U.S. troops are facing a classic guerrilla war in Iraq, spearheaded by Saddam Hussein loyalists, and American forces need to adapt their tactics to crush this increasingly organized resistance, the head of U.S. Central Command said on Wednesday.

This contrasted with an assessment given by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on June 30 that it was not "anything like a guerrilla war or an organized resistance."

But Central Command chief Gen. John Abizaid, who commands American forces in Iraq, said a guerrilla war is exactly what U.S. troops are confronting.

"I think describing it as guerrilla tactics being employed against us is, you know, a proper thing to describe in strictly military terms," Abizaid said in a Pentagon briefing.

Abizaid, who replaced the retiring Gen. Tommy Franks at the helm of Central Command earlier this month, also said U.S. troops should be prepared for yearlong deployments in Iraq, a staple of the Vietnam War but used only rarely since then.

"I think if you look at contemplating keeping the force structure stable for a while, until the security situation improves, that yearlong employments or deployments are possible for certain units ... So we've done it before and we can do it again," Abizaid said.

He said U.S. forces are battling remnants of Saddam's Baath Party throughout Iraq, with various cells of six to eight resistance fighters "receiving financial help from, probably, regional level leaders." He said there was "no evidence of central command."

The general also said there was "a lot of information that indicated that there were significant terrorist groups and activities," including from the group Ansar al-Islam and perhaps elements of al Qaeda. He said there were foreign fighters in "not significant numbers."

Mid-level officials of Saddam's government, including from the old intelligence and security agencies and the Special Republican Guard, "have organized at the regional level in cellular structure, he said. They "are conducting what I would describe as a classical guerrilla-type campaign against us. It's low-intensity conflict in our doctrinal terms, but it's war however you describe it."

Lawrence Di Rita, Rumsfeld's chief of staff and acting chief Pentagon spokesman, told reporters that whether or not the "guerrilla" label is apt is "almost beside the point" and an "academic discussion."

Abizaid said resistance forces are better coordinated, more sophisticated and "less amateurish."

"The level of resistance, I'm not so sure I would characterize it as escalating in terms of number of incidents. But it is getting more organized and it is learning. It is adapting -- it is adapting to our tactics, techniques and procedures. And we've got to adapt to their tactics, techniques and procedures," he said.

A senior defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said "there's a zillion upsides" to yearlong deployments from the perspective of commanders, but there is concern about keeping troops in the all-volunteer U.S. military away from their families for so long.

Some U.S. troops in Iraq have complained publicly about the uncertainty of when they are returning home. Rumsfeld testified last week that the entire 3rd Infantry Division definitely would be back home by September. But officials backtracked this week, saying the goal was to bring them home sometime this fall, hopefully September, depending on security conditions.

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