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Subject: Baghdad Sniper Juba
sanman    10/8/2005 6:32:55 PM
Read this one: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1542823,00.html Who is this guy, what is his likely background? And how is he likely to be stopped? How long will it take? See, this is where those automated sniper-calculation systems would be useful in detecting the sniper. Unfortunately, this guy always hits on the first shot, but immediately after that is the only opportunity to get him. I would say you want some kind of persistent-presence system, such as a balloon hovering over the city with very long-endurance loiter capability. If your balloon was small and transparent, carrying a very small and lightweight surveillance package, enemy snipers wouldn't be able to target it. Although if they're intended to ferret out snipers, maybe luring them to shoot at it would be a good thing. Anyway, you could have many of them in the sky, and not just one. I think a mesh-network of observation balloon could provide the redundancy and area-coverage to get this SOB.
 
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Bob    RE:Baghdad Sniper Juba   10/9/2005 3:06:19 AM
Is it also hard to believe that maybe he has a spotter? We've seen the videos of the sniper attacks -- imagine how'd they be if the insurgents were working in pairs?
 
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shek    RE:Likely background   10/9/2005 10:24:09 AM
The Patriot, The four man team in Ramadi fell asleep. Magazines and gameboys were part of their demise. Four shots to the head indicate execution, not sniper precision.
 
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GOP    RE:Likely background   10/9/2005 6:22:07 PM
I seriously doubt that he is a foreign fighter, he is probably former military, possibly republican guard. Any chance this guy is a mercenary from a Western army? I have a hard time believing that a foreign fighter or republican guard could do that, not to mention him not taking more than 1 shot. I think the insurgents would probably get excited and just start firing some rounds.
 
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sentinel28a    RE:Likely background   10/9/2005 7:19:23 PM
Here's another idea. This guy doesn't exist. There's been rumors floating around since Baghdad fell of a sniper so deadly that the Americans were running in fear of him. This was back in late 2003. The stories about the Sniper From Hell disappeared about the same time the Iraqis started realizing that the insurgency was as happy to kill them as it was Americans, and about the time Saddam got pulled out of his hole. Similar rumors spread around that I've hears is that camel spiders were being trained to eat US soldiers (as reported by one of Sadr's imams during the Najaf battles), the infamous "we captured a Marine" fiasco (turned out it was a Ken doll), and my personal favorite, that Pokemon shirts being handed out by relief workers was a Zionist plot to make kids give up their Islamic heritage (because Pikachu, according to an imam, means "I am Jewish" in Japanese; actually, it means "flashing mouse"). The fact that the Guardian posted it doesn't mean jack. This is the same paper that's happy to print any anti-American garbage it gets its hands on. I liked their last report on the EU/UN attempt to get control over the Internet, saying that the "US has no real choice but to acquiesce". Uh, yes, we do have a choice--we can simply say "No." Have fun getting to the servers, UN.
 
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PlatypusMaximus    RE:Likely background   10/9/2005 8:16:16 PM
GWB, Where's my spinal armor!? Whether it's hizbollah carbombs killing our under-armored troops or a sniper able to kill our over-armored troops with impunity, The solution remains the same: Keep our troops safely garrisoned in their barracks and use a single nuclear submarine to bomb the Anhbar province, and the rest of the Sunni Triangle, into smoldering ruin.
 
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sanman    RE:Likely background   10/9/2005 8:30:11 PM
I don't think retreat is the answer. That only makes them feel triumphant that they have you on the run. What's needed is better sniper detection systems, such as the acoustic tracking ones under development. But as for background, I'm wondering if this guy could be an Iranian. Unlike the Baathists, the Tehran regime is still in power and is still continuing to sharpen their hatchets. They have an interest in forcing a US withdrawal so that they can come to fill in the vacuum later on. Look at the expertise they imparted to Hezbollah in Lebanon. This guy could be IRGC.
 
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shek    RE:Likely background   10/9/2005 10:28:22 PM
Acoustic detection systems won't help much against trained snipers that take their shot and exfil immediately to a new location. What they could be useful in doing is pinpointing the hides that particular snipers like to use, allowing you to conduct a better pattern analysis. This will allow you to get your snipers in place to outsniper the sniper.
 
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shek    RE:Likely background   10/9/2005 10:31:38 PM
GOP, Not all Iraqi insurgents/terrorists are idiots, though most are. However, hitting a target with precision at 200m isn't a feat. Give me an ACOG, a M4, and 30 rounds to pick up some DOPE, and I'll drop targets at 200m with a single shot everytime. The more impressive portion is the discipline to take only a single shot and then exfil everytime; however, with the ability to scout hide sites and exfil routes in local dress and then execute your mission, even that isn't as impressive.
 
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sanman    RE:Likely background   10/10/2005 2:08:25 AM
I don't think terrorists should be covered under geneva conventions of war -- they aren't openly acknowledging themselves as combatants and are themselves not subscribing to the conventions they want to seek protection under. Likewise, I don't see why lasers and other blinding weapons couldn't be used on their snipers. They can't claim protection under treaties of war they haven't even signed themselves. If you had a mesh-network of floating observation balloons armed with lasers capable of blinding a combatant, then he could be zapped. Actually, the best thing would be to lay a trap to lure him in and get him. No sense waiting for him to take the initiative -- better to set up some bait and then nail him.
 
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FJV    RE:Likely background   10/10/2005 12:04:25 PM
Could be something could be nothing. Wouldn't be suprised if the US would lift him out of his bed because some snitch told the US where to find him. Nobody said it would be easy or bloodless.
 
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