The safest way to fight is to stay out of reach of your enemy, but this proved easier for coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom than in the reconstruction phase.
Like most recent coalition operations, the mission to topple Saddam Hussein was conducted from a distance, using long-range precision-guided munitions from aircraft, ships and ground vehicles. There were fears that taking Baghdad and other key cities might involve fierce street-to-street fighting, but a combination of sophisticated US technology and Iraqi ineptitude meant that the coalition fought the sort of war it wanted unchallenged.
