Troops gird for muzzle-to-muzzle combat

The violence of war continues in the neighborhoods and suburbs of Baghdad, where combat has become point-blank.

But over the next few weeks, the most important US soldiers and marines in Iraq are likely to be those specializing in civil affairs. They carry weapons, and they're trained to fight.

But their main task is to work with local people - giving assurances that their children are safe, seeing that the basics of daily living become mundane once again, and then helping organize civilian leaders. Meanwhile, the war on the ground goes on as US forces continue their aggressive patrolling and probing, sometimes engaging Iraqi defenses and proving to all who see them - military and civilian alike - that they are taking control of the city.

It'll mainly be low-intensity conflict with spots of heavy fighting - depending on how hard the Special Republican Guard and other security services closest to Saddam Hussein continue to resist. So far at least, those Iraqi units have shown themselves willing to take heavy casualties against heavily-armored US patrols.

"The most important thing right now is not to get overconfident or cocky," says Charles Peña of the Cato Institute. "I still think we could be thrown a few surprises before it's all done."

At the same time, most of the surprises so far - from the US point of view - have been positive. The trip to Baghdad took far less time than expected. Civilian casualties and other collateral damage has been less than critics had predicted. Chemical and biological weapons have not been used.

"The prevailing view among pundits is that these forces have had years to prepare the capital for battle, and we are walking into a clever trap," says military analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute in Alexandria, Va. "However, the Iraqi military has performed so ineptly thus far that it's hard to believe it will suddenly get good within" Baghdad.

After two weeks of exhaustive fighting, there is the temptation to let down one's guard when dangers persist or - in some ways worse - to run up the American flag and declare victory when that can be seen as offensive by those the US-led coalition is trying to liberate. Besides, much of the country - including other major cities - are yet to be secured.

"There are many other parts of the country where we have not taken control," Air Force Maj. Gen. Victor Renuart reminded reporters at Central Command headquarters in Qatar over the weekend. That includes such cities as Basra, Karbala, Al Kut, Amara, and Najaf.

Other observers say gaining such control involves more than major cities and initial military dominance. "The only way to avoid another Afghanistan, where the central government 'controls' the capital but little else, is to get a grip on the towns and villages throughout the country," says retired Army Col. Daniel Smith.

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