Call me perverse, but when I read something like this 4/2 1347GMT entry in the BBC reporter's web log, I get a sense of dread and foreboding:

What you see in Umm Qasr now are groups of children coming to Royal Marine troops and wanting to muck around! They are trying to play children's games of cat and mouse, and keep jumping on the backs of the lorries that deliver food supplies.

After the initial stage when British soldiers - now out of their Kevlar helmets and flak jackets, and patrolling in berets - were trying to make friends with the children to win their hearts and minds, now the children are driving the soldiers mad with their constant demands for chocolates and sweets!