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Why did the pundits keep claiming the military campaign was in trouble?

By Mark S. Lawson - posted Thursday, 17 April 2003


Umm Qasr has been the most striking example of the regime's ability to defy the coalition onslaught, largely because potential dissidents have been terrified that Saddam and his machine may survive. With no sign of the hoped-for uprising against Saddam, the coalition now faces a much more dangerous task in Baghdad and beyond. Iraqi ministers have repeatedly urged the rest of the nation to take inspiration from the bravery of little Umm Qasr in holding off coalition troops.
- Peter Wilson - The Herald Sun, March 29

Although I have been hard on the media in this column I should note in passing that at least occasionally editors ran articles which painted a completely different - and as it turned out, far more accurate - picture of the campaign, than the largely negative articles from some mainstream correspondents. Readers had to keep an eye open for them. The Arab world never saw those alternative articles.

As a possible aid in future conflicts I have put together a list of phrases used by war correspondents, and what those phrases seemed to mean in reality.

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  • Light resistance: an Iraqi army unit ran away.
  • Resistance: a Republican Guard unit ran away.
  • Fierce resistance: someone (usually non-Iraqi) shot at coalition troops before running away.
  • Savage fire fight: the someones who shot back were blown up before they could run away.
  • Desperate resistance: a savage fire fight plus a car bomb explosion somewhere else.
  • Battle: a whole column of Iraqi vehicles got blown away, perhaps without even realising the coalition forces were in range.
  • Savage battle: the column got a few shots off before being blown away
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About the Author

Mark Lawson is a senior journalist at the Australian Financial Review. He has written The Zen of Being Grumpy (Connor Court).

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