U.S. insists it’s in control as Red Cross pulls out

? A senior U.S. official insisted on Saturday that the U.S. military had the upper hand in the escalating war in Iraq, on a day when two paratroopers died in a roadside ambush and the international Red Cross said it was closing two main offices due to deteriorating security.

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage described Iraq as a “war zone,” but noted that “we have the momentum in this process.”

“I’m absolutely convinced we have a very solid plan to go out and get these people who are killing us and killing Iraqis,” he told reporters during a visit to Iraq.

The sharp rise in the number of attacks against the troops of the U.S.-led coalition and their allies in the Iraqi security services, and the guerrillas’ apparent ability to strike at will, has prompted fears that the initiative in the conflict is slipping from the coalition’s hands.

During a news conference in the heavily guarded compound housing the Iraq’s U.S.-led administration, Armitage appeared eager to ease such fears.

“I’m pretty convinced after this short visit … that we will take this fight to the enemy,” he said.

Saturday, coalition troops blocked traffic across the Jumhuriya Bridge near the U.S. command compound known as the “Green Zone.” For the first time since the end of major combat in May, U.S. jets and helicopters circled overhead through the night sky with their navigation lights turned off.

Two soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division died when a homemade bomb exploded beside their vehicle in Fallujah.

Their deaths brought to 35 the number of American soldiers killed in Iraq this month.

In Geneva, the international Red Cross said Saturday it was temporarily closing its offices in Baghdad and Basra because of the security situation. The Red Cross had planned to cut back on its foreign staff of 30 people after the Oct. 27 truck-bombing at its Baghdad office but wanted to keep the offices open with reduced staff.