There have been volumes written on battlefield marksmanship and I was reading a fairly good piece on the problems the Taliban face in that regard. In the New York Times. Yeah! I had to look at the masthead three times to remind myself that I was reading an educated discussion of marksmanship in the New York Times.
Remarkable.
4 comments:
Years ago I read an account of an American Officer talking with a captured Moro leader in the Philippines in the early 20th century. The Moro was on his to be executed and was offered a few minutes to talk and have a cigarette and a cup of tea. He remarked that his men were as brave as Americans, and had rifles, yet when American soldiers fired their rifles, his men died, when his men shot, Americans did not die and wanted to know what magic the Americans had. The American Officer pointed to the rear sight on one of his men's Krag rifles and said, "Our magic is there."
Gerry N.
Of course the 'other' issue is many of these guns have never been sighted in...
My point being that most of these illiterate raghead followers of the prophet (bees pee upon him) do not see any interconnect between the sights and the bullet. It is magic, and magic only which causes someone further away than ten feet to be affected by a rifle or pistol shot, the sound having as much or more effect than the bullet.
So "sighting in" a rifle would be an act of heresy, by not putting one's faith in the prophet, and something only a filthy infidel (Me, for instance.) would stoop to.
Gerry N.
Apparently the problem isn't just limited to Afghans. A friend of mine who spent a year in Iraq reports that the Iraqis are similar. He calls their lack of marksmanship the "Inshallah school of marksmanship". IOW, they fire the rifle and if Allah wills, the bullet finds the target.
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