US defiant over Iraq attacks

US commanders on the ground are having to adjust tactics

President George Bush says the United States will not be intimidated by those trying to create a "climate of fear" in Iraq, where dozens of people have been killed over the past 48 hours.

Mr Bush blamed Saddam Hussein loyalists and what he called foreign terrorists for the latest wave of attacks in Iraq.

At least two civilians were reported killed when a police station in the northern city of Mosul came under fire on Tuesday night.

The attack came after a series of deadly co-ordinated blasts in Baghdad on Monday, when four bombs were detonated in less than an hour, killing at least 35 people and injuring more than 200.

The president drew a parallel between the suicide bombings in Iraq and the 11 September 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.

"It's the same mentality," Mr Bush said. "We'll just destroy innocent life and watch the United States and their friends and allies, you know, crater in the face of hardship."

Mr Bush told reporters the US had made it clear to Syria and Iran that they must stop fighters crossing into Iraq.

Pentagon tight-lipped

Meanwhile there were further attacks on coalition forces and on Iraqi police on Tuesday:

• In Tikrit, witnesses said an American soldier was wounded in an attack on a US military base.

• A US military convoy was attacked by small arms fire in Mosul. There were no casualties

• Earlier, in the flashpoint town of Falluja, a suicide bomber blew up a car, killing himself and at least five civilians.

Amid the continuing violence in Iraq, the US army has reversed its decision to close its peacekeeping institute based at its main war college in Pennsylvania.

The president is under pressure at home

The original decision was then put on hold as the Iraq operation and the problems associated with it unfolded.

Now the army says it is actually going to expand the scope of the institute to cover all aspects of what it calls stability and support operations.

Meanwhile, at the Pentagon, top US officials have continued to hold meetings on the future of the Iraq mission.

The Pentagon says these were scheduled long before the recent upsurge in violence, but it has remained tight-lipped about the talks.

Tactical switch

BBC Pentagon correspondent Nick Childs says one likely focus of the discussions is intelligence, as officials concede that they are still not sure who has been behind the latest attacks.

Commanders on the ground in Iraq acknowledge that they are reviewing local tactics, but there is no hint at any new overall strategy from Washington.

But President Bush said the US was "constantly looking at the enemy and adjusting".

He said the US would set up more blockades and inspections and seek to give Iraqis a bigger role in intelligence-gathering to thwart attacks.

MAJOR BOMB ATTACKS 26 October: Rocket attack on Baghdad's Rashid Hotel kills one, injures 17 12 October: Suicide car bomb outside Baghdad Hotel - six killed 9 October: Suicide car bomb hits police station in the northeast Shia district Sadr City - at least 10 killed 29 August: Car bomb at mosque near Najaf - 125 killed including Shia Islam top cleric 19 August: UN headquarters, Baghdad - 23 killed, including Sergio Vieira de Mello, veteran official 7 August: Jordanian Embassy - at least 14 killed Attack rocks Red Cross

Analysts said Mr Bush's words appeared intended to address criticism that the White House had failed to anticipate rising violence in Iraq and was uncertain about how to deal with it and protect American lives.

Secretary of State Colin Powell reinforced the president's words, saying: "In combat operations you make adjustments and you make changes as circumstances change. And that is what we are doing now."

Earlier, the chief British representative in the US-led administration, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, told the BBC the style of the attacks on Monday indicated non-Iraqi fighters were involved.

"There were suicide attackers in most - probably all - the bomb explosions... and that is a sign of foreign terrorist tactics, rather than the Saddam loyalist elements that we're still trying to chase down," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner says intelligence experts believe al-Qaeda could have been involved.