Television around the world was impressed by the ferocity of the assault. Many Iraqis and the governments of neighbouring countries, on the contrary, notice its limitations in time and target list.The only part of Iraq outside the control of the Iraqi government is most of Kurdistan in the north. At the lowest level this was evident on the streets of Baghdad over the last week. Standing on some street corners, armed militias of the ruling Baath party were clutching their guns. Others, more discreet, concealed their sub-machine guns from the former Yugoslavia under their coats.In order to be able to react immediately to any sign of an uprising, President Saddam divided Iraq into military districts, each placed under a trusted lieutenant. Ali Hassan al- Majid, a cousin of the Iraqi leader, was in charge of the south; he confirmed his reputation for ruthlessness by using chemical weapons against the Kurds in 1988.

Izzat Ibrahim al- Dhouri, the Vice-President, was put in charge of the northern areas facing Kurdistan. Another leader known for his loyalty took charge of the mid- Euphrates region containing Kerbala and Najaf and the holy cities of the Iraqi Shia Muslims, which are always the centre of dissent.All the new appointments were of men who had played leading roles in crushing the great rebellions of the Shias and the Kurds in 1991.Most pieces on the Iraqi military chessboard are unchanged by the missile war. It consists not of buildings but personnel, and these are mobile. This was the first official death toll from the punishing assault. Mr Aziz said civilian casualties were “much, much higher than military casualties”, but refused to elaborate.But, however accurate the missiles, accuracy counts for nothing without intelligence about what to hit Most of the big buildings in Iraq were evacuated weeks ago The same may be true of machine tools from plants. One resident of Baghdad who wanted to get a new number plate for a car stamped was told to come back after the bombing because the necessary piece of simple machinery had been “dispersed”.The same is true of the infrastructure which sustains the regime. It also limited the extent to which the allies could risk civilian casualties; one strike on a market place and the dead and wounded would be shown within seconds on television screens across the world.Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, said yesterday that 62 soldiers were killed and 180 injured in the air strikes.

This gave the impression of a far more extensive war than was in fact being waged. A foreign source in Baghdad said yesterday: “There is no doubt that the Iraqi leadership was shocked by what happened. They were practising brinkmanship and suddenly they found they had stepped over the brink.”But it turned out better than they expected. The three days of strikes was nothing like the prolonged pounding of the six-week air war in 1991. Above all, the power stations and refineries, with the exception of one in Basra, were not hit.This was a strange conflict.