With television pictures showing US forces inside a presidential palace in the heart of Baghdad, there can be no doubting the dramatic advance made by US forces during the early hours of Monday morning.
But this operation has as much a psychological as a purely military purpose.
The push into the heart of the city has been described by a US spokesman here at Central Command as an "armoured raid" through the Iraqi capital - much like the similar operation through the south-western suburbs on Saturday.
He says that its route has taken it past presidential palaces and the Iraqi Information Ministry in the centre of the city.
Message to the people
This is a high visibility operation, and with good reason.
The US wants to show it can move where it wants
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It is all about demonstrating that the US forces are in and around the capital and can mount operations deep into the city at will.
We are told here that it is all part of a carefully orchestrated plan to try to persuade ordinary Iraqis that the messages that they are getting from the regime's leaders are simply wrong.
The hope among senior commanders here is that at some point the balance will tip and the regime's hold on power will crumble.
Elsewhere, in Basra, British sources say that the operation there is going well.
Large numbers of British troops moved into Iraq's second city from three directions.
Their aim is to isolate irregular fighters in the network of alleyways of the old town on the southern side of Basra.
Three British soldiers have been killed in the operation so far and the fighting is certainly not over yet.
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One-Minute World News
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