The sniper video you did not see on CNN

Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

Army and Marine troops battling insurgents in the streets and urban neighborhoods of Iraq now have a potent new weapon at their disposal, thanks to the rocket scientists at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Grand Prairie.

A recently released video shows U.S. troops in an unidentified Iraqi city under fire from snipers in the upper floors of a three-story building. An Abrams tank fires several rounds with its heavy cannon at the building, with little or no effect on enemy fighters.

A few minutes later, an explosion rips through the building and eliminates the insurgents.

The close-quarters urban combat in Iraq is proving to be a perfect testing ground for the Army's M31 GMLRS, or guided multiple launch rocket system, missile. It's a satellite-guided weapon that, launched from more than 40 miles away, can deliver a lethal 196-pound, highly explosive warhead within a 16-foot-wide circle.

A close-up view of the Iraq video shows the missile streaking down onto almost the exact center of the building's roof before exploding on impact or a split-second after.

...

Since July 2005, when the first missiles equipped with the unitary warheads were delivered to Iraq, the Army says that more than 120 have been fired in combat with a success rate of more than 95 percent.

Pincoski declined to give details about where the missiles were used. But last September, as U.S. troops battled to clear insurgents out of their stronghold in the western Iraqi city of Tal Afar, Army gunners fired eight of the guided missiles over two days, killing 48 enemy fighters, according to an Army News Service report.

In essence, the Army now has the capability to conduct its own precision airstrikes on individual targets with a weapon that it claims poses little danger to nearby troops or civilians.

"The accuracy is what's really impressed people," Pincoski said. "Soldiers in the field are so confident in its accuracy that they're willing to call in strikes that are very close" to them.

...

Click on the link above to get to the video link. What this story really demonstrates, besides the importance of the new weapon system is that enemy snipers in Iraq have much to worry about. They do not enjoy the no consequence routine that was shown on the enemy propaganda video that CNN showed. If CNN were interested in fairness it would show this video.