'Warming to us'

Iraqi suspicion over coalition-supplied relief is slowly melting, as a turf war begins raging in Washington | Bob Jones

If it's true the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, then food and water in southern Iraq have become strategic weapons in the war for public opinion. The Shiite population, already malnourished under the tyrannical rule of Saddam Hussein, now faces severe shortages brought on by the war. U.S. planners say they are eager to feed the Iraqi people, but they aren't getting much help from the regime—or the UN.

Expecting a siege of Baghdad, Saddam cut off water supplies from the fertile plains of central Iraq, leaving parched southerners to fend for themselves. Unexpectedly tough fighting with Fedayeen and Baath Party militias delayed the food and water that coalition forces had hoped to pump quickly into Shiite villages. Coalition forces besieged the port town of Umm Qasr, yet British troops needed two weeks before gaining enough control that they could safely take off their helmets and flak jackets.