New York, Aug 26: Iraq has already begun military preparations in anticipation of an eventual American strike and will try to "compensate" for its armed forces' glaring weaknesses by raising the spectre of urban warfare if attacked. Iraqi forces have been digging defensive positions for military equipment around Baghdad. The Iraqi military has also been moving air defense units around the country and dispersing army units in the field to make them less vulnerable to a surprise air attack, a media report said today.

During the Persian Gulf War of 1991, the Iraqi troops who captured Kuwait dug themselves into positions in the open desert. That made them vulnerable to allied air strikes and the fast-paced attacks by the us' better trained and more maneuverable ground forces. But this time, The New York Times said, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's goal is not so much to hold ground as to hold power. That means that Iraq can be expected to use the threat of urban warfare to try to deter the us from attacking in the first place and to raise political costs if Washington decides to press ahead with an invasion.

"Iraq has no hope of prevailing in a straight military fight, and after desert storm the Iraqis probably realize that," said Kenneth M Pollack, director of National Security Studies at the Council on foreign relations and a former CIA analyst of Iraqi military. Bureau Report