Civilians in the city of Fallujah got plenty of warning to steer clear of the fighting between US and insurgent forces, US Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said in predicting "there aren't going to be large numbers" of civilians killed there.
"Innocent civilians in that city have all the guidance they need as to how they can avoid getting into trouble," Rumsfeld told a Pentagon news conference. He referred to a round-the-clock curfew and other emergency measures announced by interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
"There aren't going to be large numbers of civilians killed and certainly not by US forces," Rumsfeld said.
One risk of using overwhelming force to regain control of rebel-held Fallujah is that civilian casualties - nearly inevitable under the circumstances - could trigger a backlash elsewhere in Iraq and in the Arab world against the US forces and their Iraqi allies.
Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared with Rumsfeld and said it's likely the insurgents will try to use civilians as shields against attacking US troops.
"There are also indications that they want to fight in a more conventional way," Myers added without elaborating.
Rumsfeld said no one knows for sure how many civilians remain in Fallujah. Tens of thousands are reported to have left in recent weeks, and Gen. George W. Casey, the top American commander in Iraq, told reporters Monday that as many as 100,000 civilians may have remained.
AP