The Iraq thread 3

[billybob2002 0]

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u_pg=54&u_sid=1165667

Quote[/b] ]

U.S. military tackles flow of insurgents

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military launched an operation Monday to stem the flow of arms, money and militants crossing into Iraq from Syria.

The operation is the first large-scale attempt by the U.S. military to crack down on illegal traffic from Syria.

Officials say stanching the flow of insurgents into Iraq will help undermine the strength of a guerrilla campaign they believe is still being directed by members of Saddam Hussein's former regime.

"Our first priority will be on the Syrian border, because we think that's where the former regime leadership and money went, in that direction, and it's coming back in from that direction," said Army Lt. Gen. Thomas F. Metz, who runs the operations of the 135,000 U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq.

The border operation, dubbed Phantom Linebacker, involves thousands of soldiers, Marines, military police, special operations forces and aviation units.

The U.S. military says it is conducting the operation at the behest of the interim Iraqi government, which has blamed the insurgency on foreign fighters crossing into the country from Syria, Jordan and Iran. U.S. military officials say the insurgency is a predominately homegrown effort confined to mostly Sunni areas of central Iraq.

The senior U.S. military official said there was no direct evidence that the highest levels of the Syrian government are arming and financing Iraqi insurgents.

Better late than never...

[ralphwiggum 6]

Quote[/b] ]THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

Bah! don't you know that you can't trust liberal media!

[billybob2002 0]

[Akira 0]

Quote[/b] ]All he said was he's not on the level of Hitler as the TBA continues to try to assert, and to which you claimed as a evidence of his bias by comparing him only to Suharto.

So, evil has levels.... I did not compare him with Hitler or Suharto...

Damn it man follow along!

Quote[/b] ]Quote

Counterpunch is known for their good reads but this time they`ve outdone themselves.I trully admire the editors and recomand this even if it`s a long article to every single person that had ever a remote intrest about Iraq,because it depicts an entire difrent picture on Iraq that wasn`t accesable before.

Must be my bias but that is some bs. The author tries to be not "bias" (if you can put that way) but he shows his real

colors in a little passage....

Quote

leading imperialist power

or

Quote

If you really wanted an apt analogy to the Hussein regime, I'd suggest that of Suharto in Indonesia. It slaughtered 700,000 people in its anti-communist crackdown in the 1960s

YOU brought up his analogy of Suharto as proof of his "bias," which is ridiculous.

And yes. There ARE levels of evil. There is just not an all-defining-Satan-inducing EVIL. The world is not as black and white as Dubya likes to think. Many consider HIM evil for killing 11000+ civilians.

[Gordy 0]

Here come two stories from Iraq war that seriously scared US soldiers. Read:

Quote[/b] ]Huwijah, Iraq

There has been a misconception that there are no real shooters here in AO West, and that there is alot of Israli corner clearing, and pointing and clicking on the part of the insurgence. On July 29th, the locals in Huwijah proved us wrong.

On an IO mission into the city, a soldier was shot in the back of the back of the head while pulling security outside his vehicle. The HMMV was parked in a city street, flanked by 2 and 3 story buildings for about 6 blocks. The other soldiers from his stick did not here the report, but the round entered his skull and penetrated his cheeck below the left orbit, leading me to believe it was a high-powered, hot load; most likley AP. I say this because the wound was relatively clean.

The previous week, a Terp. was hit (also a head shot) while riding in the back of a HMMV moving 35 MPH. In both cases, the victims were wearing MITCH Helmets, and IBA.

The point? After the msot recent incident, we deployed a sniper team during hours of darkness. Due to the urban setting, we did several feint drops, in order to help mask their true hide sight. The gunner and the spotter were the two most experienced in our unit. They sat in their hide with 4 hour commo windows, and did not raise above their cover for anything. Thirteen hours later, the team was told to break down and move to the PZ. No more than 1 minute after the spotter got up to pull back, they recieved 2 shots, once again with no report, which both hit the rooftop in betweent them. They could not fix the POO.

Whoever is there is trained, and disciplined. Our team got a reality check, and there is a finite gun game going on in that city. The fact that he missed his shots baffles me as much as the fact that he waited out these two scouts for as long as he did. How he detected them in the first place...

A dismount patrol a few days ago turned up a singal cardboard box that carried some 7.62 match grade ammo. Unfortunately, I did not get the specs from that find, but I did here it was not NATO.

I personally have survived IED, and RPG attacks, but the thought of a well trained sniper stocking the streets, puts a little skidmark in my shorts.

Quote[/b] ]

I was involved in one sniper incident in Baghdad. First I am not a sniper but I know first hand there are highly trained Iraqi snipers out there. In April while conducting training of Iraqis in the "light Green Zone" (the civil area adjacent to the GZ) someone with a Dragunov took a shot at our fixed guard post from 500-600 meters away - straight through Zhora park. The round missed the half exposed Iraqi guard by two inches. We ran the shot down and found the new 7.62x54 casing in a sniper hide carved out of a space that was hollowed out of a hedge 8' high ... make it worse ... it was also in a security zone near the Iraqi Police post that guarded the Interim Iraqi President Ayad Allawi ... his house was 200 meters away. So it wasn't the IP. The IP were freaking out and scurrying around like ants and shooting in the air. The sniper got away by backing up a car to the hide, crawling in, sighting & firing, breaking the weapon down into two, throwing the weapon under the back seat and driving away. Why was he shooting at us? It seems he wasn't ... when we got down into the hide and set up a Dragunov in the same spot we could see he was trying to hit the main gate of the acting Minister of the Interior (a combination of Director of homeland Security, FBI/States police and Customs he runs the IP, Border guards, Facilites protection and all security for the government) which was 20 meters to the left and rear of the guard ... 6 inches more to the left and he would have hit anyone in the door ... we don't know who he missed; any number of diplomats and dignitaries enter that gate daily. In the scramble of taking cover we didn't notice. The worst part it all occured right under the eyes of the two US counter-sniper teams on top of the Rashid hotel (100 meters away from the impact point). Not thinking about our position was masking a Iraqi high value assassination target is a case of lack of imagination on our part and mis-underestimating the opposition's guts and capability. These guys practically invented assassination. All operators in this AO need to know the Saddam Fedayeen are what we call a Class-1 terrorist organization ... that means they are a former intelligence agency gone full-time terrorist and their core people (several thousand?) are professionally trained. The Saddam Fedayeen have had money and tools and training for 30 years. They ran a terrorism university here for crying out loud! They've also had a year of live fire practice on humans. The Iraqi military was over 2 million-3 million men during the Iran Iraq war and a million in the first Gulf war. They trained thousands of "designated marksmen" and probably hundreds of real snipers. I have met (and employed two) experienced snipers who used the Dragunov during the Iran-Iraq or 1st Gulf war. Not a great SWS but it will kill you dead when it hits you. One of our BGs was a proud, former Republican guardsman who had been trained by a Russian MTT as a scout sniper. He really knew the weapon, ammunition, optics, fieldcraft and shooting from hides. We gave him both a Steyr SSG and Dragunov and he showed excellent profiency out to 500 meters ... for an Iraqi thats long range and we didn't think he could hit the wall but he consistently hit center of mass shots in gusty, dusty wind. It was he that found the hide where we were shot from and said it was taught in RG school. However the most impressive was a 45 year old gun dealer who had a logbook with over 150+ Iranian kills in the trenches during the 1980s ... These guys are proud and they have some skill.

[bn880 5]

Were there reports of US soldiers being killed by sniper fire?

[Gordy 0]

Were there reports of US soldiers being killed by sniper fire?

How many Us soldiers have been killed in action since the Iraqi war started?

[bn880 5]

I am asking for something which I do not know the answer to, you know how many have been killed, or so you think.

[Gordy 0]

There are 919 Us casualties.

There are details for some of them.

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/

Well, we can assume that hostile fire may also mean sniper gun wound.

[Mister Frag 0]

Were there reports of US soldiers being killed by sniper fire?

I wouldn't expect the military or news media to report these specifically as sniper shootings, it would simply be "enemy fire", "hostile fire", "enemy action" or an "ambush". Saying that a soldier was killed by a sniper causes psychological and morale problems.

The total number of US military members killed in Iraq since the beginning of the war (including during the war) is 919 as of August 3, 2004.

[Gordy 0]

Spc. J F. H

21

1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division (Light)

Derby, Kansas

Killed when he was shot while on guard duty in Hawijah, Iraq, on July 29, 2004

That sucks. I would be scared like hell.

[Mister Frag 0]

From the information I was able to find, 13 soldiers were killed by sniper fire in Iraq. You can go here and apply an appropriate filter.

[Mister Frag 0]

Spc. J F. H

21

1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division (Light)

Derby, Kansas

Killed when he was shot while on guard duty in Hawijah, Iraq, on July 29, 2004

That sucks. I would be scared like hell.

The site I listed in my last post does not classify this as a sniper shooting.

[Gordy 0]

Spc. J F. H

21

1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division (Light)

Derby, Kansas

Killed when he was shot while on guard duty in Hawijah, Iraq, on July 29, 2004

That sucks. I would be scared like hell.

The site I listed in my last post does not classify this as a sniper shooting.

Still, He died in the place depicted a few days before the story was told.

WITH NO REPORT. That might not be classified as a sniper fire.

[Gordy 0]

The point of this topic was to show how can sniper operate against well trained soldiers. Correct me if I am wrong, but a head shot in a moving vehicle is a major difficult thing to accomplish. Not to mention that he missed a Mitch helmet. Without compromising his hide out.

[Mister Frag 0]

Quote[/b] ]On an IO mission into the city, a soldier was shot in the back of the back of the head while pulling security outside his vehicle. The HMMV was parked in a city street, flanked by 2 and 3 story buildings for about 6 blocks.

It was not a moving vehicle.

Given that the bullet entered the back of the head below the rim of the helmet and exited through the cheek, I suspect the shooter was prone, or the soldier was looking down at the time.

[Gordy 0]

Quote[/b] ]On an IO mission into the city, a soldier was shot in the back of the back of the head while pulling security outside his vehicle. The HMMV was parked in a city street, flanked by 2 and 3 story buildings for about 6 blocks.

It was not a moving vehicle.

Given that the bullet entered the back of the head below the rim of the helmet and exited through the cheek, I suspect the shooter was prone, or the soldier was looking down at the time.

yes, but i was talking about a previous case.

[bn880 5]

Were there reports of US soldiers being killed by sniper fire?

I wouldn't expect the military or news media to report these specifically as sniper shootings, it would simply be "enemy fire", "hostile fire", "enemy action" or an "ambush". Saying that a soldier was killed by a sniper causes psychological and morale problems.

The total number of US military members killed in Iraq since the beginning of the war (including during the war) is 919 as of August 3, 2004.

I just wanted to see if that was the case, because myself I never heard of US soldiers being killed by sniper fire, but I heard Iraqis getting it swiftly from US snipers.

[billybob2002 0]

Quote[/b] ]YOU brought up his analogy of Suharto as proof of his "bias," which is ridiculous.

I did not say he was a Suharto-type person or hitler-type person.

[Akira 0]

Quote[/b] ]YOU brought up his analogy of Suharto as proof of his "bias," which is ridiculous.

I did not say he was a Suharto-type person or hitler-type person.

AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!!

I didn't say you did.

What you DIDdo is use the author's comparison as an example of the author's bias....which I called ridiculous!

[4 IN 1 0]

there should be numbers of US and other nation soldiers being grease by sniper, i think

[quicksand 0]

Fierce fighting in Najaf

Quote[/b] ] BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A U.S. marine helicopter was shot down near the southern Iraqi city of Najaf on Thursday in fighting between American forces and militiamen loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the U.S. Army said.

A U.S. Army spokesman said several members of the crew were wounded. He gave no other details.

In Najaf, residents said U.S. marines and Iraqi police backed by helicopters were fighting members of Sadr's Mehdi Army in fierce clashes that followed an overnight attack on police.

The U.S. military statement said the police station was attacked by "a significant number of aggressors" believed to be members of the militia.

he statement said the attackers used heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and small arms in an assault on the police station around 3 a.m. (1900 EDT Wednesday).

"Iraqi national guardsmen quickly reinforced Iraqi police, and the two units successfully defended the station from the attackers. Upon arrival of the marines, Mehdi Army members withdrew into the city's exclusion zone," the military said.

"The attack is an overt violation of the cease-fire agreement reached in June between coalition forces and Moqtada Sadr."

But Sheikh Mahmoud al-Sudani, a spokesman for Sadr, said U.S. forces and Iraqi police had attacked first, and that the cleric had ordered his militiamen not to fight back.

Sadr launched an uprising against U.S.-led forces in April, and hundreds were killed in weeks of fighting in Shi'ite areas of Iraq. As part of the truce agreed in June, U.S. troops said they would not enter parts of Najaf, home to the holiest shrines in Shi'ite Islam.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Sadr in connection with the murder of a rival cleric in Najaf last year. But during truce negotiations with Sadr earlier this year, Iraqi officials said they would not seek his arrest.

So much for the truce here,not to even mention what`s going on right now in Mosul and Baqubah.

[DarkLight 0]

I think snipers are very impressive. I'd love to become one but i don't feel like killing or getting killed. So fuck the army, i ain't joining it

Oh well, in the Belgian army the chance of getting killed probably isn't THAT big... it's not like anyone really hates us, right? Except France maybe

Anyway, i love to see how snipers are the bitches on the battlefield Killing when they least expect it... One man that can pin down a whole group of men...FREAKY SHIIIT!

Their skill and years of training is very impressive, in my eyes more impressive than normal infantry. But that might be something personal

Too bad you have to be prepared to kill to become one because i think it's a very fun job. I'm not saying that being Rambo and shooting everything to pieces is fun. I'm saying that it looks fun to me to be perfectly trained with such a great weapon. And of course all the classic sniper stuff like hiding, shooting from a concealed position and that stuff. I think all that is very interesting, and you can't learn it in class...

[Placebo 28]

Iraq sniper thread merged into here.

[bn880 5]

(oops posted above, sorry)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3538058.stm