Despite the recent introduction of Operation Iron Hammer by US forces, Iraqi insurgents are adapting and looking for new ways to exploit an American occupation that is in disarray, writes Salah Hemeid On Sunday in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, attackers shot and killed two American soldiers who were waiting in traffic. The assailants fled and the bodies of the soldiers were left lying in the street next to their vehicle. The attackers were spotted by locals, but no one informed the US authorities. In separate incidents, one US soldier was killed when a roadside bomb detonated north of Baghdad, while three American civilian contractors were wounded in an explosion in the northern oil centre of Kirkuk. On Saturday, suicide bombers struck two police stations northeast of Baghdad within the span of half an hour, killing the attackers and at least 12 Iraqi police and civilians. In the town of Baqouba, 19 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, an SUV packed with explosives blew up at a police checkpoint, killing several police and civilians. In the nearby town of Khan Bani Saad, another car bomber sped past police gunfire before exploding at the station gate. Also on Saturday, insurgents armed with a surface-to-air missile struck a civilian cargo plane operated by the Belgium- based DHL international shipping service. Although five US military helicopters have been shot down with shoulder-fired missiles and rocket-propelled grenades, killing about 40 US servicemen, this was the first time a civilian airliner was targeted by the insurgents. More importantly, the incident highlighted security concerns at Baghdad International Airport, which is a major US military base and the primary entry point for supplies and aid into Iraq. On Friday, guerrillas using rockets mounted on wooden donkey carts attacked the Oil Ministry and the Palestine and Sheraton Hotels in downtown Baghdad. One civilian contractor staying at the Palestine Hotel was wounded but there were no casualties reported at the Oil Ministry, which was closed for the Muslim day of prayer. In northern Iraq, a police colonel in charge of protecting oil installations was assassinated Saturday in an apparent attack against the US-backed security forces. Such setbacks are corroding American efforts to end or isolate the increasingly active Iraqi resistance. Most of the attacks on American and Iraqi security forces have occurred in the Arab Sunni areas that have traditionally made up the core of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime and the Ba'th Party. These Sunni towns and villages are home to tens of thousands of former senior party members, as well as top officers from Saddam's Republican Guard and the Iraqi Army. Nevertheless, observers agree that it is not only Saddam's loyalists that should be blamed for the mounting attacks against American soldiers and the Iraqi security forces. In addition, it is believed that disgruntled Iraqis -- avenging humiliation or injury inflicted upon them by the US military -- and nationalists and Islamist militants coming from abroad are fighting with the insurgents against the Americans. Leading American columnist Fareed Zakaria wrote in this week's issue of Newsweek that, "it has become increasingly clear that the resistance in Iraq is not the work of a small band of dead-enders, but it is in fact a more widespread movement." He noted that though months have passed since the resistance started, the Americans still know little about the identity of their attackers. "The reason for this lack of information must be that the guerrillas are able to merge back into the population and that the locals are not actively informing on them," wrote Zakaria. In fact, US military officials have acknowledged that their intelligence is insufficient to find out who is behind the recent surge in guerrilla attacks. They also admit that the insurgents appear to be exploiting US intelligence weaknesses in order to escalate their attacks and foil any US counter-offensive. The recent tactics used by the insurgents -- using donkey carts to launch missiles, the attack on a civilian cargo plane with a surface-to-air missile, the daring shooting of US soldiers on a busy street in downtown Mosul -- are only a few examples of how the resistance is adapting. Despite the massive show of American force, which has included the round up of targeted political leaders and the demolition of buildings by US troops, putting an end to the resistance has proved more difficult than many American officials had imagined. Such tactics are expected to backfire, as they will only increase resentment over the US occupation, alienate the local population and generate sympathy for the insurgency. Already, such tactics have sparked world condemnation. Amnesty International said it sent a letter to US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld demanding clarification on whether the demolition of buildings is a form of collective punishment. The London-based human rights group warned that collective punishment for attacks on US troops would breach the Fourth Geneva Convention. France, Russia and Germany, the three major countries that opposed the US-led war in Iraq, again urged the US and Britain to work towards a political solution to end the current wave of violence. They want to hold a conference in Iraq that would bring together a broad spectrum of Iraqi and international groups and discuss the timely return of sovereignty to the Iraqi people. In the meantime, President George W Bush is sticking to his guns. "We're not leaving until the job is done, pure and simple," he declared. With his presidency and historical legacy on the line, he seems to have put his chips on the one thing he believes will never fail him -- the firepower of the US Armed Forces. Yet as the deteriorating security situation has shown, a military strategy is not the solution to Washington's problems in Iraq. A clear commitment to a political solution that would give Iraqis a fair share in power and wealth might be.
