Baghdad, Iraq ? A spate of U.S. raids on Iraqi smugglers signals a new strategy to deny the guerrilla insurgency one of its chief recruiting assets: money.

If U.S. military strategists are correct, in just more than a month the insurgency will face a financial crisis when old Iraqi dinar notes bearing the face of Saddam Hussein will be worthless. The military wants to deepen the crisis by launching raids on black marketeers thought to be funding the guerrilla movement.

“If we can stop the money, we can stop the insurgency,” a coalition military official in Baghdad said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Because many strikes are carried out by hired attackers, he said Thursday, the United States is going after the “paymasters.”

The insurgency’s need for funds was highlighted by coordinated attacks in Samarra, where bands of guerrillas laid in wait at two banks awaiting the delivery of dinars — setting off firefights with U.S. troops that claimed dozens of Iraqi lives.

The guerrillas are thought to be funding the insurgency with the former regime’s stockpiles of old dinar notes, or by counterfeiting the relatively simple Saddam notes, which are now being exchanged for new, Saddam-free notes.

As the currency approaches expiration on Jan. 15, the U.S. military is pressing its advantage. At least four U.S. Army units either have begun or plan to launch new operations targeting the guerrilla financiers.

At the same time, insurgent groups have shown an increasing desperation for hard currency.

U.S. military officials have said individual payments for attacks have risen in past months, and now range from $150 to $500 per attack, making financiers scramble for funds.

U.S. military convoys supplying banks with new Iraqi dinars have been ambushed on six occasions, including the attacks Sunday in Samarra. U.S. military officials said the attacks were a sign of the insurgency’s increasing desperation for money.