A breathtaking achievement

Over the first week of the war in Iraq there has been a quite extraordinary mismatch between the perceptions of the coalition commanders on the ground and the expectations of the media. The fact that a very small number of British and American soldiers have been killed, wounded and captured is not unexpected. What is quite extraordinary is how few casualties there have been. Media talk of ‘significant casualties’ is ridiculous. Again, the absurd emphasis on the significance of the small bands of Iraqi irregulars that are operating behind allied lines in southern Iraq is misleading. Some of these elements may be around for months to come. With the relatively small numbers of coalition forces involved in this operation, it is not possible – nor is it the intention – to control every square metre of Iraq.

The media should be concentrating on the strategic war aims of the coalition and whether or not they are being achieved, rather than focusing on irrelevant tactical detail. Probably about 50 per cent of airtime in the first days of this war has been focused on tactical detail that is strategically and operationally irrelevant. Furthermore, while it may be necessary to report briefly that a deluded soldier of the 101st Airborne Division threw a grenade into a tent occupied by his comrades in Kuwait, killing one and wounding several others, the media should have recognised that this incident was irrelevant in the broader context of the war.

Similarly, the fact that half a dozen US soldiers have been captured merits brief mention, but not hours of airtime. And on Day 5 correspondent after correspondent was reporting that the war was ‘not going as well as expected’, that ‘allied commanders were surprised at the degree of resistance’ and that ‘there remained significant pockets of resistance’.