London, Mar 25: The top commander of British forces in the Gulf saw no need today to bring in reinforcements to win the war in Iraq despite what he called stubborn pockets of resistance. Air Marshal Brian Burridge said coalition forces were "balanced" for the twin tasks of fighting for "conventional" military control and winning the "unconventional" battle for the "hearts and minds" of the Iraqi people.
He told from the Gulf that winning the war would "take as long as it takes," but he vowed that the downfall of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein "is going to come and it is going to come hard".
"We adopt what we call a manoeuvrist doctrine -- we aim to attack the mind of the enemy and the will to fight," Burridge said.
"We are not into the need to count forces and we are balanced for both the lines of operation we are pursuing -- both the unconventional and conventional."
He acknowleged that coalition troops were coming up against diehard Saddam loyalists, such as in the main southern city of Basra, but added: "it would be wrong to call it serious resistance." Bureau Report