Iraqi Army to be issued M16’s, trade in AK47’s
I had seen pictures of Iraqi Army soldiers with U.S. Army M16’s, but I wasn’t sure how wide-spread the practice was. Turns out, it will be their standard from now on. From the Los Angeles Times:
Over the next year or two, the 190,000 projected members of the Iraqi army will be issued M-16s or related weapons, to the consternation of some military aficionados and pundits, with some saying the U.S. is tempting fate by offering the world’s premier assault rifle to a country with an unstable government and a healthy black market.
Others see a stroke of genius in giving the Iraqis a weapon renowned for its temperamental nature.
“Having an insurgent pick up and use an M-16? Possibly detrimental to their efforts in the long run,” one blogger wrote sarcastically.
The controversy reflects the two weapons’ remarkably different characteristics and their competing roles in global power struggles over the last five decades.
The AK, bred in the Soviet assembly lines of 1947, is easy to mass-produce and renowned for its indestructibility. A large round and big kick give it a “spray and pray” shooting style that fits the needs of ill-trained armies, rebel groups and warlords.
Though developed only about a decade later, the M-16 was conceived as a precision instrument, and it can be as cranky as a sewing machine. Jamming problems in the early models were resolved partly through refinements but also by strict maintenance regimes.
OK, I know the M16 had issues in the beginning. But now, with several product improvements, it’s proven to be a great weapon. You could make the argument that the 5.56 NATO (.223 Remington) round isn’t powerful enough, but you’d also have to make that argument to the Chinese, Russian, Polish, and several other countries’ armies that have dumped the AK47’s ammunition and switched to using service rounds of approximately the same size and energy as the M16’s.
The rifle swap is part of a gradual Americanization of the Iraqi forces since the 2003 invasion. With their Soviet-made vehicles destroyed, Iraqi soldiers early on were equipped with American Humvees, on which they mounted Eastern guns. In September 2006, Congress approved $3 billion in sales of military hardware to Iraq.
But Iraqi defense officials were especially eager for the U.S. rifle to modernize their forces, Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed Askari said.
“These weapons possess high quality and the most recent specifications that will help us in upgrading the work of our ministry,” Askari said.
After some resistance, U.S. commanders now embrace the swap as a symbol of change for what they call the new Iraqi army.
“The M-16 is a sign of the Iraqi army being a modern army,” said Brig. Gen. Robin Swan, who is in charge of the U.S.-led forces’ Iraqi training command.
Base commander Col. Abbas Fadhil, who made headlines this fall by collecting donations from his men for California fire victims, had a more graphic rationale.
“They make better to kill by being very short rounds, not big,” Abbas said.
When I got back from Iraq, I wanted to buy a rifle that reminded me of that experience. I could pay more for the semi-auto M4 (a shortened M16), or I could buy a semi-auto version of the AK47. Hands down, I choose the M4.
To me, the AK47 is a piece of crap. All it would have been good for was plinking and shooting at cans. It’s inaccurate as hell, so I never could have reasonably used it for hunting. Accessories are numerous for the M4, so that gun definitely had the advantage in that respect. To me, the guy who buys an AK47 is just trying to buy something he’s seen terrorists running around with on TV. To each his own, but for me, I’d rather buy quality.
Here’s a Discovery Channel comparison of the two weapons. The AK has penetrating superiority, but the M16 takes the lead in all other categories.
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I heard about this.
Another possible effect this will have is keeping money from going to rogue nations who make AK-47s, and possibly financing terrorism. Instead, they’ll be buying from us.