"Sniper Shoots US Soldier In Back"

[David]

I just read a very sad report that a US soldier was killed by an Iraqi sniper.

It said the US soldier was killed by a single round to his back.

I also read that almost 50 US troops have been killed since the war was declared "over"!

A question:

Are ALL US soldiers currently in Iraqi issued the NEW Interceptor Body Armor WITH the CERAMIC RIFLE PLATES -- or are only the special forces issued this latest military body armor?

Our thoughts and prayers are with all the troops still fighting in Iraqi.

 

[Waitone]

I alway thought the way to calm things down in the Fallugah area would be to position 3 to 4 sniper teams and pick out a half dozen leaders.

I would think a few of the foreign fighters going to see Allah courtesy of Mr. Barrett in a most spectacular fashion would smooth things out considerably.

 

[Leatherneck]

Me too, Waitone. Counter-sniper action is traditionally done by snipers. Say, a .50Barrett in a minaret.

TC
TFL Survivor

 

[Waitone]

I have a relative who spent a fair part of his life "assisting" a government in the area of Iraq. Really interesting life story, but I digress.

When 911 festivities broke out he said the war on islamofascist terrorists will turn on four points:

--Shutting down the flow of money which includes drug production, transportation, and distribution
--Bribery
--Snipers
--Human intelligence

Nothings I've seen since 911 tells me the guy is wrong.

Am I confused or do I see US forces being a little slow on the "adapt and overcome" side of misfortune?

 

[Blackhawk 6]

David,

I can't speak for all U.S. conventional forces, but I believe that the majority of them have fielded the Interceptor. I know for a fact that the 101st and 82nd have, but they habitually get new equipment first.


Kevin

 

[bountyhunter]

"When 911 festivities broke out he said the war on islamofascist terrorists will turn on four points:

--Shutting down the flow of money which includes drug production, transportation, and distribution
--Bribery
--Snipers
--Human intelligence"

I tend to agree, but the 9/11 "festivities" were courtesy of Al Quaida which is completely unrelated to Saddam Hussein and Iraq. In fact, Bin Laden has publicly and privately refused to recognize Hussein as a true Muslim because he (hussein) simply uses religion to justify his aggression.

We do need to cut off the flow of money to Al Quaida and it comes straight from the saudi Royal family. here are some facts:

1) Osama Bin laden was a Saudi citizen

2) 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were saudis

3) the money trail of Al Quaida tracks right back to the Saudi royal family.

As for Iraq, there is a solution for that kind of quagmire... ala the Soviets in Afghanistan and the british in Northern Ireland: get the hell out ASAP with all the dignity you can muster. Or, stay and keep sending home the body bags.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Yep. We need more "countersnipers" to detect, deter and eliminate the threat. It's more cost effective than flattening a place (this was done as early as our Civil War when houses suspected of housing sharpshooters were burnt down) or bombarding it (the Feds tried that at Fredericksburg but Barksdale's Mississippians stuck it out until ordered to withdraw).

 

[CZ-100]

I thought I herd this morning that he was wearing body armor. and that it missed the plates.

could be wrong

 

[Wade]

"I thought I herd this morning that he was wearing body armor. and that it missed the plates.

could be wrong"

I heard the same thing on Fox News this morning; they mentioned that the bullet missed the panel/plate in the vest.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Having countersnipers making Iraq a safe place for soldiers sounds like a novel idea, but is pretty much impossible to do. By their nature, snipers are going to generally well hidden and in a location to give them an advantage over their intended targets, such as high ground or safe egress routes.

Another problem is that most snipers go unseen and when discovered, it is after they have shot somebody. If they shoot and then conceal themselves quickly, those that were attacked may never actually get a clear indication of the original direction of the shot.

Countersnipers work better in situations where they are essentially protecting a stationary target or area and then continually search for indications of an enemy sniper setting up to shoot or spotting the enemy sniper after he has shot. It is hard to have countersnipers everywhere and pretty much everywhere American soldiers are, they are targets and countersnipers could be beneficial. Maybe 30 or 40,000 would be nice.

Sniping can be conducted by just about anyone with marksmanship skills, patience, and appropriate gear for the job. One does not have to be a highly trained sniper to snipe in an ambush sniping situation. Countersniping, on the other hand, is a job requiring a lot of training time.

It is difficult to set up countersniping for mobile situations. How do you set up countersniping for a convoy traveling 100 miles?

 

[erikm]

It is difficult to set up countersniping for mobile situations. How do you set up countersniping for a convoy traveling 100 miles?

I remember seeing something on TV about a firefinder doppler radar (probably millimeter-wave) linked to a computer. The computer was able to track and display bullet paths in real time.

One fairly brutal way of solving sniper problems could be to retrofit an M163 (Vulcan track) with a such a system and an IFF transceiver. Basically have the computer shoot at anything that shoots more or less in the direction of the track and to ignore any vehicle with correct IFF. Also be sure to hang some big signs on the side of the track. Have them read 'Unit shoots back without warning!' in arabic. A less brutal variant would replace the Vulcan with an M2HB.

Of course, they could also send some armored escorts with those convoys. Maybe even those Strykers they're trying to field as part of the new 'medium' brigade combat teams but which are IMO unsuited to that task1. Road security seems just fine for them though.

Just my E0.02,
ErikM

1) Just my opinion, but the Stryker seems to be too big, heavy, underarmed, underarmored and cramped for its job, in addition to being wheeled. Among other faults, it apparently cannot be deployed any distance by C130 with its crew and passengers and arrive in a battleready state. (further reading)

 

[TallPine]

This is why our govt doesn't want any of us to be armed.

 

[Mk VII]

If they are sensible the sniper(s) will use a shoot-and-scoot policy which makes it pretty difficult to catch these people. Worse if they are smart enough to separate the shooter from the weapon at once (man goes one way, gun goes another) so the chain of evidence is broken and proof to a legal standard becomes even more difficult