Umm Qasr
The shriek of artillery shells has died away from Umm Qasr, the first city in Iraq to be taken by allied troops, but another whining sound can already be heard here. It is the sound of the doubters and sceptics at home, wringing their hands on short-wave radio programmes and satellite television broadcasts because this war has not already been won and Saddam’s regime toppled.
The last Gulf war was won after 100 hours of ground fighting; Kosovo was secured without a shot being fired by allied troops; and an entire African country, Sierra Leone, was effectively saved within two days by a battalion of British paratroopers. The public has come to expect Pot Noodle wars: instant military victories. Any operation that takes a little longer is immediately suspect, no matter how complex or tricky its military objective.
On the dusty streets of Umm Qasr it is possible to see just how complex and tricky is the operation to rid Iraq of Saddam Hussein.
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