New York: Despite spending millions of dollars, the United States has lost the battle for Iraqi public opinion, according to a new report prepared by American embassy in Baghdad.

"Insurgents, sectarian elements and others are taking control of the message public level," Newsweek magazine quoted the report, prepared by the embassy's director of strategic communications Ginger Cruz, as saying.

"Videos of U.S. Soldiers being shot and blown up, and of the bloody work of sectarian death squads, are now pervasive and the images inspire new recruits and intimidate those who might stand against them," it said.

"Inadequate message control in Iraq, the document warned, is feeding the escalating cycle of violence," he said.

The magazine quoted an embassy spokesperson as saying the report represents Cruz's personal views.

Sunni insurgents in particular have become expert at using technology to underscore -- some would say exaggerate their effectiveness, the magazine said.

"The sophistication of the way the enemy is using the news media is huge," Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the former commander of U.S. Forces in Iraq, told the magazine just before he returned to the United States.

Most large-scale attacks on U.S. Forces, the magazine says, are now filmed, often from multiple camera angles, and with high- resolution cameras. The footage is slickly edited into dramatic narratives: quick-cut images of Humvees exploding or U.S. Soldiers being felled by snipers are set to inspiring religious soundtracks or chanting, which lends them a triumphant feel.