We've been looking at the impact war would have on ordinary people.



We met Besma Jassim - dressed in a traditional black chador - as she collected the monthly food ration for her three children and the rest of the family.



The ration system here works - every Iraqi gets flour, rice, soap and other supplies, and more than half the people are dependent on it because they have no job, or earn so little they can't afford anything else.



The government's giving extra rations in case of war, and Besma's managed to stock up on kerosene and water as well.



Iraq is like nowhere else. I've reported from many third world countries where people are as poor as they are here, or poorer.



But in those countries many people get their water from the well, and their light from candles or gas lamps.



Iraq has a sophisticated infrastructure because before the twelve long years of war and sanctions, it was a reasonably prosperous society, only just below Greece on the UN development index.



People are poor they have no money - but they're dependent on electric power and tap water, just as we are in Europe. They're uniquely vulnerable - if bombing knocks out the power stations, how will they cope without electricity?



Filming tonight's story, we met Margaret Hassan, Iraq Director of the aid agency CARE. She's British, but she's lived here with her Iraqi husband for more than two decades. She's a great champion of Iraqi skills and Iraqi administrative ability.



All the CARE staff are Iraqi - engineers, doctors, administrators, and I was impressed with the $2.5 million project I visited in Al Hamza, southern Iraq.



They're rehabilitating water treatment plants and hospitals - but all this is jeopardised by the possibility of war.



And what about after the war? The Americans say they'll charge in and run everything - government, aid projects, the lot. I wonder if they've read the history books, and reflected on Britain's attempts to colonise Iraq 80 years ago.



I wonder if these retired generals and state governors have learnt Arabic to prepare for their mission. (How would it be if Britain were run by people who spoke only Hungarian or Chinese and had never even visited before?)



Maybe they should take a little advice from some of the well-qualified Iraqis inside the country and in exile.