Cochlea to structures in the brainstem for further processing. The "stapes" (stirrup) ossicle bone of the middle ear transmits vibrations to the "fenestra ovalis" (oval window) on the outside of the cochlea, which vibrates the perilymph in the "vestibular duct" (upper chamber of the cochlea). The ossicles are essential for efficient coupling of sound waves into the cochlea, since the cochlea environment is a fluid–membrane system, and it takes more pressure to move sound through fluid–membrane waves than it does through air; a pressure increase is achieved by the area ratio of the tympanic membrane to the oval window, resulting in
Jock Stirrup security co-ordinator and during one of his visits to Iraq, Stirrup met the new Basra security coordinator, General Mohan. Mohan wanted the British forces to withdraw from Basra and Stirrup stressed that once British forces had departed, Mohan's Iraqi forces would have to deal with security. Both Mohan and Stirrup were clear that retaining British forces outside Basra would be an insurance policy against a deteriorating situation within Basra as well as give Mohan something additional with which he could threaten the militias. Stirrup was concerned that a redeployment would look as though the British had been "bombed out of