Only Tikrit remains for the US to overcome

US forces were focusing their attention on Saddam Hussein’s ancestral power base of Tikrit yesterday, after adding the northern Iraqi city of Mosul to a string of rapid-fire battlefield victories.

But as the Iraqi president's remaining vestiges of control slipped away, so did law and order, as city after city plunged deeper into chaos and anarchy, with widespread looting and shootingscreating havoc on the streets.

US troops in Baghdad, Kirkuk and now Mosul have proved unwilling to halt the anarchy, concentrating instead on securing their positions and jumpily watching out for potential attackers, notably suicide bombers.