The sniper of Baghdad

Through the sights of a high-powered rifle the silhouette of a soldier takes shape in the window of a concrete watchtower. A shot rings out and the body collapses like a puppet, falling from view. Juba has struck again.

A new video of the mysterious marksman of the Islamic Army in Iraq, one of the country's main Sunni insurgent groups, has been available on the Internet since the end of December.
The video, a copy of which was sent to AFP by the rebel group, apparently shows US soldiers being cut down by the sniper. The commentary says it aims to tell "the truth to the American people" about their military losses in Iraq.
"The American administration still tells lies to its people and doesn't show the real numbers of their sons killed in Iraq. We are keen to tell these poor people the truth and hope it will wake them up," declares the "commander of the sniper brigade" of the Islamic Army in Iraq, a keffiyeh on his head and his face blurred electronically.
Juba — a nom de guerre — first made an appearance on the Internet in 2005 in a poor quality film which showed shocking images of American soldiers being shot by insurgent sniper fire.
The second compilation of his "exploits," released in October 2006, transformed Juba into a mythical figure. The "sniper of Baghdad" became a hero to many young Iraqis and a symbol of hatred towards "the occupier."
The video's online success was immediate, making a considerable psychological impact in the Arab world as well as in Western countries.
Whether he is a real person or persons or the invention of propagandists, "Juba" has gained legendary status.
The online videos have stirred patriotic and religious feelings, the US-based Jamestown Foundation said in a report last year.
The footage has also encouraged "jihadis to train and participate in the insurgency," the Foundation said, stressing the need for US forces to "subdue" the sniper attacks attributed to Juba.
Boasting his own Internet site at www.baghdadsniper.net, Juba is one of the most successful media creations of the insurgency — despite competition from Internet videos by the Iraqi branch of Al-Qaeda which is today in open warfare against the Islamic Army.
"The Sniper of Baghdad No 3" is subtitled in English and of good technical quality.
About 10 American soldiers are shown being picked off in turn by sniper bullets. It is impossible to determine the place, the date, the units or the fate of the soldiers apparently hit.
The purported chief of the Islamic Army snipers gives no indication of the number of American victims but speaks on the video of "10 Iranian agents" — Iraqi police and soldiers — killed each day.
"The Islamic Army has already released about 70 videos of its actions. The enemy uses the fact that the bodies of the dead soldiers don't appear in these (bomb) attacks, so they lie and show false numbers about their deaths," says the overweight leader, wearing a beige multi-pocketed jacket and black open-fingered gloves.
"In the case of sniping it is quite different," he says, claiming that the video shows US soldiers falling dead.
In the past, he adds, they used the Iraqi sniping rifle the Tabuk. But many American sniping rifles have been captured and the Islamic Army is now working hard "to improve the sniper rifles and the silencers so that there will be a surprise shocking the enemy."
Islamic Army snipers, he boasts, are superior to US shooters who, he says, wait on rooftops and choose easy targets.

"Our snipers surpass those of the US army. Our snipers have only a few minutes to enter the target area, spot shoot and retreat," he says.
According to a tally by the independent website www.icasualties.org, 338 US soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the war by "small arms fire" — eight percent of total US casualties — among them 48 cut down by snipers.
US military spokesman General Kevin Bergner concedes that sniping "has been a threat to the security environment here for quite some time.
"It is one that our commanders and our forces understand. It is one we deal with on a recurring, routine basis.
"It is one that we have periodically seen in greater numbers at times, and obviously in those circumstances we target our operations accordingly to counter that threat," Bergner told a news conference this week.