"Juba" = "Baghdad Sniper"

On Saturday, I took the day off and spent it at home resting, studying for the TOEFL and the GRE and hanging out with my friends whose main subject at that day was the Baghdad Sniper.
Baghdad Sniper is a man who shoots US soldiers with his silent guns. He fires once and vanishes just like ghosts. There is never a follow-up shot, never a chance for US forces to identify him. It’s a matter of seconds. You’ll never hear it.

In my neighborhood, a new phenomenon is incredibly increasing. CDs with videos of this ghost shooting at the US soldiers in Baghdad are being sold and exchanged by young men and teenagers who are incredibly interested in that mysterious sniper. As people say, he uses silent guns in his shooting and he never missed a target.

On August 5 of last year, the Guardian published a story about the sniper. The Guardian’s Rory Carroll quoted Specialist Travis Burress, 22, a sniper with the 1-64 battalion based in Camp Rustamiyah, saying "He's good. Every time we dismount I'm sure everyone has got him in the back of their minds. He's a serious threat to us."

"Juba" is the nickname applied to that sniper by the U.S. military in Iraq. He is alleged to be an accurate sniper, having killed and wounded up to several dozen U.S. soldiers. He fires only once and disapperas from his position, leaving behind no evidence of his whereabouts.

According to the CDs and internet posted videos I watched, the Baghdad Sniper waits for soldiers to dismount, or stand up in a Humvee turret, and then shoots. He has killed from 200 meters away.

Ok now, to be more frank, this sniper becomes a “hero” in my neighborhood. Yesterday, there was a group of young men gathering in an internet café watching series of his attacks on a website called, Ogrish. “He is so brave,” one young man said. “He is not a terrorist. He kills the occupiers only,” the other said with his both eyes concentrated on the computer’s monitor. Images of US soldiers being shot by that sniper was aired on Aljazeera more than once, specially in the period before I went to the U.S.

The only indication that Juba is the same individual each time in these incidents is a single bullet casing and a note left behind at the location where he is believed to have been. The message, in Arabic, "What has been taken in blood cannot be regained except by blood. Baghdad Sniper". These items were found only after nearby buildings. "Juba's" existence, however, is not proven. He may not exist, or he could be a combination of many different insurgents. It is also possible that Coalition forces have killed one or more "Jubas," but each time a new one emerges.

Warning:

This video shows the reality and horror of war and should only be viewed by a mature audience.