Pentagon admits Iraq guerrilla war 
19.06.2003 [11:21] 

US forces are waging a "guerrilla war" in Iraq where elements of the 
former regime inflict casualties almost daily, Paul  Wolfowitz, deputy 
defence secretary said on Wednesday.  

However his boss, Donald Rumsfeld, said the the American public was 
prepared to accept the mounting death toll.  

Their comments came as US Central Command reported American 
forces in Iraq had captured Abdel Hamid al-Tikriti, Saddam Hussein's 
personal secretary, senior bodyguard and national security adviser.  

The capture of Mr al-Tikriti, the ace of diamonds in the US military's 
deck of cards representing wanted Iraqi officials, is the highest-level 
arrest by US troops since the war began.  

He is the fourth most wanted on the US list after the former president 
himself and his sons Qusay and Uday.  

In Washington the Bush administration and military commanders differ 
publicly over the degree of resistance to US occupation in Iraq, but Mr 
Wolfowitz told Congress: "There's a guerrilla war there but we can win it. 

"We have made great progress in some areas of the country, but we 
continue to face an adaptive and determined enemy which, while 
defeated on the conventional battlefield, is nonetheless intent on 
killing Americans and Iraqis," he told the House Armed Services Committee.  

Mr Wolfowitz, who insisted the enemy did not have broad popular 
support, spoke after a US soldier was killed in a drive-by shooting 
at a Baghdad petrol station - the 52nd soldier to die in Iraq since 
President George W. Bush announced the end of major combat on May 1.  

Speaking from Iraq to reporters in Washington, General Ray Ordierno of 
the 4th Infantry Division said he would not describe the resistance as 
being of a "guerrilla" nature, dismissing it as "militarily
insignificant".  

The comments by the Pentagon's top two officials reflect efforts by the 
White House to prepare the nation for a longer and more hazardous 
enterprise in Iraq than had been anticipated.  

Despite the casualties, Mr Rumsfeld said he believed the US public felt 
the effort was "worthwhile" and that people "recognise the difficulty 
of the task".  

The defence secretary also revealed that the US was considering 
plea bargains with captured members of the regime in exchange 
for information. This follows reports that the UK government 
was pressing the US to make deals in order to trace Mr Hussein 
and weapons of mass destruction.  

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Source: Iraqwar.ru ....
http://www.iraqwar.ru/iraq-read_article.php?articleId=9377&lang=en


Cheers, Steve..

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