Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman declined to comment on the Post story, which reported such actions were being taken at the urging of Pentagon experts on special operations.

But Whitman did say the US military rules of engagement "certainly recognize and reflect the values of this nation."

An army official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of secrecy rules, said he could not rule out that snipers were using bait such as detonation cords or blasting camps to lure out and kill suspected insurgents.

"This is not indiscriminate and there are rules of engagement," the official told AFP.

"This is usually done in locations where people are looking to harm soldiers," he said, suggesting the bait was left inside or on the perimeter of US military "locations" to target insurgents trying to steal ammunition and materiel.

The newspaper said the classified program was uncovered in documents related to recently filed murder charges against three snipers accused of planting evidence on Iraqis they killed.

"Baiting is putting an object out there that we know they will use, with the intention of destroying the enemy," Captain Matthew Didier, the leader of an elite sniper scout platoon, said in a sworn statement.

"Basically, we would put an item out there and watch it," Didier continued.

"If someone found the item, picked it up and attempted to leave with the item, we would engage the individual as I saw this as a sign they would use the item against US forces."

In documents obtained by The Post from family members of the accused soldiers, Didier said members of the Pentagon's Asymmetric Warfare Group visited his unit in January and later handed over ammunition boxes filled with the "drop items" to be used "to disrupt ... attempts at harming coalition forces and give us the upper hand in a fight."

Eugene Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice, called for an investigation of any baiting program.

"In a country that is awash in armaments and magazines and implements of war, if every time somebody picked up something that was potentially useful as a weapon, you might as well ask every Iraqi to walk around with a target on his back," Fidell said in the Post article.

Soldiers said that about a dozen platoon members were aware of the program, and that numerous others knew about the "drop items" but did not know their purpose, The Post reported.

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