New Iraq Attacks Are More Complicated (insurgents more sophisticated)

[Barrett808]

New Iraq Attacks Are More Complicated
By KIM HOUSEGO, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The scale and sophistication of militant attacks in Iraq are steadily increasing, with coordinated strikes and complicated ambushes that increasingly hit their targets, officials and analysts said Wednesday.

The spike in bloodshed — more than 200 dead in four days — has stifled American hopes that the transfer of sovereignty and the prospect of a democratic vote in four months could take the steam out of the uprising and pave the way for a reduction in U.S. troops.

Instead, there are signs the Americans and their Iraqi allies are facing an enemy more determined than ever. Insurgents have learned from past mistakes and shifted strategy, cooperating more closely with each other and devising new ways to put their relatively simple arsenal to treacherous use.

"More thought is going into the execution of the attacks," said Lt. Col. Paul Hastings of Task Force Olympia, which is trying to bring stability to a swath of northeastern Iraq.

Militants now follow up roadside bomb attacks with a deluge of rocket-propelled grenades instead of fleeing, or fire off mortar rounds to lure soldiers out of their base and into freshly laid mine fields, military commanders say.

(more)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040915/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_insurgency&cid=540&ncid=1480

[daleo]

1. Not a bad story if you read between the lines

A fair bit of propaganda included, but by now one has mastered the art of ignoring or re-interpreting that, like people in the old Soviet Union, as Tom Paine says.

[liberalmuse]

2. I guess they mean it's turned into a real war now.

Instead of a mass slaughter of people mismatched with our firepower. 'Sophisticated' indeed. This is such sh*t.