In a marked escalation in attacks, Iraqi fighter tried to shoot down a U.S. transport plane with a surface-to-air missile Wednesday.
According to AP, the U.S. military said one surface-to-air missile was fired on a C-130 transport as it landed at Baghdad International Airport. It was only the second known missile attack on a plane using the airport since Baghdad fell to U.S. forces on April 9, said Spc. Giovani Lorente.
Meanwhile, the new American commander in Iraq acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that his forces are facing a "classical guerrilla-type war situation" against opponents ranging from members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party to non-Iraqi fighters from various groups. Gen. John Abizaid spoke on the eve of a banned holiday Saddam loyalists could use to demonstrate their power. According to him, some U.S. troops may have to stay for yearlong tours of duty in Iraq.
Abizaid credited attackers with improved organization, tactics and financing as he suggested U.S. soldiers may face deployments of a length seldom seen since the Vietnam War.
However, he pledged soldiers in the U.S. army's longest-serving unit in Iraq, the 3rd Infantry Division, would be on their way home by the end of September.
He suggested comments by a few soldiers in an interview with ABC-TV, including one who said he wants to ask U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign, simply show the frustration of young people who are ready to go home.
"Every now and then we've got to look at our young people and understand why they said what they said and then do something about it," Abizaid said.
He declined to speculate on whether those soldiers could face punishment but added: "None of us that wear this uniform are free to say anything disparaging about the secretary of defence, or the president of the United States."
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
