Perspective: Bush plan for increased troops in Iraq faces tough military challenges on the ground

CAIRO, Egypt: President George W. Bush's plan to send about 20,000 more troops to Iraq is a gamble because U.S. forces will be taking on a two-front challenge: fighting Shiite militias, possibly in the narrow streets of their Baghdad stronghold, while chasing elusive Sunni gunmen and suicide bombers.

The U.S. military has tried this before, though only on a limited basis, in an offensive in the Iraqi capital in the second half of 2006. The operation ended in failure. The bloodshed only increased.

Sunni Arab insurgents have easily evaded American offensives in the past. When U.S. troops have siezed one area, Sunni fighters have simply moved their suicide bombings and other attacks elsewhere. They've returned once the Americans leave.

Shiite militias, blamed for the widespread killings of Sunnis that have pushed the country close to civil war, could prove even tougher to control — particularly the most feared militia, the Mahdi Army, led by cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

The Mahdi Army's stronghold is Sadr City, a Baghdad slum of some 2 million Shiites who overwhelmingly support the fighters, seen as their protectors against Sunni gunmen.

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