone, and relied on Iraqi stringers for reporting.instead of doing it themselves. It was only months ago that the Associated Press was filled with Photoshopping photographers and made-up stories to make it appear the war was failing. The New Republic, once a prestigious and respected magazine, still refuses to recant the stories of Pvt. Scott Beauchamp, who has admitted under oath to fabricating stories of atrocities in Iraq. Never mind that his girlfriend was the editor for his stories.

Michael Yon has documented this war almost from the beginning. He has brought us the bad news and he has brought us the good news. He is not supported by any news organizations, corporate sponsors, movie deals, or even advertisers on his website. Yon is entirely reader-supported, so drop by his site and send him a few shekels.

I just found out from Small Dead Animals that Michael Yon is making this photograph available to all media outlets at no cost for a limited period of time. For more information, please contact his organization here.