BATTLE FOR BAGHDAD STRATEGY DAUNTING.(MAIN)

Byline: PAUL RICHTER and JOHN HENDREN Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON -- U.S. forces are poised to begin the battle for Baghdad by pounding Republican Guard troops on the southern perimeter of the Iraqi capital, hoping that with a crushing blow they can demoralize the remaining forces and avoid a bloody urban battle of attrition.

After a week of breakneck advance and skirmishing, some 75,000 U.S. troops are confronting about 35,000 Iraq soldiers arrayed in three Republican Guard divisions south of the city. Yet tough terrain, new Iraqi tactics, restrictive American rules of combat and limited U.S. forces could make the fight bloodier than U.S. commanders …