Central Iraq :: Gavin Hewitt :: 1401GMT
I'm embedded with the American troops, but on the other side of the road Saddam Hussein's regime is still in power. Forces from within the city are attacking the American convoys, and this is slowing the advance towards Baghdad.
The morale amongst the troops is pretty good. Everybody I've been travelling with feels up to the task they've been given. But this morning at 7am we were listening to the radio, and we heard General Wallace say this might be a long campaign, and that troops had encountered unexpected resistance. Then I detected some nodding of heads, and there was a sense that this was true - this wasn't what had been expected.
Of course none of the troops have had a shower for ten days, and there are no hot meals. People have to live off meals "ready to eat" which are military rations. There are frequent sand storms, and the sand is lethal on the equipment.
The other day the unit I was with, was engaged in some action when some Iraqi forces tried to ambush them. The Americans tried to use their guns, but some of those guns didn't work in the sand storm.
For both the soldiers and for everybody, it's a hard and unforgiving environment. One of them said to me: "there's no mercy in the desert".