As US and UK forces launch their blitzkrieg towards Baghdad, mowing down Iraqi soldiers at a rate of a few hundred a day, I am perplexed that the Western media have not addressed a major question which begs an answer from the powers that be at the Pentagon.

President George W Bush has stated that o­ne of the main reasons for the US-led invasion is that Iraq still represents a threat to the security of its neighbours and to the United States.

Now, as the Iraqi military, despite some heroic attempts at resistance, crumble away dramatically and the civilian death toll surpasses 200 (according to independent observers) - five times more than the military deaths recorded by the US and UK combined - neither CNN nor BBC has asked Pentagon officials as to how a nation, which can barely defend itself against the combined aggression of the US and UK, could possibly be perceived as a threat to the national security of its neighbours, and even more ludicrous, to the US?

Instead, CNN and BBC embedded newscasters continue with their thinly disguised ridiculing and mocking of the futile resistance efforts of the Iraqi soldiers, with o­ne newscaster even describing how Iraqi soldiers defending Basra laid down their weapons and "went home to their mothers" after feeling the awesome impact of coalition artillery power.