Is this either a US soldier or a CIA guy with an AK-47 in this photo?

[NNN0LHI]

An unidentified armed gunman rush to the scene after a huge explosion believed caused by a car bomb rocked central Baghdad near the Baghdad Hotel, which is thought to be an office of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in the Iraqi capital, Sunday Oct 12, 2003. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

URL for page with photo:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/031012/481/ans10810121857

[mdvet]

1. eek

bang goes any anominity he may have had.

[name not needed]

2. sog

most likely cia sog

[qanda]

3. Oh yeah, a Black guy in Baghdad has real anonymity.

eom

On Edit: has not had/altered punctuation

[mdvet]

6. anominity

yeah but now the pic is spread wide, whos to say that some crackpot who live near this guy, now decides to do a mental mickey.

[qanda]

9. I agree.

I guess my point is that the people in Iraq probably have all of the people who work for the occupiers pegged as CIA.

[FDRrocks]

28. in Iraq or here?

I mean he is over there walking around with a big old ID card.

[Wcross]

4. Could be......

Could be a state department employee too. (they have protective agents). The t-shirt and trousers and boots scream american military or para-military.

[xJlM]

5. Police or security guy?

With a whistle around his neck and a pager, that would be my guess. He's wearing jeans and work boots, though, so I don't know...

[Devils Advocate NZ]

15. That's not a whistle, its an ID card.

If you look between the receiver of the AK and his T-Shirt you will see a thin light coloured line, which appears to be the edge of an ID card.

I'd say this guy is either US Special Forces on loan to whatever agency is operating out of the Baghdad hotel, or CIA. There was an article recently where it was said that Valerie Plame, the CIA officer outed by the Bush cabal, was trained in the use of the AK as part of her agency training.

There is two reasons why the AK would be used like this: firstly because it is a very common weapon that would be virtually impossible to trace to an American source (ie providing plausible deniability) and secondly because it is a very rugged and reliable weapon requiring little effort to maintain in operational order, while still providing good firepower.

The US may have been better at making high-tech weapons, but the Russians were far better at making simple, easy to use and reliable weapons. Even when the US is supplying geurilla forces, they usually equip them with AKs because of their simplicity and durability.

[xJlM]

24. You're probably right

Looking closely, I can see the card. And I can't blame him for carrying a Kalashnikov, since there's a ready supply of ammo there and it is much easier to clean and maintain.

[htuttle]

7. Looks like a mercenary

With that pager and the way he's dressed, I'd have to guess some corporation's private military, with funding provided by US taxpayers, no doubt.

[KeepItReal]

8. Might be a contractor also...

<EOM>

[DUreader]

14. Contractor is the new name for Mercenary

[Rose Siding]

31. Dyncorp

That was my thought

[bahrbearian]

10. Sadam Loyalist?

[NNN0LHI]

11. Why the AK-47 though? I thought our military had the superior weaponry?

I thought our assault rifles can damn near shoot around corners and stuff. How come Americans are using an outdated weapon designed by a Russian in 2003?

Don

[mistertrickster]

12. I read somewhere that a lot of troops don't have rifles . . .

Tank companies may have eight members but only one or two rifles for example. Because of that, local weapons are getting pressed into service. Also, there's a perception that they are more lethal short-range rifles, but not as good for long range shooting according to the article I read.

[DUreader]

13. I read that alot of US want "em. Reliable I hear.

Soldiers buyin' 'em up

[Devils Advocate NZ]

18. It's the way they're designed and manufactured.

Simply put, US weapons are highly precision made, resulting in very small tolerances. Such weapons are less likely to bleed combustion gasses and thus obtain higher muzzle velocities (meaning accuracy and hitting power) and rates of fire. Because they have higher muzzle velocities, they can use smaller and lighter ammunition meaning the soldier can carry more ammunition for the same weight. However, there is a down side to such small tolerances. If dirt gets into the weapon it is much more likely to jam.

The AK on the other hand is much less sophisticated and has higher tolerances, meaning that there is more room for dirt particles to be in the works without jamming the weapon. If dirt gets into an AK, it is more likely to just be pushed aside rather than jam up the action.

In places like Iraq where fine dust particles are a major problem, it takes a whole lot of maintenance to keep high precision weapons in operating order. The AK on the other hand is very easy to clean in such situations, and is therefore far more reliable.

[Aidoneus]

32. the AK tended to work better in the desert, apparently

:shrug:

[KaraokeKarlton]

16. That's a US soldier in civillian clothes

But he's wearing a standard issue military t-shirt. He was probably off duty and was nearby when the bomb went off and jumped in to help out.

[The White Rose]

22. If he's an off duty trooper...

...wandering around Baghdad in a t-shirt, he's got a REAL short life expectancy...

[sal]

17. Brown and Root cop?

8

[The White Rose]

19. Is that an AK-47?

I'm no expert, but I think that might be a Heckler & Koch MP-54 or similar. I believe that's the weapon used by the SEALs and by lots of Special Police/SWAT squads in the US. Might be a merc but more likely Special Ops.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

23. Actually, it is an AKMS, the folding stock variant of the AKM

The AKM is a variant of the AK-47 (hence the M which means "modified")



Here is a H&K MP-5 for comparison purposes:

[The White Rose]

25. Thanks for clearing that up.

:-)

[ShaneGR]

20. My guess on this guy

I'm going to guess there is a barracks somewhere near this location. Upon hearing about the explosion this guy rushes to the scene to provide security.

That being said, if he is US military his insurance would be screwed because he's not wearing his protective gear and he's carrying a foreign weapon.

[ShaneGR]

21. Oh yeah, LOOK AT HIS BOOTS

Standard US army boots. Compare this photo to US personnel photos.

[DS1]

30. uh no, those are more like timberlands than anything military

.

[screaming_meme]

26. Probably a DynCorp mercenary

Lot of them over there, pulling down six figures. Usually ex Special Forces types.

[solinvictus]

27. Kalashnikov

Can't blame him for ditching the M4 carbine for the Kalashnikov. There's been storie out of Iraq & Afghanistan of the M4 failing to stop enemy combatants with 3 or 4 hits and the things are having a high failure rate because of the environment.

[screaming_meme]

29. Yeah, rangers had the same problem in Mogadishu

They had problems killing old Somali men with their M4's.