Militants, mosques and minarets

I heard from a buddy in the sandbox today.

He’s with the Marines, and he confirms something I asked him about earlier. He says that very often insurgent snipers will take up position in the minarets and towers of local mosques to shoot at US forces.

This is all too often counter-productive (for the sniper, that is). Sure, he/they can get a good view of their target from up there: but they also stick out like the proverbial sore thumb, and once the US forces have identified their location it’s a whole lot easier to target them stuck up there for all the world to see than it would be if they were at ground level, hidden among all the buildings.

My buddy sent me links to five short videos filmed by US troops doing precisely that.

WARNING – The language in some of these videos is NOT safe for work. Soldiers aren’t noted for their politically-correct language while under fire, of course!

Let’s take them in ascending order of weapon size. The insurgent in the dome of this mosque was targeted by an AT4 shoulder-launched rocket.

The insurgent in this mosque tower attracted a TOW vehicle-launched missile.

Now things get interesting . . . the next three minarets all ended up on the receiving end of precision-guided 500-pound bombs, courtesy of the USAF and Marines.

I asked my buddy, “When will they ever learn?” His answer was that he hopes they don’t – he likes easy targets! However, he said he didn’t have a problem with these videos being out there, because the average jihadi in his experience didn’t watch such infidel stuff.

Works for me . . .

EDITED TO ADD: He just sent me a follow-up e-mail (after midnight my time) to show me that the enemy isn’t all Marines have to worry about. Sometimes their buddies are dangerous too . . . as in, lighting a cigarette soaked in hot sauce (800,000 Scoville units) and inhaling!

I see what he means! Wonder if that qualifies for a Purple Lung?

Peter