Clipping the enemy's wings.

RUMSFELD, Donald, 1932-2021; WOLFOWITZ, Paul, 1943-; HUSSEIN, Saddam, 1937-2006

"The Yankee clipper is under her sky-sails, she cuts the sparkle and scud." Walt Whitman's words sound surprisingly apt as America's forces gather in the Gulf to do battle with Iraq's. Cutting the Scud is something that they might well be required to do if the rattling of sabres there leads to hostilities. In theory, Iraq is supposed to have destroyed its Scud missiles, since their range exceeds that permitted by United Nations' resolutions. In practice, the government may have held on to some, and may also have some rather nasty warheads to put on them. For the past half-century, America has been the world's leader in matters of military technology, such as shooting down enemy missiles. Yet sometimes its claims exceed its reach. For military technology, though, 12 years is a long time. Much has now changed. Some people, such as Donald Rumsfeld, America's defence secretary, and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, are fervent proponents of a "revolution in military affairs", which will trade man for machine. That is an exaggeration, at least for now. But technological advances mean that any war fought against Iraq in the near future should resemble the American takeover of Afghanistan in 2001 more than Operation Desert Storm in 1991.