Obviously in the UK we get special media coverage about the southern front where it is the Brits who have to win hearts and minds. They really do not know what on earth to do. Almost all of them think at best it is going to be like occupying northern Ireland.
You can see how bad the British military intelligence sources coming out of Basra are.
A senior defence ministry source was quoted by the BBC tonight as saying "we will win, but it won't be quick"
The strategic theory in the British command in Iraq is the contemptuous one of decapitation. If they attack enough Baath party buildings then there will be an uprising because the Baath party is an infection of the head, and which controls the rest of the body. And then the rest of the body, in headless innocence will naturally recognise ... presumably the innate goodness of the Brits, with sweeties in their pockets.
Chris Burford London