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Dividing and conquering Fallujah

Rowan Scarborough and Bill Gertz:

Coalition troops are employing a divide-and-conquer strategy in Fallujah, Iraq, capitalizing on months of pinpointed intelligence to seal off terrorist-held neighborhoods and then attack enemy pockets.
"It's going to be going on for a period ahead," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said of the long-anticipated operation, which began Sunday.
A military source said the Pentagon expects the battle for Fallujah to take about one week and estimated there are about 2,000 to 5,000 enemy fighters, about half of whom are non-Iraqi.

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Since April, American forces have stayed outside the city. But intelligence collection has proceeded at a furious pace. Military sources said the U.S. command has a block-by-block schematic of the large city and knows from day to day where the rebels live and plan. That is how coalition aircraft have been able to direct precision-guided weapons at specific buildings known to harbor rebels.
"They have mapped the city and are taking the city down by sections," said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney.

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The coalition's block-by-block data on Fallujah is pieced together by numerous reconnaissance flights, communications intercepts and Iraqi informants inside the city. Two unmanned aircraft, the Predator and Global Hawk, provide constant video and still pictures for planners to analyze.
Terrorists have increased the use of intimidation tactics and violence to prevent citizens from leaving the city or informing against them, military source said.
Gen. Casey told Pentagon reporters via a teleconference call that estimates of a 10,000 to 15,000 U.S. and coalition strike force, including Iraqis, were "in the ballpark."
Gen. Casey said the insurgents are armed with AK-47s, machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-aircraft machine guns, he said.
However, the most danger to advancing American and friendly Iraqi forces will be homemade car bombs from terrorists.
"The weapons of choice for them are going to be the improvised explosive devices and the car bombs," Gen. Casey said. "And all our intelligence is telling us that they have lined some of the streets with the improvised explosive devices, much like we saw in Najaf and Thawra."
Vehicles packed with explosives also have been placed throughout the city, and "we expect them to come at us with car bombs, you know, as they're driving through the city now," Gen. Casey said.
The Iraqi government, in response, has banned auto traffic inside Fallujah as a way to protect troops.
The insurgents are thought to have an "outer-crust defense" that likely will collapse "toward the center of the city where they will be probably a major confrontation," Gen. Casey said.