Honestly - you take a year off and when you come back everyone has disappeared. My sidebar now links to several sex sites and other dubious cybersquatting sites.

I obviously have some catching up to do. In the meantime (and whilst I work out something interesting to say about Iraq) may I recommend the following series of articles about a British Battalion in Basrah by Michael Yon, an independent American war blogger:

Men of Valor - Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV.