PARIS, March 25: General Vincent Lanata, a former chief of staff of the French air force, says that “if the Americans had wanted to destroy the Iraq’s TV transmitters, broadcasting relays and other infrastructure, they would have done so already — perhaps even on the first day of their attack.”

“Actually,” he said, “there are two very important reasons why Iraqi TV continues to broadcast, notably rebroadcasting Saddam Hussein’s meetings with his cabinet and two sons.”

“And this,” he says, “because firstly, the transmitters were purposely placed in a heavily populated urban area, naturally to make it difficult to reach by missiles, with the neighbourhood where they’re located so dense that not even a surgical strike could attain them without considerable ‘collateral’ damage.”

“Secondly, and most importantly, because they’re convinced that they’ll soon be making use of the transmitters themselves,” he added.