Fighting around Fallujah a Marine sniper's 'dream'

LA Times via Omaha World-Herald ^ | April 17th, 2004 | Unknown @ LA TIMES

[Hat-Trick]

FALLUJAH, Iraq - Taking a short breather Friday, the 21-year-old Marine corporal explained what it was like to practice his lethal skill in the battle for this city.

"It's a sniper's dream," he said. "You can go anywhere, and there are so many ways to fire at the enemy without him knowing where you are."

The role of snipers has become a significant tactic for Marines in this "Sunni Triangle" city. Marine experts say Fallujah is among the most "target-rich" battlefields for snipers since the World War II battle for Stalingrad, during which German and Russian snipers dueled for months.

In negotiations aimed at ending the standoff in the city, the insurgents have demanded that the Marines pull back their snipers.

A shaky truce exists between the Marines who surround the city and the fighters within the circle.

But the cease-fire allows the Marines to carry out defensive operations within the city, which, among other things, they define as allowing fire on insurgents who display weapons, break the curfew or move their forces toward U.S. troops.

[Hat-Trick]

A Marine Scout Sniper in a "target-rich environment". Keep your powder dry, young warrior, and come home safely.

[Hat-Trick]

Long-range BANG!

[cripplecreek]

"In negotiations aimed at ending the standoff in the city, the insurgents have demanded that the Marines pull back their snipers."


The terrorists don't know where the snipers are, uhh sure we pulled em out just like you asked.

[68skylark]

Good post. I'm glad our guys aren't hampered by overly restricitive rules of engagement. Snipers are the original precision-guided weapon.

[kittymyrib]

Thank you, all you Southern and Texas boys, for learning to shoot so well from your dads and grampas. We are raising another generation to follow you.

[68skylark]

"As a sniper your goal is to completely demoralize the enemy," he said.

I'm sure that getting shot by one of the guys is very demoralizing!

[TheEngineer]

But the cease-fire allows the Marines to carry out defensive operations within the city, which, among other things, they define as allowing fire on insurgents who display weapons, break the curfew or move their forces toward U.S. troops.

What a difficult job!.... Since they all look like the enemy! ;-)

[Reeses]

A terrorist turkey shoot

[McGavin999]

I hope this young warrior gets a clean, clear shot at Zaqwari.

[wingster]

In negotiations aimed at ending the standoff in the city, the insurgents have demanded that the Marines pull back their snipers.

OHHHH....LMAO....

I needed a good joke this morning!

[11Bush]

Old sniper saying...

If you run, you'll just die tired.

[wingster]

Yessir Mr. masked, unidentified, dressed as a civilian, terrorist man! Sure, we'll just create a national policy tailoring our military strategies to only the least effective things. Of course it'll have to go thru Congress, and while you'll get many of the dim votes immediately, it'll take a little while on the other side of the aisle, so please, we ask you for your patience in the matter.

Signed,

W

P.S. Kiss my ass!

[Jack Black]

Thank you, all you Southern and Texas boys, for learning to shoot so well from your dads and grampas. We are raising another generation to follow you.

Up here in the the Pacific Northwest I am happy to report we are doing so as well.

[LibKill]

I'm sure that getting shot by one of the guys is very demoralizing!

Yep, and the effect on his buddies is pretty strong too. They get the willies. They can't make a move without thinking about Achmed keeling over before the sound of the shot arrived. It preys on their minds and makes them less effective.

[Tennessee_Bob]

Snipers? What snipers? We don't have any snipers around here...

[OldCorps]

In negotiations aimed at ending the standoff in the city, the insurgents have demanded that the Marines pull back their snipers.

lol, had there been a democrap in the whitehouse, they would have complied...Just as did Clinton, Johnson and Carter when in similar situations. Kenedy was just as bad: when the Cuban freedom fighters needed air support at the Bay of Pigs on the beach, he told the navy to pull the plug on the operation...leaving thousands to be killed or captured.

[5050 no line]

Its not a cease-fire, as we in the West understand it, with all the obligations that that entails. In the minds of the enemy it is a hudna - a time to rest and restore yourself and reposition to best advantage for when you can resume the action. Let us not get our terms confused here. The Marines have read the Muslim warfare handbook (The Quran) and got it right.

[uncbob]

For ragies who best tactics are spray and pray with an Ak47 shoot off a rifle grenade accurate aimed fire must seem like a super weapon

[A.A. Cunningham]

Silent souls leave .308 holes.

[no-s]

While official policy discourages Marines from counting the people they have killed, the custom continues. In nearly two weeks of conflict here, the corporal from a Midwestern city has emerged as the top sniper, with 24 confirmed kills. By comparison, the top Marine Corps sniper in Vietnam killed 103 people in 16 months.

"As a sniper your goal is to completely demoralize the enemy," he said. "I couldn't have asked to be in a better place. I just got lucky, to be here at the right time and with the right training."

The military has asked that sniper names not be published. Insurgents were said to have placed a bounty for the killing of any Marine sniper.

"If you're going to be a sniper," said the corporal, "you just have to accept the things that come with it."

Gee, I wonder where the "insurgents" are getting the money from? I bet most of them getting shot are the idiots who think dancing about waving an RPG confers godhood, when in actuality it's targetdom...talk about demoralizing...