To Mkloby, really:
All depends which war; in Iraq, you have lots of nice open space with bags and bags of nothing in it - ideal for mech war. Now go to some other places, and your MICVs will not survive ten minutes against well-equipped and trained leg infantry. You're quite right.
As you say, it's a mistake to think that this war (Iraq) is the only sort.
Also, remember what happened to the Israeli Armoured Forces in 1973, when the Egyptians deployed tank hunters with (for the period) sophisticated AT weapons...
We must not make the mistake of thinking that because Allied Forces steamrollered right over the (ill-equipped, demoralized, poorly-trained and badly-motivated) Iraqi Army, that ALL armies will roll over and die as easily.(I do not consider the present terrorist/resistance movement as the same thing as the old Iraqi Army, for obvious reasons.)
And you can not devastate all before you with prophylactic fire, so if you are facing seriously trained, equipped and motivated infantry, I'm afraid that they could very possibly make these armoured forces pay a very high price for the terrain. As you said, heavy woodland, swamps, hilly or mountainous areas, and so on, are not recommended for armoured warfare, while infantry can exploit them to death. And you can't always go round as easily as you might hope, since that still leaves active enemy forces behind you.
In my ancient days, in Germany, it was assumed we would be over-run on day one - our APCs were rubbish, and we'd be on our own. The idea was to hold as thoroughly as possible, and when over-run, to keep up pressure on the enemy's tail. Never got to test the idea thank goodness, but it sounds just the sort of sneaky stuff I "enjoy" (wrong word, but you know what I mean) !
But if you can imagine what it might be to have British troops ranging round your rear, making a nuisance of themselves, it isn't quite the same thing!
And yes, I'm grumbling, and when all is said and done, I think we agree on the basics - the rest is application and interpretation.
But what K9kiwi means, I think, is that you have to have people there to control it.