What the papers say

What the papers say

Journalist Mike Philpott takes a look at what is making the headlines in Friday's morning newspapers.

"It was sold as a cakewalk, but it may be months before the conflict in Iraq is over," says the Independent.

The Times says British and American intelligence "badly underestimated the level of resistance allied troops would encounter".

The Irish Independent reckons Britain and the US need to ask themselves a few questions about why their assumptions have failed to materialise.

"Among those assumptions was the idea that Iraqi soldiers wouldn't fight, and that western soldiers would be welcomed as an army of liberation," says the paper.

The Guardian says the Americans had promised a war full of hi-tech surprises and daring raids by special forces that would go straight to the core of the Iraqi regime.

"Instead, we are seeing American troops trudging through the mud while an unseen guerrilla force lurks in the alleyways of densely-packed towns," says the paper.

The Financial Times says American military commanders face a difficult decision in the next few days, "whether to attack Baghdad or wait a month for reinforcements".

Nothing could prepare you for what is out there

Daily Telegraph

But the Express urges its readers to "ignore the gloom-mongers".

"A week ago, who would have thought that our troops would be within striking distance of the capital or that the oil fields would be largely intact and in allied hands?" it wonders.

Once again, the human stories from the conflict are the most striking.

Robert Fisk, in the Independent, says he has seen an unedited video tape of the effects of the allied bombardment on Basra.

He describes it as "raw, painful and devastating".

A front page picture in the Daily Telegraph shows people fleeing the city. Some are on foot, while others have piled their belongings onto carts pulled by mules.

Elsewhere, there are pictures of soldiers sleeping in the dust beside their tanks.

There are also many photographs of Simon Cullingworth and Luke Allsopp, whose bodies were shown on Al Jazeera television.

The Daily Telegraph also reports from a US army hospital in Germany, where troops with combat injuries are being treated.

One describes losing his foot after being hit by a rocket propelled grenade.

"Nothing could prepare you for what is out there," a colleague is quoted as saying.