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| Iraq-Jordan |
| In Mosul, a Battle 'Beyond Ruthless' -- Onetime Gang Member Applies Rules of Street |
| 2005-04-13 |
| By Steve Fainaru, Washington Post. EFL; LRR. Read the whole thing. MOSUL, Iraq -- From inside a vacant building, Sgt. 1st Class Domingo Ruiz watched through a rifle scope as three cars stopped on the other side of the road. A man carrying a machine gun got out and began to transfer weapons into the trunk of one of the cars. "Take him down," Ruiz told a sniper. The sniper fired his powerful M-14 rifle and the man's head exploded, several American soldiers recalled. As he fell, more soldiers opened fire, killing at least one other insurgent. After the ambush, the Americans scooped up a piece of skull and took it back to their base as evidence of the successful mission. The March 12 attack -- swift and brutally violent -- bore the hallmarks of operations that have made Ruiz, 39, a former Brooklyn gang member, renowned among U.S. troops in Mosul and, in many ways, a symbol of the optimism that has pervaded the military since Iraq's Jan. 30 elections. . . . . . . The military attributes the decline [in insurgent activity] to several factors, including Iraqis' increased willingness to provide information about insurgents and the growing presence of the new Iraqi security forces throughout the country. But the main reason, military officials said, is a grinding counterinsurgency operation -- now in its 20th month -- executed by soldiers like Ruiz, a platoon sergeant in the 3rd Battalion's C Company. It is a campaign of endless repetition: platoons of American troops patrolling Iraqi streets on foot or in armored vehicles. Its inherent monotony is punctuated by moments of extreme violence. "Our battles have been beyond ruthless," said Ruiz, adding that he believes most Americans have little understanding of how the conflict is being fought. . . . Infantrymen with C Company said no soldier is more ruthlessly proficient at fighting the insurgents than Ruiz, a son of Puerto Rican parents who grew up in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn. Ruiz's unit, the 4th Platoon, has killed at least 15 suspected insurgents in the past two months, according to soldiers. Commanders said the unit encounters more enemy contact than any other platoon in the battalion. The platoon calls itself the "Violators." Its patch depicts a leering skull clad in a green beret, blood dripping from its mouth. Its motto is "Carpe Noctum," or "Seize the Night," a reference in Latin to the platoon's propensity to operate after dark. . . . . . . When another young platoon leader, Lt. Colin Keating, 23, of Clinton, Md., arrived Feb. 6, Ruiz greeted him warmly and introduced him to every soldier in the platoon, but told him: "Just let me fight my war." It is a war that Ruiz said reminds him of his youth as a member of the Coney Island Cobras, a Brooklyn street gang. He said he applies many of the principles he learned in the rough neighborhoods where he grew up: Bay Ridge and, later, the projects in Caguas, Puerto Rico, where he moved with his mother as a teenager. . . . . . . The platoon is built around four 21-ton Strykers -- two mounted with TOW missiles, two designed to carry infantrymen. Keating said Ruiz "pretty much wrote the book on this particular style of unit. This is the first time it had ever been done, and he basically figured out how that system works." Among soldiers in Mosul, Ruiz's aggressiveness is legendary -- both in attacking the insurgents and gathering intelligence. Keating said Ruiz "plays by the rules of Iraq, not by the rules that are written by some staff guy who's never been on the ground. He's never crossed the line, but he'll go right up to it time and time again." After recently hearing that a security guard was allowing insurgents to meet at night at a school, Ruiz said, he confronted the principal by "taking over his personal space" and threatening to shut down the school down if the meetings continued. At a store whose owner he believed was aiding insurgents, Ruiz threatened to park a Stryker out front and post a sign saying that the man was abetting terrorism. Ruiz said he "never crosses the line." But he said one reason for the platoon's success was his willingness to act decisively and ruthlessly. "It's important for my soldiers to know that we're not going to hesitate to annihilate the enemy," he said. "A bullet coming toward you means that they want to kill you. What are you supposed to do, come back with flowers? But believe it or not, you have people here that want to give them, you know, a little bag of candy." Acting swiftly, he said, "sends a message to the enemy that we're not playing games. If you engage us, you are going to die." Born said Ruiz, like the comic book hero Spider-Man, seems to possess "a spidey-sense that starts tingling when bad stuff is going on." . . . . . . Ruiz said he once went to a palm reader in Colombia, and "she told me I got a three-meter angel hanging around me all the time. I believe that crap, too, man. Everybody shares my angel." Me, I'm just glad you're one of the good guys. Sgt. Ruiz, thanks to you and your three-meter angel both for your service. Good luck, good hunting, and get home safe. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #32 The M-21 was, according to the pages I just read (thanks .com), a development of the M-14. I suspect they're using something similar here. It might or might not be a misnomer to call these guys "snipers." They may be performing in a role similar to the "designated marksman" role the Soviets had in their units. They were armed with the SVD, also called the Dragunov, which shoots the previously mentioned 7.62x54R round. There are companies selling AK-47-based rifles shooting that round as "Dragunovs" in the US, but they aren't. Real ones are very rare in the US. Caveat Emptor. I've read that when they first started the "designated marksman" role, the Soviets envisioned that there'd be one person per platoon doing this, but from 1960 to 1990 they eventually had one soldier per squad trained and equipped for that. As for the accuracy and power of the AK-47... there's a world of difference between the accuracy of a first-world AK-47 that's been decently taken care of and a third-world-licensed-knockoff that has some corrosive ammo shot through the barrel from time to time and wasn't really cleaned well afterwards, and then wound up being traded around for a couple decades. Thanks to the design of the gun, it'll still shoot after having suffered a lot more abuse than an M-16, but not accurately enough to be much help when someone like Sgt. Ruiz shows up and his subordinates have something like an M-14 (or even an SVD) in _good_ repair, and who have actually spent time at the range this year (which is probably more important than any sort of debate over which weapon to use). |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-04-13 10:27:24 PM |
| #31 WM - Here are a few sniper rifle pages you might be interested in: Global Security Modern Firearms Sniper Central |
| Posted by: .com 2005-04-13 8:49:44 PM |
| #30 The DMR sounds very much like the XM-21 I had in Vietnam. Anyone know if this it what it morphed into? Have seen refs to M21 (no X) but no specs found. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2005-04-13 8:42:59 PM |
| #29 Oh, Mike - you are too trusting, lol! WaPo sucks like an F5, IMHO, and this fact is easily identified in 95% plus of their stories. You can laud the 5%, if you wanna, heh... Hmmm... perhaps that is a fairly high rating among the "respected" MSM outlets... |
| Posted by: .com 2005-04-13 5:02:22 PM |
| #28 The WaPo is a leftist publication with all the biases and agenda items that entails, but for the most part it's produced and supervised by adults who are in touch with reality. The NYT and LAT, on the other hand, . . . (shudder!) |
| Posted by: Mike 2005-04-13 4:58:17 PM |
| #27 I was really surprised to see this article. Can't believe it actually got printed. It never would have or will be printed in Canada. I hope there are a lot more Sgt Ruiz out there in the US Army (and they don't get crapped on one way or another for doing there job). JFM, for the sake of debate, you mention the Sherman vs the T-34...The Germans had all the best equipment in WW2 and were defeated, in part, by volume over quality. I think the Russians and the allies knew what they were doing back then in that respect. Today, I think the US, British and, yes, Canadian Forces need the high tech, quality stuff. But, I don't think the bad guys actually care if their equipment is any good or even works. They have quantity in terms of, well, expendable resources... Sgt Ruiz, however, seems to be up for the challenge. OK, folks, take a strip off me... |
| Posted by: Canuck 2005-04-13 4:40:43 PM |
| #26 It's truly amazing, when you think about it: a WaPo piece delivering unmitigated praise for our soldiers' "ruthlessness." Even WaPo can sense which way the wind's blowing. |
| Posted by: thibaud (aka lex) 2005-04-13 4:16:00 PM |
| #25 Well, that piece-of-the-skull comment is going to send Maureen Dowd et al. into a deep swoon. |
| Posted by: Matt 2005-04-13 4:09:44 PM |
| #24 Nothing surprising about the existence of superb warriors like Sgt Ruiz in our ranks. What's really shocking-- and exhilarating-- is that this glowing account appeared in WaPo, and without any countervailing bullshit like the heretofore obligatory mention of Abu G. Or a quote from some Human Rights Watch or left-euro joker, or even a reference to how "some might see Ruiz as part of the problem...." When the media elite start to show our soldiers' dirty work as heroic, then you know that we've turned a corner on the homefront. Very encouraging. |
| Posted by: thibaud (aka lex) 2005-04-13 3:59:46 PM |
| #23 good job Ruiz, u should get a medal, you are one brave and tuff soldier |
| Posted by: its me 2005-04-13 3:57:02 PM |
| #22 Gromky wrote: JFM, Soviet weapons are nothing to laugh at. Don't fall into that trap. The Soviets scrimped on everything in their economy, except weapons. Even if the Soviets tried and in fact did somewhat better with weapons than with the rest of their economy their weapons were still affected by their philosophy of quantity versus quality (theink in T-64 versus M1, or in WWII that the MTBF for T-34 was only a third of what it was for the Sherman) and by the general bad state of their economy. Were the machines who produced such or such weapons at teh same specs than the ones producing weapons for the west. And what for the metals of that machine (and in the weapons), have they gliches who later will afect the qulity of what is produced by the machine? And its electronic equipment? Consider this: drilling equipment was at the top of Soviet priority and however fifty per cent of it was defective when leabing the manufacturing plant. |
| Posted by: JFM 2005-04-13 3:13:54 PM |
| #21 I have a L1A1 in 7.62X51 and a rifle 7.62X39 I have had several rifles in 7.62X39. I can state with a certainty the 7.62X51 delivers more energy at any distance. This is from actual hands on experience. I also have a 7.52X54R rifle. (Some how I ended up with some frangible ammo for that one too.) You don't want to be down range of that one. The Marine ammo for that M-14 rifle is very likely lovingly hand loaded by fellow marines back here in the US every round is identical as humanly possible for consistent results. This guy has the right attitude. He will make sure all his guys get home alive. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom 2005-04-13 2:48:09 PM |
| #20 Heh, Matt... it's a jihadi quagmire, I tell ya! Interesting analysis on Fox yesterday (Brit Hume's show) saying that Zawahiri and bin Laden are at odds over strategy - and that Zawahiri is "winning" the internal argument. They said that bin Laden wants to strike the US (classic futile gesture Islamist Think) and Zawahiri wants to co-opt another base of operations, ala a new Taliban / Afghan home - a rather more intelligent goal given the chaos of their current situation. Popcorn? |
| Posted by: .com 2005-04-13 2:36:39 PM |
| #19 There's been a major intelligence failure here. Osama and his buds were telling us before the Afghan war that our soldiers were soft. Now Sergeant Ruiz and his guys are eating cornflakes out of jihadi skulls. How could Osama's intel have been so wrong? |
| Posted by: Matt 2005-04-13 2:30:38 PM |
| #18 "Yeah, and our COCKROACHES would make your rats flee screaming in terror." |
| Posted by: Ptah 2005-04-13 1:46:38 PM |
| #17 JFM, Soviet weapons are nothing to laugh at. Don't fall into that trap. The Soviets scrimped on everything in their economy, except weapons. |
| Posted by: gromky 2005-04-13 1:29:12 PM |
| #16 and on the sociological side, if the Iraq action had never come up, Sgt Ruiz might have left the service and rejoined a gang; so here at least is one case in which the war has had an arguably positive effect on dimished violence here in the US. |
| Posted by: mhw 2005-04-13 1:28:44 PM |
| #15 I've used the M-14 and I prefer it over the M-16. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2005-04-13 12:50:31 PM |
| #14 The USMC has its snipers use the DMR (Designated Marksman Rifle). This is based upon the M-14 but uses a fiberglass stock and lots of other match-grade goodies. They are pretty much hand made by the armorers at Quantico. It is a very effective sniper weapon. |
| Posted by: Remoteman 2005-04-13 12:22:21 PM |
| #13 The M-14 is a damn fine weapon.I've used the .308 for hunting,that sucker will damn sure knock down a deer. |
| Posted by: raptor 2005-04-13 12:14:48 PM |
| #12 Another factor is propellant and bullet quality. I suspect propellant in the AK47 round/the manufacturing of the rounds are not that great. Don't forget these were Soviet Union products. |
| Posted by: JFM 2005-04-13 11:57:39 AM |
| #11 Sgt. Ruiz sounds like a good soldier. My kind of soldier. when fighting a ruthless enemy you must be ruthless yourself. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues for muck4doo 2005-04-13 11:50:07 AM |
| #10 The M-14 is being used as a sharpshooter weapon where the range, accuracy, and power of the M-16/M-4 is deficient. The M-14s, while not a sniper rifle, are more than capable of hitting the target at 700 yards. |
| Posted by: ed 2005-04-13 11:46:30 AM |
| #9 PS. The 7.62x51mm cartridge is also used in the 7.62mm rifles that a few of our snipers have used to get 1000 yard kills. |
| Posted by: ed 2005-04-13 11:41:59 AM |
| #8 My hat's off to Ruiz. The man has a tough job but he knows what he's doing and does it well by all accounts! |
| Posted by: Tkat 2005-04-13 11:41:46 AM |
| #7 ed: The AK47 fires a 39mm and the M-14 fires a 51mm cartidge cartridge (.308 Winchester) with a heavier bullet and deliveres over 50% more energy. That is true, but at the kinds of (short) ranges they're dealing with, the difference may not be material, except in a purely technical sense. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2005-04-13 11:41:38 AM |
| #6 Zang Fei - The M14 and AK-47 rounds are the same diameter (7.62 mm) but NOT the same round. The M14's 7.62 x 51 NATO round is longer, and carries more propellant than the Soviet 7.62 x 39 mm round fired by the AK, SKS, and other firearms. The M14 is more "powerfull" than the AK-47. |
| Posted by: Robjack 2005-04-13 11:33:15 AM |
| #5 The AK47 fires a 39mm and the M-14 fires a 51mm cartidge cartridge (.308 Winchester) with a heavier bullet and deliveres over 50% more energy. |
| Posted by: ed 2005-04-13 11:32:55 AM |
| #4 Article: The sniper fired his powerful M-14 rifle Check out the hyperbole - "his powerful M-14 rifle"? This uses the same caliber round as the AK-47, the standard-issue weapon of the guerrillas. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2005-04-13 11:16:32 AM |
| #3 The headline's a little exaggerated - "beyond ruthless" would be to burn the city down. Hyperbole aside, it's good that these guys aren't squeamish about killing the enemy, though. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2005-04-13 11:03:02 AM |
| #2 Yea, but Kerry was equally as decisive, according to his own home movies. Sgt. Ruiz: Keep it up, kill the pigs. I love the part where he takes part of the skull back to the base. Don't forget to pass out the incendiary candy. You are definitely part of Brotherhood of Soldiers. BTW, If the Israeli soldiers did that, there would be WhirledWide condemnation. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2005-04-13 9:58:37 AM |
| #1 Acting swiftly, he said, "sends a message to the enemy that we’re not playing games. If you engage us, you are going to die." This is all that needs to be said, and it should apply to as many battlefields as necessary, anywhere. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-04-13 9:43:29 AM |