US rejects 'Iraq quagmire' claims

Iraq is no Vietnam, says Rumsfeld

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has rejected suggestions that US and UK forces in Iraq are confronted with a Vietnam-style guerrilla war or are stuck in a quagmire.

Mr Rumsfeld on Monday said the Vietnam war was in a "different era".

But Tuesday's spate of attacks against US troops may be reinforcing the perception that the US is fighting a guerrilla-style war in Iraq, observers say.

"These explosions are a message to the Americans because they have done nothing for the Iraqi people. There will be more and more explosions," said Mohammad Owdeh, a Baghdad resident.

Is it Vietnam yet?... It isn't. It's a different time. It's a different era. It's a different place

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld

Opposition in Iraq comes from many sources, including Baath Party loyalists, Iraqi nationalists who oppose the invasion of their country, criminal groups and local war-lords and militias, says the BBC's Jonathan Marcus.

Mr Rumsfeld acknowledged that remnants of toppled President Saddam Hussein's government had coalesced into a "terrorist network" in Iraq.

But he dismissed the idea that the coalition was "in a quagmire" in Iraq.

"There are so many cartoons where people, press people, are saying, 'Is it Vietnam yet?' hoping it is and wondering if it is. And it isn't. It's a different time... It's a different place."

He warned, however, that it would take time to stamp out armed resistance in the country.

"We are in a global war on terrorism", he said, "and there are people who don't agree" with what we are doing.

The failure so far of the coalition to end armed resistance and make the environment secure is complicating the effort to put to together a multinational force, says the BBC's world affairs correspondent William Horsley.

From 1 September, Poland is due to head a stabilisation force in central Iraq, composed of 9,000 troops from at least 15 nations.