Off with his head

摘要

It looked like a whimper, but the modest salvo that opened the second Gulf war can, with only a little hindsight, be seen as a sort of precis of the bang that has followed. The opportunistic attempt to kill Saddam Hussein, and perhaps obviate a full-blown war, seems to have failed. Soon afterwards came a headlong American drive to Baghdad, whose aim is to decapitate Mr Hussein's regime rather than (or as well as) the despot himself. Like the assassination attempt, the ongoing campaign has been distinguished by the efforts of the American-led coalition to spare, even succour, most Iraqis, while striking at their rulers in and around the Iraqi capital.