Tommy Franks has insufficient infantry
'The continuing fight in Umm Qasr and around Basra and TV shots of US prisoners being paraded in Baghdad, could give heart to the city's defenders - reputed to be up to 100,000 of Saddam's elite, never knowingly lacking commitment to the fight before... For an army fighting its way into a city, historical precedent suggests that a minimum ratio of nine attackers to each defender - if that defender is determined - represents a realistic planning figure.'

'It is a sobering thought, and one that must be exercising Franks' mind increasingly as his forces draw nearer to Baghdad, that of the 270,000 allied personnel currently deployed in theatre, only around 20,000 are infantrymen. So much for nine to one: "shock and awe" has to work.'

Tommy Franks has insufficient infantry
'The continuing fight in Umm Qasr and around Basra and TV shots of US prisoners being paraded in Baghdad, could give heart to the city's defenders - reputed to be up to 100,000 of Saddam's elite, never knowingly lacking commitment to the fight before... For an army fighting its way into a city, historical precedent suggests that a minimum ratio of nine attackers to each defender - if that defender is determined - represents a realistic planning figure.'

'It is a sobering thought, and one that must be exercising Franks' mind increasingly as his forces draw nearer to Baghdad, that of the 270,000 allied personnel currently deployed in theatre, only around 20,000 are infantrymen. So much for nine to one: "shock and awe" has to work.'