Air Marshal Brian Burridge, interviewed on BBC radio's Today program, said US and British forces would proceed with caution in order to keep civilian Iraqi casualties and property damage to a minimum.

Asked if he thought the war, which goes into its third week Thursday, was entering a "decisive stage," Burridge promptly replied: "Oh, sure."

"The point I would make, though, is that decisive phases often take time, so I wouldn't want to give the impression that within a day or two this is going to be finished," he added.

"We need to proceed with great delicacy in Baghdad, as we did in Basra, because we don't want to cause any more damage to the place than is necessary, and we certainly don't want to add to civilian casualties."

British ground forces have been concentrated around Basra, the main city in the south of Iraq, but have yet to fully occupy it in the face of resistance from armed Saddam loyalists.

On the looming battle for Baghdad, which is ringed by three divisions of elite Republican Guards, Burridge said the coalition has sufficient "combat power" to make a grab for the capital.

"There has been a tremendous amount of air activity ... maybe 1,700 sorties a day (by US and British warplanes) over Iraq," he said. "The great proportion of those are aimed at attacking the Republican Guard divisions."

Burridge acknowledged, however, that it was "very hard to say" how much damage has been done to those divisions.

"They have a propensity to disperse and go into built-up areas, as we've seen in the south of the country," he said. "We can only estimated it, and it's quite difficult to put a real figure on it."

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