New Kind of Iraqi War
U.S. starts counterinsurgency plan in Iraq
By JIM KRANE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
seattlepi.nwsource.com
Saturday, June 14, 2003 ·
RAMADI, Iraq -- The hardcore
remnants of Saddam
Hussein's regime have moved
from taking potshots at
American soldiers to tougher
tactics - ambushes and
drive-by shootings - and in the
process are drawing U.S.
forces into a new
counterinsurgency war.
With the battles intensifying, U.S. forces have been
distracted from simultaneous missions in postwar Iraq
aimed at winning the hearts and minds of Iraqis, thwarting
crime and jump-starting democratic institutions like town
councils.
Military officials suggest the new counterinsurgency war
will intensify as a two-week amnesty on weapons
possession expires Saturday night. Starting Sunday, any
Iraqi with a weapon outside the home is fair game.
The anti-American attacks have been increasingly bold -
albeit disorganized - particularly in the Sunni Muslim
strongholds of Saddam supporters north and west of
Baghdad.
"They've become smarter. They've learned from their
engagements and they're starting to refine their methods,"
said Maj. Thomas Dorame of the Army's 3rd Armored
Cavalry Regiment, which governs the desert and Euphrates
River towns west of Baghdad.
In one incident, a U.S. military convoy left a road west of
Baghdad to drive around a shattered bridge. As it navigated
a narrow culvert, attackers hidden in tall reeds raked the
convoy with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades, killing
an American soldier.
Several U.S. military officials say a tough crackdown to
crush the insurgency is on the way, perhaps similar to
operations that killed several Iraqis and rounded up 400
others in recent days near Balad and Duluiyah, two towns
north of Baghdad.
"We've given them the opportunity to turn in weapons.
We've got information on them. Now we're going to use that
information to defeat, once and for all, those elements who
continue to be subversive," said Dorame.
For the past week, U.S. military planners have responded
to ambushes with huge sweeps based on intelligence and a
strategy of drawing out attackers. In turn, scattered groups
of Iraqi irregulars have changed tactics: firing from crowds
or moving cars and vanishing into the general population.
"Before they were just taking potshots at us," said Dorame,
3rd Armor's second-in-command. "Now they're watching us
and waiting for a good opportunity. They've learned from
their engagements and they're starting to refine their
methods. They see the convoys and they quickly fire a few
RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and disperse into the
crowd."
Lt. Gen. David McKiernan, the land forces commander in
Iraq, said there would be an increase in weapons seizures
and other actions after the amnesty expires Saturday.
The past days' raids "cause the enemy to respond and
strike back," McKiernan said. "We will maintain that
pressure, causing him to react to us, rather than vice
versa."
The Army has boosted its troop strength in the Sunni
heartland in recent weeks. The 3rd Infantry Division left
Baghdad to quell uprisings in the towns of Fallujah and
Habaniya, which were previously the responsibility of the
3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment.
Since then, the 3rd Armor has sent more troops into
combat operations in Ramadi, Hit and Hidithah - towns
even further west of Baghdad.
"We have overwhelming forces everywhere," said Dorame,
whose unit is headquartered in one of Saddam's palaces in
Ramadi. "We're not allowing them to respond, to regroup
and to find a safe haven within the populace."
The 8,000 troops of the 3rd Armor control one of the
toughest areas in Iraq, a string of Sunni towns lining the
reedy Euphrates that gave strong support to Saddam's
regime, and grew wealthy in return.
The region saw almost no combat during the war. Dorame
insisted it's still replete with well-armed fighters who
appear to be paid and encouraged by members of Saddam's
ousted Baath Party. Nine 3rd Armor soldiers have been
killed since mid-April - six of those in combat. Around
three dozen have been wounded. The regiment sees combat
every day.
In all, 49 Americans have been killed since major combat
was declared over May 1. |
