News Search Search this site or the web powered by FreeFind Site search Web search Story archive		4-4-2003 The Independent THE IRAQ CONFLICT: Boredom of troops who wait for the order to advance By Gethin Chamberlain, near Basra, with Black Watch THE WAR has moved on. The guns still pound away every night, the thump and bang rousing all around from their slumber to curse the artillery men, the shells whistling overhead, the distant thud of 90lbs of high explosive landing on some other poor soul. The fires still colour the night sky orange, smoke drifts across the horizon, the sounds of distant gunfire still punctuate the silences but, for now, it's not our war any more. On the radio, the Americans are marching on Baghdad, their soldiers routing the divisions they said they had routed yesterday and the day before, the bridges they said were already taken, taken again. Around Basra, the Fusiliers have a toehold to the north, the Irish Guards are still fighting beyond the bridge, and the Royal Marines pushing up from the south. If Baghdad falls, then Basra must follow but today the soldiers are not interested. They want to go home, and all they talk about is what they will do. Last night, one asked another to break his fingers so he could be sent home. The second man picked up a jerrycan full of water and asked him if he was sure. He said he was. So he dropped the can on the hand outstretched on a box. Everyone expected the first soldier to pull his hand away but he kept it there. The can fell on his fingers but they did not break. Then the men talked some more about what they would do when they got home. This is a pooled dispatch from a correspondent for `The Scotsman'
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