The Iraqi military has dispersed its forces along key roads and is engaging US and British forces in as many towns and cities as possible, with elements of regular army divisions fighting harder and effectively than Pentagon officials ever expected.This defensive strategy is designed not to win the war, but to draw it out in hopes that pressure from the international community will stop the invasion. The strategy has been enhanced by an array of tactics effective in ‘‘assymetric’’ conflicts — from stationing equipment next to historic landmarks to booby-trapping oil fields.Meanwhile, guerrilla forces of Saddam’s fidayeen have maintained constant pressure on the forces.‘‘Iraqi forces have been countering the US-led operation with a form of ‘outside-in’ strategy, defending their country from the periphery to the centre,’’ said Jeff White, an ex-analyst at the Defence Intelligence Agency now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.‘‘Although the coalition is winning every significant engagement and has penetrated to the heart of the country, Saddam’s regime is demonstrating that it is a dynamic opponent, capable of understanding what it faces and coming up with surprises.’’ ‘‘When you go into someone else’s back yard,’’ a US officer added, ‘‘the fight always changes.’’White and other analysts inside and outside the Pentagon also said US and British forces could be forced to fight their way through far more Iraqi divisions on their way to Baghdad than is generally understood.Three Republican Guard divisions are known to be south of Baghdad, arrayed east to west, from Kut to Ramadi, they said. Elements of at least three regular army units are aggressively engaging allied forces in Basra, Nasiriyah and Najaf, said Anthony Cordesman, an expert on the Iraqi military.Their actions have not been appreciated, largely because media attention has been focussed on the looming fight between the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division and the Medina Division of the Republican Guard.One mystery that could end up complicating things for coalition troops, said an expert, is the whereabouts of the entire 4th Corps of Iraq’s regular military. Its three units have not been heard from the battlefield.Army Brig Gen Vincent Brooks, Central Command’s deputy director of operations said: ‘‘We’re seeing locally controlled actions, frequent survival moves by regime leaders, and uncontrolled firing of missiles.’’ British Air Marshal Brian Burridge added Iraqis do not seem to be reacting to attacks by moving forces in ways that would normally be expected.One problem with the way Iraq’s forces are now arrayed is that three Republican Guard divisions — the Nida, Adnan and Nebuchadnezzar are north of Baghdad, with the main US and UK force advancing from the south. (LAT-WP)
