Guerrilla attacks drop since capture of Saddam

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The top U.S. commander in Baghdad said yesterday that guerrilla attacks in his sector have dropped sharply since the Dec. 13 capture of Saddam Hussein.

Army Brig. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey also said insurgents are turning to roadside bombs as their attack method of choice, as opposed to more frontal assaults with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and rockets.

Gen. Dempsey's New Year's Eve assessment would seem to indicate that the pro-Saddam insurgent cells in the capital could be running out of men, weapons and motivation.

He said that a series of planned attacks executed Christmas Day turned out to be mostly one- and two-man operations designed to create an impression of chaos in Baghdad.

After suffering a month-high toll of 83 deaths in November, the U.S. military reported fewer than half that number -- 38 -- in December.

Still, the coalition was bracing for holiday-timed attacks. Hours after Gen. Dempsey conducted his press conference, an explosion ripped through a central Baghdad restaurant that had advertised a New Year's Eve party, complete with belly dancers. Police reported five persons killed, all Iraqis, and 25 injured. Three of the injured were Los Angeles Times reporters -- one American and two Britons.

Gen. Dempsey, who commands the 1st Armored Division, has mounted a robust series of raids in recent weeks dubbed Operation Iron Grip. The target: 14 anticoalition cells operating in only a few of Baghdad's 88 distinct neighborhoods. U.S. officials believe they have disrupted more than half of the cells.

The division's responsibility is the sprawling city of 5 million, under the overall control of the coalition's Combined Joint Task Force 7, headed by Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. The Army's 4th Infantry Division patrols the Sunni Triangle north of Baghdad. The 101st Airborne Division is based in northern Iraq, and the 82nd Airborne is in the western sector.

Gen. Dempsey, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon via videoconference in the occupation's ninth month, predicted 2004 would be a good year for his soldiers and the pro-coalition Iraqis.