The alleged placing of military equipment and weapons in civilian areas of Baghdad by the Iraqi government was "a growing problem" for coalition forces, according to a senior US commander, writes Déaglan de Bréadún in Doha.
But he said efforts would continue "to prevent or to at least minimise" civilian casualties in any attacks on such targets.
"The regime continues to position things that would bring threats into populated areas. We've seen heavy equipment transporters with tanks on their back moving into housing areas," Brig Gen Vincent Brooks told a news conference at US Central Command headquarters in the capital of Qatar.
Asked if this would affect the coalition's approach to air strikes, given its declared intention to avoid civilian casualties, he said: "I think it causes us to always redouble our efforts, as we already have, of looking at targets very selectively, find the best way to attack those targets, eliminate them as a threat, and at the same time doing all we can to prevent or to at least minimise the potential effect on civilians, noncombatants and other structures that we don't want to hit."
Iraq has claimed that 4,000 suicide-bombers from other Arab countries have volunteered to take their side in the conflict, and Gen Brooks was asked how this reflected on US efforts to win the "hearts and minds" of the Arab world.
"We have come here, and liberation is in our minds as we destroy the regime and proceed to remove the weapons of mass destruction from Iraq. Liberation is the action that will occur by way of what we're doing in this campaign," he said.
He claimed the evidence throughout the country was that "the Iraqi people are welcoming the departure of the regime and its destruction". But he added: "There is truthfully still a degree of let's-wait-and-see. We have to understand that for decades these people have been severely brutalised by this regime, and they have taken risks before."
On the issue of Iraqis captured by the coalition, he said that "at this point" they were all being treated as prisoners of war. Any possible future decisions made about their ultimate status were a matter for policy-makers in Washington, not US Central Command.
Brig Gen Brooks had described some Iraqi combatants as "paramilitaries" who were members of "terrorist death squads" and he was asked if this meant they would be sent to Guantanamo Bay with al-Qaeda suspects, rather than being treated as POWs.
He replied: "We characterise them with terms that describe their behaviour. It doesn't necessarily put them into any particular legal category from the perspective of this command."
The general showed video of alleged Iraqi warplanes being destroyed by coalition forces and he was asked if he could be sure these were genuine aircraft or decoys.
He said the coalition's "targeteers" were very skilled. "We're comfortable that we hit legitimate targets in this case," he said.
Asked if urban warfare involving high civilian casualties in Baghdad was inevitable and if coalition troops were prepared for such an eventuality, he said: "I wouldn't want to predetermine exactly what the circumstances would be in Baghdad.
"There certainly is potential for very intense fighting. We should all anticipate that and be prepared for it. But our tactics will let us do this in a way that we think can save lives as much as possible."
Commenting on claims that a US A-10 aircraft had attacked a British tank, with one fatality, he said: "When we have reports of potential fratricides, we always examine it deeply." But he added: "There's a lot of fog and friction on the battlefield, and accidents do happen".
Questioned about the military situation in Basra, Iraq's second city, he said: "We wouldn't say that Basra is completely under coalition control, but we continue to increase the degree of control."
Commenting on the disposition of the Iraqi air force, which has remained on the ground so far, he said: "If they fly, they die."