Pentagon changes tactics after Iraqi resistance

The Pentagon is adjusting its tactics for the war in Iraq after US commanders on the ground said they were surprised by the resistance put up by Saddam Hussein’s paramilitaries.

Instead of racing straight to Baghdad, US-led troops will now stop to clear out pockets of fighters who hold-out against them, including Fedayeen Saddam, US officials said today.

The Fedayeen is a militia that has been rallying other Iraqi forces to continue fighting – and in some cases has reportedly stopped others from surrendering to the allies.

The unexpected level of resistance and terrible sandstorms have caused problems for the coalition troops as they press north towards Baghdad – where Saddam and his regime are expected to make their last stand.

Storms grounded scores of coalition aircraft yesterday, blinded the electronic eyes needed to target Iraq and were clogging up guns, breaking down engines and generally slowing a military campaign designed for speed.

The Fedayeen – which means “those ready to sacrifice themselves for Saddam” - are accused of organising battlefield ruses like posing as civilians and faking surrenders in order to ambush invading forces.

Intelligence officials say there could be 30,000 to 60,000 of them, with chapters assigned to each Iraqi province to assure loyalty to Saddam. Other militia groups, including from Saddam’s Baath Party, are also operating, and some have been captured, officials said.

Rather than racing towards Baghdad as they have in the last few days, Marines today slowed their advance, opting to send patrols out from their convoys to take out mortar nests and other enemy targets.

One US Defence Department official said commanders were surprised by the capability of the Fedayeen, another by its brutality in forcing regular Iraqi army troops to fight.

Another official said the group has shown tenacity and that it was expected that it would present the biggest problem in Baghdad rather than in the south.

“We’re going into a hunting mode right now,” said Lt Col BT McCoy, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines. “We are going to start hunting down instead of letting them take the cheap shots.”

Meanwhile, the Air Force said it used an experimental bomb to try to knock out Iraq’s state-run television. Officials declined to describe the weapon, but they have said in recent months that they were developing a bomb that would emit an electromagnetic pulse to disrupt computers, communications and other equipment.

Also in the package of strikes were Tomahawk cruise missiles and other precision-guided bombs. Television broadcast were back on the air about eight hours later.

Officials expressed caution about a report that some of the soldiers from a maintenance unit captured over the weekend were executed as they attempted to surrender.

Officials said they had one report and that they were looking into it. Five from the unit were shown on Iraqi television as prisoners of war.

US defence officials also revised to 350 the number of Iraqi forces killed in fierce fighting yesterday for a key Euphrates River crossing about 90 miles south of Baghdad.

The number had been widely estimated yesterday at more than 150 Iraqi fighters and possibly as many as 500.

No American casualties were reported from the battle, which pitted an American armoured division against Iraqi infantry.

The prospect of a chemical attack loomed today. Marines in southern Iraq yesterday found more evidence Iraq was planning an attack with chemical weapons: caches of gas masks, protective gear and nerve agent antidotes in a hospital US officials said Iraqi soldiers used as an illegal staging area.

Officials have said that the closer troops draw to Baghdad, the more likely the possibility a cornered regime will strike out with weapons of mass destruction.

Saddam has said he has none and US President George Bush has said his refusal to disarm is the reason for the war.