WASHINGTON: Mounting US deaths in Iraq expose the difficulties the American military faces in fighting urban enemies who look like civilians and can attack from anywhere, soldiers and analysts say.

Despite high-tech tools, additional boots on the ground and local forces working alongside Americans, fighting in Iraq’s capital remains daunting and the violence unrelenting.

“There’s not much we can do,” said one US defence official about the spiralling violence in Baghdad, which has helped push US deaths so far in October to at least 73, one of the highest tolls in recent months.

“The strategy here is to get the bad guys under control then bring in the local police to work with the population,” the official said. US troops are far from controlling violence in Baghdad, a battle US officials say will decide Iraq’s future.

US Maj. Gen. William Caldwell on Thursday called the violence “disheartening” and said a nearly 4-month-old security crackdown in the Iraqi capital known as Operation Together Forward had not yielded the intended results.

“It’s clearly a problem related to the urban combat environment,” said another defence official on condition of anonymity, as commanders prepared to discuss the war on Saturday with President George W. Bush and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Soldiers and Marines also agreed. They cited an enemy indistinguishable from the civilian population, small spaces where even hand-held weapons can be devastating, and having to rely on unknown locals for intelligence.

“They’re not wearing uniforms,” said Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Eduardo Alexander, who served in Falluja, an insurgent stronghold. “You don’t know who’s blending in — are you a good guy, a bad guy or neutral?”

Army Lt. Col. David Oclander said the troops often face a moral dilemma in deciding when to fire.

“You have an enemy that can ... get inside your protective zone a lot easier by blending in with the civilians. And then all of a sudden you’re faced with a real moral dilemma of, ‘Do you engage with somebody who could potentially be hostile or not?’” Oclander said.

US service members called tips from locals the critical factor in overcoming the urban warfare challenges, although they also questioned the reliability of the information. “You just don’t know because you’re an outsider,” Oclander said.

That, according to Lexington Institute defence analyst Loren Thompson, goes to the heart of the problem in Baghdad because US troops cannot speak Arabic.

“I can teach you to use your night-vision goggles and I can train you to go into buildings but if you don’t know what that guy across the street is shouting at you, you’re functioning with a real handicap,” he said.—Reuters