thedrifter
11-08-06, 06:27 AM
Snipers increase the risk for U.S. forces
`They hit us, and then they are gone,' one Marine says
By C.J. Chivers
The New York Times
Posted November 8 2006
KARMA, Iraq · The bullet passed through Marine Lance Cpl. Juan Valdez-Castillo as his patrol moved down a muddy urban lane. It was a single shot. The lance corporal fell against a wall, tried to stand and fell again. His squad leader, Sgt. Jesse E. Leach, faced where the shot had come from, raised his rifle and grenade launcher and quickly stepped between the sniper and the bloodied Marine. He walked backward, scanning, ready to fire.
Shielding the Marine with his own thick body, Leach grabbed the corporal by a strap and dragged him across a muddy road to a line of tall reeds, where they were concealed. Leach put down his weapon, shouted orders and cut open the lance corporal's uniform, exposing a bubbling wound.
Valdez-Castillo, shot through the right arm and torso, was saved. But the patrol was temporarily stuck. The Marines were engaged in the task of calling for a casualty evacuation while staring down their barrels at dozens of windows that faced them, as if waiting for a ghost's next move.
This sequence one day last week here in Anbar Province captured in a matter of seconds an expanding threat in the war in Iraq. In recent months, military officers and enlisted Marines say, the insurgents have been using snipers more frequently and with greater effect, disrupting the military's operations and fueling a climate of frustration and quiet rage.
Across Iraq, the threat has become serious enough that in late October the military conducted an internal conference about it, sharing the experiences of combat troops and discussing tactics to counter it. There has been no ready fix.
The battalion commander of Leach's unit -- the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines -- recalled eight sniper hits on his Marines in three months and said there had been other possible incidents as well. Two of the battalion's five fatalities have come from snipers, he said, and one Marine is in a coma. Another Marine seriously wounded by a sniper has suffered a stroke.
A sniper team was captured in the area a few weeks ago, he said, but more have taken its place. "The enemy has the ability to regenerate, and after we put a dent in his activity, we see sniper activity again," said the commander, Lt. Col. Kenneth M. DeTreux. Marines in two infantry companies recounted more cases, telling of lone shots that zipped in as if from nowhere, striking turrets and walls within inches of Marines. They typically occur when the Marines are not engaged in combat. It is as if, they say, they are being watched.
By many measures, the Iraqi snipers have shown unexceptional marksmanship, usually shooting from within 300 yards, far less than ranges preferred by the elite snipers in Western military units.
But as the insurgent sniper teams have become more active, the Marines here say, they have displayed greater skill, selecting their targets and their firing positions with care. They have also developed cunning methods of mobility and concealment, including firing from shooting platforms and hidden ports within cars.
"In the beginning of the war, sniping wasn't something that the Iraqis did," said Capt. Glen Taylor, the executive officer of the battalion's Company G, who is on his third combat tour. "It was like, `If Allah wants that bullet to hit its target, it will.' But they are starting to realize how effective it is."
The insurgents are recruiting snipers and centralizing their instruction, the captain said, meaning that the phenomenon is likely to grow.
"They have training camps -- they go around and advertise," he said. "We heard from some of our sources that the insurgents were going around with loudspeakers, saying that if you want to be a sniper we will pay you three times whatever your salary is now."
The Marines also express their belief that the sniper teams have a network of spotters, and that each time the Marines leave their outpost, spotters hidden among the Iraqi population call the snipers and tell them where the Marines are and what they are doing. The snipers then arrive.
For the infantry, Iraq's improved snipers have created confounding new dangers, as an unseen enemy plucks members from their ranks. Most of the time, the Marines said, the snipers aim for their heads, necks and armpits, displaying knowledge of gaps in their protective gear. They typically shoot once and disappear. And they often fire on the opposite side of obstacles like canals, which limits a unit's ability to capture the sniper or respond with fire.
"That's the biggest thing that tears Marines apart," said Cpl. Curtis S. Cota-Robles of Company G, who was standing beside a Marine who was shot through the collarbone in late September. "They hit us when we are vulnerable, and then they are gone."
As part of their counterinsurgency operations, the Marines working in Anbar are under orders to show restraint, a policy rooted in hopes of winning the trust of the civilian population.
Iraqi snipers seem to know these rules and use them for their own protection. They often fire from among civilians, the Marines say, having observed that unless the Marines have a clear target, they will not shoot. In two sniper shootings witnessed by two journalists for The New York Times, on Oct. 30 and Oct. 31, the snipers fired from among civilians. The Marines did not fire back.
After Valdez-Castillo was shot and evacuated, a sweat-soaked, bloodied Leach led his team through the rest of his patrol. When the Marines re-entered the wire, an angry debriefing began.
Move quickly through the open areas, the noncommissioned officers told the troops. Don't stand high on the berms. Camouflage the radios. Keep your eyes out and rifles ready.
Little was said about how to kill the sniper; the Marines did not know where he was. They passed cigarettes and smoked them in the sun, and fumed. "I'll carry the radio next time," said Lance Cpl. Peter Sprague. "I don't have any kids."
Ellie
`They hit us, and then they are gone,' one Marine says
By C.J. Chivers
The New York Times
Posted November 8 2006
KARMA, Iraq · The bullet passed through Marine Lance Cpl. Juan Valdez-Castillo as his patrol moved down a muddy urban lane. It was a single shot. The lance corporal fell against a wall, tried to stand and fell again. His squad leader, Sgt. Jesse E. Leach, faced where the shot had come from, raised his rifle and grenade launcher and quickly stepped between the sniper and the bloodied Marine. He walked backward, scanning, ready to fire.
Shielding the Marine with his own thick body, Leach grabbed the corporal by a strap and dragged him across a muddy road to a line of tall reeds, where they were concealed. Leach put down his weapon, shouted orders and cut open the lance corporal's uniform, exposing a bubbling wound.
Valdez-Castillo, shot through the right arm and torso, was saved. But the patrol was temporarily stuck. The Marines were engaged in the task of calling for a casualty evacuation while staring down their barrels at dozens of windows that faced them, as if waiting for a ghost's next move.
This sequence one day last week here in Anbar Province captured in a matter of seconds an expanding threat in the war in Iraq. In recent months, military officers and enlisted Marines say, the insurgents have been using snipers more frequently and with greater effect, disrupting the military's operations and fueling a climate of frustration and quiet rage.
Across Iraq, the threat has become serious enough that in late October the military conducted an internal conference about it, sharing the experiences of combat troops and discussing tactics to counter it. There has been no ready fix.
The battalion commander of Leach's unit -- the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines -- recalled eight sniper hits on his Marines in three months and said there had been other possible incidents as well. Two of the battalion's five fatalities have come from snipers, he said, and one Marine is in a coma. Another Marine seriously wounded by a sniper has suffered a stroke.
A sniper team was captured in the area a few weeks ago, he said, but more have taken its place. "The enemy has the ability to regenerate, and after we put a dent in his activity, we see sniper activity again," said the commander, Lt. Col. Kenneth M. DeTreux. Marines in two infantry companies recounted more cases, telling of lone shots that zipped in as if from nowhere, striking turrets and walls within inches of Marines. They typically occur when the Marines are not engaged in combat. It is as if, they say, they are being watched.
By many measures, the Iraqi snipers have shown unexceptional marksmanship, usually shooting from within 300 yards, far less than ranges preferred by the elite snipers in Western military units.
But as the insurgent sniper teams have become more active, the Marines here say, they have displayed greater skill, selecting their targets and their firing positions with care. They have also developed cunning methods of mobility and concealment, including firing from shooting platforms and hidden ports within cars.
"In the beginning of the war, sniping wasn't something that the Iraqis did," said Capt. Glen Taylor, the executive officer of the battalion's Company G, who is on his third combat tour. "It was like, `If Allah wants that bullet to hit its target, it will.' But they are starting to realize how effective it is."
The insurgents are recruiting snipers and centralizing their instruction, the captain said, meaning that the phenomenon is likely to grow.
"They have training camps -- they go around and advertise," he said. "We heard from some of our sources that the insurgents were going around with loudspeakers, saying that if you want to be a sniper we will pay you three times whatever your salary is now."
The Marines also express their belief that the sniper teams have a network of spotters, and that each time the Marines leave their outpost, spotters hidden among the Iraqi population call the snipers and tell them where the Marines are and what they are doing. The snipers then arrive.
For the infantry, Iraq's improved snipers have created confounding new dangers, as an unseen enemy plucks members from their ranks. Most of the time, the Marines said, the snipers aim for their heads, necks and armpits, displaying knowledge of gaps in their protective gear. They typically shoot once and disappear. And they often fire on the opposite side of obstacles like canals, which limits a unit's ability to capture the sniper or respond with fire.
"That's the biggest thing that tears Marines apart," said Cpl. Curtis S. Cota-Robles of Company G, who was standing beside a Marine who was shot through the collarbone in late September. "They hit us when we are vulnerable, and then they are gone."
As part of their counterinsurgency operations, the Marines working in Anbar are under orders to show restraint, a policy rooted in hopes of winning the trust of the civilian population.
Iraqi snipers seem to know these rules and use them for their own protection. They often fire from among civilians, the Marines say, having observed that unless the Marines have a clear target, they will not shoot. In two sniper shootings witnessed by two journalists for The New York Times, on Oct. 30 and Oct. 31, the snipers fired from among civilians. The Marines did not fire back.
After Valdez-Castillo was shot and evacuated, a sweat-soaked, bloodied Leach led his team through the rest of his patrol. When the Marines re-entered the wire, an angry debriefing began.
Move quickly through the open areas, the noncommissioned officers told the troops. Don't stand high on the berms. Camouflage the radios. Keep your eyes out and rifles ready.
Little was said about how to kill the sniper; the Marines did not know where he was. They passed cigarettes and smoked them in the sun, and fumed. "I'll carry the radio next time," said Lance Cpl. Peter Sprague. "I don't have any kids."
Ellie