The Risky Business of Urban Warfare
April 3 -- It is possible some members of Iraq's Republican Guard are trying to draw U.S. forces into battle on the streets of Baghdad, says Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Falling for it, experts warn, would be a mistake.
The United States may have the most fearsome planes and the most precise missiles. But strategists say in a city, America's technological strength is greatly diminished. It is the one place the Iraqis can hope to have anything close to a level playing field.
"There's smoke, there's noise, there's people flashing in front of you. There's casualties — maybe a buddy," says retired Gen. William Nash, who served in Operation Desert Storm.
Historically, urban battles have been the most dangerous in any war. Casualty rates have been 30 percent in recent decades. Soldiers are easily isolated, subject to attack from any direction.
The dangers to American troops have grown more apparent in the last few days. Iraq claims it has thousands of men willing to be suicide bombers. Iraqi soldiers have often protected themselves by mixing in with civilians.
"You're going to try and avoid collateral damage, and the Iraqis are going to make collateral damage happen by keeping civilians in harm's way," says Richard Aboulafia, vice president for analysis at Teal Group, a defense consulting firm in Fairfax, Va.
Avoiding a Street Fight
Baghdad is a sprawling city of 5 million people, with wide streets and low-slung buildings. In some ways, that is good for the United States: Its tanks and armored vehicles can get through. But it also presents dangers, because there are fewer places for soldiers on foot to hide from snipers.
"No one can be certain who's in the building behind them, or in the building on the side, or up on the roof," says Anthony Cordesman, an ABCNEWS military analyst. "The risk is always there."
So American commanders know better than to be drawn into a street fight. But even so, the United States has technological advantages operating in center-city Baghdad.
