BAGHDAD (Reuters) - While Iraqi troops fight U.S. and British forces In the field, the Baghdad government is digging deep in the lexicon of Arabic insults for verbal salvoes to lob at the "evil invaders."

Following the rich literary tradition of their country, Iraqi officials from President Saddam Hussein to Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf have regularly taken to the airwaves to lambaste their U.S. and British foes with fiery rhetoric and vitriolic broadsides.

Since the war on Iraq started 10 days ago, the leaders of the United States and Britain have been branded "an international gang of criminal bastards," "blood-sucking bastards," ignorant imperialists, losers and fools. [...]

Hurling insults at the enemy is common in the Arab world but the practice is vintage Saddam, who portrays himself as a valiant Arab crusader fighting off an evil empire. [...]

The Iraqis' defiant tone is embedded in their literary culture, which has spawned some of the Arab world's most celebrated and eloquent poets.

Al-Mutanabi, one of Iraq's most seasoned poets who lived in the 10th century, was as proficient at showering his patrons with flowery praise as lashing his enemies with caustic verse.

"Your feet are so rough, that even when you're barefoot, it looks like you're wearing shoes," he once told an enemy.