Stunning images of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment racing through the Iraqi desert emerged as the war opened. The final cut could show a bloody fight being waged in the narrow streets and alleys of Baghdad.

In the months leading up to war, the Iraqi leadership said it could level the playing field by drawing the Americans into street combat. A showdown in Baghdad could come within hours, as ongoing air strikes soften military positions in and around the city.

"People say to me, 'You are not the Vietnamese. You have no jungles or swamps to hide in.' I reply, Let our cities be our swamps, and our buildings our jungles," Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said as war approached.

One U.S. colonel said that if a battle unfolds within Baghdad it would be like a "knife fight in a telephone booth." Almost everyone agrees the casualty rate would be high for both sides if the ground war is taken to the streets of Baghdad.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his country's sprawling capital of five million were the first targets to sink into Washington's crosshairs when the war opened.

U.S. President George Bush ordered a so-called "decapitation strike" aimed at taking out Hussein and key members of the Iraqi leadership. His endgame remains the same.

Black-clad members of Iraq's Fedayeen are now patrolling the streets of Baghdad after the U.S. staged a series of incursions deep inside the capital over the weekend. Two of the Republican Guard's six divisions have been destroyed in recent days.

On the march to Baghdad, American and British troops encountered stiff resistance in southern Iraq which many military planners believed would fall quickly. Fierce firefights have broken out in Umm Qasr, Basra and Nasiriyah.

Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said members of the Fedayeen had disguised themselves in civilian clothes to stage ambushes. The British accused the Fedayeen of firing on their own people as they were forced to withdraw from Basra.

"The enemy we're fighting is different from the one we'd war-gamed against, because of the paramilitary forces. We knew they were here, but we did not know how they would fight," U.S. Lt. Gen. William Wallace told The New York Times.

The final hours

Despite a series of intense firefights and sandstorms, CTV military analyst Retired Lt. Col. Tom Christianson said the advance of U.S.-led troops has been swift as they quickly open new fronts near Baghdad.

He said 20,000 members of the 101st Airborne division with their fleet of Apache attack helicopters and Black Hawks are within striking distance of the capital. Reinforcements are joining ground units already positioned to the north and south.

As for the final push on Baghdad, he said it could end with "a Hitler in the bunker situation" if Hussein sees the capital fall into American hands.

Christianson, a commander in the first Gulf War, also said military planners could take another approach by surrounding the city and cutting off the food and water supply into the capital.

But he said waiting and negotiating an end to the war could prove to be a public relations nightmare. The same has been said about possible street combat in the capital. Either way, it appears the end could get ugly.

Several four-star generals cautioned against fighting for control of Baghdad when they testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee last September. Gen. John Hoar said the "nightmare scenario" would involve urban combat between U. S. forces and the Republican Guard.

Hoar said he believed the U.S. would win such a battle, but he questioned the loss of human life, "and at what cost as the rest of the world watches while we win and have military rounds exploding in densely populated Iraqi neighbourhoods."

This much is certain. The route American and British ground troops must travel on their way to Baghdad has become known as Ambush Alley, due to the many hit-and-run attacks against supply convoys.

CTV military analyst retired Canadian Maj.-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie says the route begins at the Iraq/Kuwait border and works its way up to Karbala through a series of tributaries. He said troops run the greatest risk of being ambushed when they near the more populated areas.

MacKenzie said ground troops are in a consolidation phase as they build up their supplies. He predicts they won't fight to take Baghdad, but will surround the city instead -- adding their toughest challenge will come beforehand.

"Fighting their way on three routes into Baghdad through, over, and around three Republican Guard divisions -- that's the hard part," MacKenzie said.

Haunting legacy

The Americans last faced urban combat in Mogadishu when Black Hawk helicopters transported elite troops into the city on a mission to capture Somalia's renegade leader in October 1993.

Earlier that year, the UN had issued a warrant for the arrest of Mohammed Farrah Aidid after 24 Pakistani peacekeepers were killed in an ambush. Lawlessness was teeming through the streets of Mogadishu when the U.S. launched its ill-fated mission.

Several choppers were struck down by rocket-propelled grenades and the planned snatch-and-grab operation turned into a bloody street melee. Eighteen U.S. soldiers were killed and several of the dead were dragged through the streets.

Following the Vietnam war, the Pentagon began creating programs to prepare soldiers for urban combat and stepped up efforts after Mogadishu. Opponents of the U.S. view street-to-street combat as the one area where they have an edge against Washington's military might.

"The enemy must come inside Baghdad, and that will be its grave," Iraqi defense minister Sultan Hashim Ahmed recently told a news conference.

Ahmed said his forces were deliberately permitting American troops to approach the capital and predicted the war would be decided on Baghdad streets. Iraq's information minister holds a similar view.

"They have invaded our country, they are thrusting towards Baghdad, they are like a snake, now its length is more than 500 kilometres and we are going to cut this snake in pieces," Mohammed Saeed Sahhaf said.

The Americans dismiss the idea that urban combat will prove to be the great equalizer the Iraqi regime is seeking. Brooks told a news briefing from U.S. Central Command headquarters in Qatar that his troops are ready.

"No one can ever predict exactly how battle will unfold. We can't even completely predict how our own actions will unfold, but I think we can remain confident we have a good grip of what's going on here," Brooks said.