Yesterday's attacks in Iraq weren't the stumbling, almost-suicidal strikes of some earlier guerillas. "Well-equipped and highly coordinated, the insurgents demonstrated a new level of strength and tactical skill that alarmed the {U.S] soldiers facing them," the Washington Post reports.
The insurgents fought in large, coordinated squads, set complex ambushes and occupied downtown buildings from which they apparently planned a long fight, U.S. military commanders said. Striking first along two key avenues bracketing the city, the insurgents intended to isolate and overrun the local Coalition Provisional Authority compound and other downtown government buildings, the commanders said.
Several U.S. commanders suggested the insurgents had learned the tactics in recent weeks from skilled guerrilla commanders from outside the city, perhaps led by foreign fighters who came to Iraq to fight the occupation.
