IRAQI RESISTANCE

The Age: Raiders losing the battle for hearts and minds

US troops lost the hearts and minds of some Iraqis this week in
aggressive pre-dawn house raids in the hometown of Saddam Hussein, blowing open
gates, kicking down doors and shoving faces in the dirt.
Ten-year-old Ahmed, herded with his family into his garden, shook
visibly as he watched soldiers interrogate one man, whose head slammed onto the
ground with a thud. "I will become an Iraqi fighter and I will kill
Americans," the boy said. He pointed at troops who charged into his
home with rifles, sledgehammers and bolt-cutters hunting for anti-American
guerillas. "They are the enemy," he said.