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U.S. Facing "Guerrilla War" in Iraq, Commander Says

(Boston Globe/AP) Saddam Hussein loyalists are fighting an increasingly organized ''guerrilla-type campaign'' against U.S. troops, and terror groups are reviving, too, Gen. John Abizaid, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, said Wednesday. ''It's low-intensity conflict in our doctrinal terms, but it's war however you describe it,'' said Abizaid, who took over last week as head of U.S. Central Command. Mid-level Baath Party operatives have organized themselves into cells of perhaps 10 people. With some regional coordination and financing, those cells plan attacks on American forces with improvised bombs, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons, Abizaid said. Terrorist groups operating inside Iraq include Ansar al-Islam, an al-Qaeda-linked organization that appears to be regrouping in Iraq, possibly aided by members coming from Iran, as well as other non-Iraqi fighters, Abizaid said.
2003-07-17 00:00:00
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