Al Qaeda in Iraq Pushes For a Shift To Sniper Attacks
The narrator on the 31-minute-video compared the efficiency of sniper attacks to that of suicide bombings in what appeared to be a call for a tactical shift to such attacks.
"A small group of snipers could defend or lay a siege around an entire city," the narrator said. "A single sniper can cut the road and stop the progress of an entire enemy convoy and can cover his comrades' backs and secures their withdrawal." Excerpts from recent messages by al Qaeda leaders were heard all throughout the video.
The video, entitled "The strength lies in sniping," was dedicated to Palestinians in Gaza . It opened with graphic pictures of Palestinians, mostly children, killed in recent Israeli air strikes on Gaza. This was followed by a succession of sniper attack clips, mostly unseen ones, showing U.S. and Iraqi troops being hit by sniper fire.
Previous sniper attack videos released by the group always showed hit-and-run single-shot attacks. In this compilation video however, the snipers were targeting more than one soldier in many of their attacks where more than one target was available.
The video closed with a call on Muslims everywhere to acquire sniper rifles and kill any nearby "infidels." The scrolling text at the end of the tape read "With a single bullet that costs no more than a dollar, you could kill a person who cost his country a lot of money."