The military commander of the US-led coalition, Gen Tommy Franks, has hinted at a possible attempt to rescue allied personnel taken prisoner by the Iraqis.
He also claimed "rapid and in some cases dramatic" military progress in the first five days of the war, with "a great many areas" now under allied control.
"I have seen speculation in a number of places that a coalition like this would take action where appropriate to secure the release of people who are taken prisoner.
"We will just have to wait and see what the days ahead look like."
Admitting that two crew members from a helicopter brought down by the Iraqis were "missing in action", he rejected claims that aircraft were shot down by farmers rather than the Iraqi military.
He said it was one of between 30 and 40 helicopters which had taken part in a "very effective" mission.
The general told a news conference at military headquarters in the capital of Qatar that 28 million leaflets had been distributed to the Iraqi population "over a long period of time", urging them to co-operate with allied forces and facilitate the overthrow of the regime. The number of Iraqi prisoners-of-war was "in the vicinity of 3,000".
The allies were also "in contact with a number of Iraqi unit leaders as we speak".
The humanitarian plight of the people of the southern city of Basra has been highlighted by the UN but Gen Franks said: "The people of Basra will, in the days ahead, be able to have more access to food and more access to water than they have had in decades."
He predicted humanitarian shipments would begin to be delivered through the port of Umm Quasr "within the next few days".
The general dismissed Iraqi military actions as "sporadic resistance". Regrettably, there had been allied casualties and there would be more, but the final outcome was not in doubt.
On the campaign in general, he said: "We will fight this on our terms." Accusing the Iraqis of "criminal" behaviour by placing non-combatants in close proximity to military equipment and formations, he said the allies would still "do the best job we can" to protect non-combatants, although this did not mean they would be "wholly and 100 per cent successful" in this regard.
Asked about reports that a plant for the manufacture of chemical weapons had been found by advancing troops, he said: "It would not surprise me if there were chemicals in the plant and it would not surprise me if there weren't."
He said it was "a bit early" to expect progress in this respect. The best circumstances for the discovery of weapons of mass destruction occurred "when you are able to discuss with the people who have actually been involved".
When it was put to him that predictions about the Iraqi regime using chemical weapons had still not come true, he replied: "There is a school of thought that says, as the compression becomes tighter and tighter and tighter, the pressure will be greater and greater to use these weapons."
He repeated his "encouragement" to those who had their fingers on the triggers of such weapons to disobey any instructions to fire them. He added that, already, "many orders which have been given by this regime have not been obeyed".
The general said the command-and-control network in Iraq was "much less robust than it was five days ago" and its internal communications were not working as well as before.
He had not seen the television broadcast by President Saddam Hussein yesterday but noted there were conflicting views as to whether it was genuine. He added: "This is not about one man, this is about an oppressive regime."
Gen Franks expressed a high level of satisfaction with the system of "embedding" reporters with different military units.
"It permits the viewership and the listenership and the readership of the various countries on this planet to be able to get a sense, to be able to get a take, of what is going on, on this battlefield. I'm a fan of it."