Hey, Rummy. What kind of war is this again?

U.S. Troops Fight Invisible Enemy in Iraq
Fri Jul 25, 3:28 AM ET

By D'ARCY DORAN, Associated Press Writer

AMBUSH ALLEY, Iraq - A flash shattered the darkness and a bomb blew up in front of Sgt. First Class Mike Mizell's tank. Within seconds, a rocket-propelled grenade whistled overhead.

"Driver, stop! Gunner, reverse to the left!" the 35-year-old tank commander from Orangeburg, S.C., shouted into his radio.

For commanders like Mizell, the attack along the dangerous Highway 1, dubbed "Ambush Alley," wasn't unexpected. The goal on this patrol, like many others, was to bait the enemy into attacking armored infantry units and draw them away from more vulnerable targets.

"It's as dangerous as hell," 68th Armored's commander Lt. Col. Aubrey Garner, 39, said. "But soldiers are willing to put themselves in danger to kill the enemy."

The gunners sprayed machine gun tracer fire a line of palm and eucalyptus trees where the attacker took cover to fire the RPG. Two Apache helicopter gunships clattered in to chase down anyone running away. The other pair of tanks in Mizell's patrol fired their machine guns toward the spot, guided by the initial tracer rounds. It was impossible to tell if any Iraqi fighters were killed or wounded.

Daily guerrilla ambushes have pushed the number of U.S. soldiers killed in action in Iraq to near 160, and troops said they expected Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) loyalists to step up attacks after the Tuesday killing of his sons Odai and Qusai. On top of that, an Arab satellite broadcaster aired an audiotape Wednesday thought to have been the voice of Saddam calling his former soldiers to rise up against the Americans.

The brothers' death didn't stop attacks on "Ambush Alley."...





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