Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

Iraq insurgents change techniques
By Mike Wooldridge
BBC world affairs correspondent in Baghdad



As the toll of US marine lives has mounted in Iraq, the Americans have conceded that insurgents opposing them are using more sophisticated techniques.

Fourteen marines and a translator working with them were killed in a single roadside bombing close to the town of Haditha shortly after sunrise on Wednesday, adding significantly to US casualties as they battle insurgents along a corridor formed by the River Euphrates.

Beyond Haditha lies Iraq's border with Syria which, according to the Americans, is an infiltration route for insurgents.

There were graphic accounts of the Haditha blast. The marines were in an armoured amphibious assault vehicle. It was said to have flipped over after a thunderous explosion.

Eyewitnesses spoke of there being "shrapnel everywhere".

That blast is still being investigated. But the US military are now talking of the adaptability of the insurgents.

New techniques

They suggest that the insurgents have developed new ways of penetrating the armour of military vehicles and now appear to have more sophisticated firing mechanisms.

It is a new challenge before the Americans - and indeed the Iraqi security forces working with them - as they seek to contain and defeat the insurgency.

They acknowledge it but they also maintain that they have succeeded in interrupting the insurgents' ability to carry out attacks and that the insurgency is not expanding.

The trouble is that this is a crucial time if the transition to a new political future for Iraq is to succeed - with the presentation of the draft of a new constitution due in ten days' time and the referendum on the constitution and further elections due to take place before the end of the year.

The hope of those who support this political process is that it will erode the insurgency.

As the present Iraqi government and its international allies see it, the insurgents' main ambition is to disrupt the political process.

Deadly tactic

The Iraqi prime minister, Ibrahim Jaafari, and his security ministers and advisers have come up with a new plan for improving security. "We are at war," he declared when he outlined the plan.

He said one of the priorities was to improve intelligence co-ordination.

There would be specific measures to improve security at major infrastructure projects, he said. There would be more work on securing Iraq's borders.

The foreign minister has also been asked to step up co-ordination with neighbouring countries on containing insurgency.

And Mr Jaafari said that, in the course of tackling the insurgency, everyone - including detainees - should be treated humanely and according to the law.

For now, there is a clash of wills being played out in Iraq as the Americans have to deal with the new spotlight on their casualties - and conjure how to deal with the deadly tactics being used against them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4747317.stm