The commander of US troops in Iraq said today they faced a classic guerrilla war as assailants fired a surface-to-air missile at a military plane and a grenade attack killed a US soldier.
The latest US combat death brought the total to 147,equaling the toll in the 1991 Gulf War, and added pressure on President George W. Bush, who is under fire for the cost of the war and accusations he misled Americans into the war.
In further violence, the mayor of a town in a restive region west of Baghdad was shot dead along with his son, a military spokeswoman said.
Central Command chief Gen. John Abizaid said American forces need to adapt their tactics to crush an increasingly organized, cell-based guerrilla resistance that is spearheaded by loyalists of toppled president Saddam Hussein.
His comments contradicted Defense Secretary DonaldRumsfeld, who on June 30 heatedly disputed the characterization of the fighting in Iraq as a guerrilla war.
Abizaid said during a Pentagon briefing: the Iraqis "areconducting what I would describe as a classical guerrilla-typecampaign against us. It's low-intensity conflict in ourdoctrinal terms, but it's war however you describe it.
"The level of resistance ... is getting more organized andit is learning. It is adapting ... And we've got to adapt totheir tactics, techniques and procedures."
In Baghdad, attackers fired a surface-to-air missile at aC-130 transport plane as it approached the Iraqi capital'sairport but missed their target. It was the second suchincident in two weeks, a military official said.
Baghdad international airport has been closed for civiliantraffic since March 20 when US-led forces started the war todepose Saddam. The US-led administration has said it plans toreopen the airport, now used as a military airfield, in July.
The surface-to-air missile was fired at the plane overBaghdad around 8:45 a.m. (0:45 a.m. EDT/0445 GMT) but the USmilitary had no information on how close the missile had cometo hitting the aircraft.
The US military had expected a surge of attacks this weekto coincide with anniversaries linked to Saddam, the BaathParty and Iraqi nationalism.
Attacks have continued despite a crackdown by US troopsin areas north of the capital, once a hotbed for the formerpresident's loyalists.
The US soldier, who was killed, had been in a militaryconvoy of 40 trucks driving along the highway near Abu Ghraib,16 miles (26 km) west of Baghdad, when there was an explosion.
A US military spokesman in Baghdad said the convoy wasambushed with rocket-propelled grenades.
The soldier's body lay on a highway covered with a yellowsheet, his boot stretching onto the road. Two wounded menreceived treatment nearby while helicopters hovered above andUS soldiers stood guard.
The Arab satellite network Al Jazeera identified the deadmayor as Ali Mohammed Nayel al-Jughaify and said he was shot ashe was driving home from his office in Hadithah, about 120miles (190 km) northwest of Baghdad.