From our armchair correspondent in London, his thoughts on the future of Iraq as a tourist magnet.
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There is something that is worrying me most every time I see battle footage from the centre of Baghdad. This is that sooner or later a gung-ho tank gunner will take it into his head to demolish the Saddam's Hands of Victory monument (the one with two crossed swords) that forms a triumphal arch over the Parade Ground. I am equally concerned that the exigencies of war will lead to damage beyond repair to the bunkers and tunnels beneath the Presidential Palaces.

The reason why I care so much is that, along with the palaces themselves, these unique features have the makings of an irresistible tourist attraction. In the longer term tourism will be more important to the Iraqi economy than oil - oil being at best a finite resource and one that will suffer a catastrophic loss in value if ever a viable fuel cell is developed. As a tourist attraction Iraq's status as the Cradle of Civilisation gives it a head start. The Daily Telegraph has a picture of thirty members of the US 82nd Airborne Division clambering over the Temple at Ur. They are the advance guard of millions of moneyed holiday makers and wives of conference delegates on day trip outings.

In Britain we have turned many of our Stately Homes into tourist attractions and, in some cases, hotels. The fact that they were mostly built on the proceeds of the slave trade has not worked to their disadvantage. The Venetians, probably the most pragmatic race in the world, did not pull down the bridge that connects their city to the mainland just because it had been constructed by the hated Austrian invaders. Nor did they replace the railway station on the Venice side just because its futurist architecture is a constant reminder of fascism.

The monstrous excesses on view in California's Hearst Castle, home of the ruthless newspaper proprietor William Randolph Hearst, have made it so powerful a tourist magnet that it is necessary to book a visit months in advance. You may well ask, as you did in your posting of a few days ago, where has all the garish furniture that used to be in the palaces gone? Finding this furniture has to be a Coalition priority second only to searching out the weapons of mass destruction. It must be in store somewhere and needs to be protected from vandalism and theft. Put back into the palaces, and with the necessary repairs to the fabric, Iraq will be endowed with a score or more of Hearst castles. It also has railways and canals and a geographic location that positions it on a potential tourist axis extending from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf.

Any palaces to spare can be used for exhibition venues. In Harrogate (a Regency spa town in Yorkshire, England) trade shows are spread between the old Pump Room, the former Turkish Baths, the Promenade Rooms and a few hotels. This works, even though the various locations lack the advantage of being connected to each other by tunnels. Nor is Harrogate blessed with any feature that provides so potent a photo op as the Hands of Victory. They must surely be up with the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids and the Magic Castle in Disney Land.

I once read about a top company executive who is a keen supporter of Sunderland football club and travels the world on business. He has made it his life time's work to be photographed against every tourist landmark wearing his Sunderland strip. His team (three own goals in a single game and a relegation certainty) is having not much better luck than Saddam Hussein at the moment. But I bet you he will be there.