Gadget (fmr Marine)
02-14-2007, 10:36 PM
There have been over 100 Steyr HS.50 calibre sniper rifles found by coalition forces in and around the Bagdad area within the last few days. There are two main observations that I want to make.
First, intelligence is getting better. The ability to find weapons that can be traced to a legal sale of goods by the Austrian company in 2005 to Iran is a very positive step in realizing good knowledge on the street level of intelligence gathering. (without getting in to all the caveats that come along with Iran's attempt at influencing politics in Iraq)
Secondly, on the heals of the announcement of the surge of US troops in the same area where the rifles were stashed. The rifles are the weapon of choice for long distance (thousands of yards) headshots in the professional killing community. In the hands of well trained troops (not talking about insurgents, here) it is a devastating weapon at close to a full mile's range. Gunners in Humvees and other troop transport vehicles will be at full risk, if there are as many, or more weapons that have not been found....I do not have the full details of the sale of goods, but it is likely close to 800 total sold to Iran's National Police units. The training of the insurgents is not very high, but they will be very capable of 200-300 yard shots with a bit of luck but will most likely end up as "suicide by cop" type of martydom for thier cause.
Coalition troops and Iraqi police and military units must be on the lookout for these high calibre single shot, bolt action weapons which can penetrate the armor on Humvees and armored personnel carriers, without even considering the devastating affect on the human body at short range (within 300 yards) which is the typical distance for most single shot single kill incidents that have taken place within Iraq on coalition troops.
My biggest concern is that politicians do not want to acknowledge the 1200 pound pink gorilla sitting in the corner, and ignore the influence and the deadly consequences that Iran intends on disseminating in Iraq to further the religious and ethinic divide in an attempt at pulling Iraq further apart.
Good news/bad news......let's hope and pray that the boots on the ground and in the war rooms are already positioning intelligence and counter sniper teams in and around the most important areas where coalition and Iraqi police and military units are on routine patrols.
I suspect it will be several days before word of this gets anywhere near the mainstream media.....
First, intelligence is getting better. The ability to find weapons that can be traced to a legal sale of goods by the Austrian company in 2005 to Iran is a very positive step in realizing good knowledge on the street level of intelligence gathering. (without getting in to all the caveats that come along with Iran's attempt at influencing politics in Iraq)
Secondly, on the heals of the announcement of the surge of US troops in the same area where the rifles were stashed. The rifles are the weapon of choice for long distance (thousands of yards) headshots in the professional killing community. In the hands of well trained troops (not talking about insurgents, here) it is a devastating weapon at close to a full mile's range. Gunners in Humvees and other troop transport vehicles will be at full risk, if there are as many, or more weapons that have not been found....I do not have the full details of the sale of goods, but it is likely close to 800 total sold to Iran's National Police units. The training of the insurgents is not very high, but they will be very capable of 200-300 yard shots with a bit of luck but will most likely end up as "suicide by cop" type of martydom for thier cause.
Coalition troops and Iraqi police and military units must be on the lookout for these high calibre single shot, bolt action weapons which can penetrate the armor on Humvees and armored personnel carriers, without even considering the devastating affect on the human body at short range (within 300 yards) which is the typical distance for most single shot single kill incidents that have taken place within Iraq on coalition troops.
My biggest concern is that politicians do not want to acknowledge the 1200 pound pink gorilla sitting in the corner, and ignore the influence and the deadly consequences that Iran intends on disseminating in Iraq to further the religious and ethinic divide in an attempt at pulling Iraq further apart.
Good news/bad news......let's hope and pray that the boots on the ground and in the war rooms are already positioning intelligence and counter sniper teams in and around the most important areas where coalition and Iraqi police and military units are on routine patrols.
I suspect it will be several days before word of this gets anywhere near the mainstream media.....