US to convert Iraqi military to M-16 from AK-47

[Arabia]

The M-16 is the best made assault rifle ever.

Actually the SIG 550 series are the best made assault rifles. M-16 is well made but not near the precision the Swiss rifles.

The M-16 is more durable compared to stamped AKs,

Ok lets think about this more a minute. You are saying a rifle whose upper and lower receivers are aluminum and furniture is plastic is more durable than a complete steel gun with wood furniture. I beg to differ. While aluminum is more corrosion resistant, it wears more than steel especially when used daily.

 

[xd9fan]

Our foriegn policy is like our Dollar policy.......a mess.

 

[Unregistered]

Actually the SIG 550 series are the best made assault rifles.

The 550 series certainly doesn't have the same long, proven track record though.

 

[Jets2007]

And the defense contractors are laughing all the way to the bank.......... Yep, let's arm the Iraqi military to the teeth just so they can stab us in the back in years to come... you heard it here first.

 

[Willie D]

There was a better article in the WSJ 9 months ago about the same thing.

One thing they mentioned was that with the M16 the Iraqis would aim properly like they had seen the americans doing but with the AK they would spray and pray because that's "what your supposed to do" with an AK.

God forbid we ever have to fight an army with legitimate training.

 

[toybox99615]

are you serious

JuanCarlos the military can not keep track of it latest and greatest specialized vehicles or anything else if you follow the endless stories of what is missing from the troops in Iraq. I'll bet within two years many of the M16s that are actually issued to an individual will be history in less than 24 months. And I'll not be supprized if they show up here in the states with some of the returning troops. Lost, stolen, confiscated, traded for a goat (or wife): That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

The US can't even account for a few billion in cash they've give to the Iraqi government. Who going to keep track of rifles? How many weapons made it home from Vietnam that were issued to our allies?

 

[MosinM38]

My big problem is this....
For a M-16 to be a better rifle than the Ak it will require 2 things.
#1. Reliable and religous cleaning.
#2. Someone who knows how to shoot it (No spray and praying).

RIght now the Iraqi army is just as well off with the AK-47...... It isn't worth the extra money we are spending on it. Sure the M16 is more accurate....But that really doesn't mean a lot. Until the Iraqi army reaches the training level of the US (Or even half) then the AK is plenty adequete.

And even then...>I wouldn't try and make them as good as the US army...Just a little better than their neighbors (Face it....long walk eh? )

 

[hoytinak]

I think it's a good thing, after all we don't have anything else we would rather spend our tax dollars on.......right?

 

[johnsonrlp]

Could it be that

we still haven't found those 110,000 AKs we already sent over there?

But as long as we're giving out M-16s I'll take one.

here in the US Americans should not own a full auto M16 as they are to dangerous or might be used by terrorist. (that is the basic argument without getting into pages and pages.) But in Iraq we are giving M16s out like they are passing out donuts at the Red Cross booth. Somethings wrong with this picture.

If I can have one at work I should darnn sure be able to have one at home. Or strapped over my shoulder when I visit my cousin in LA.

Not really. For one, we aren't handing the M16s to civilians, so in theory they're only going to the authorities (military/police).

About half the time we saw someone setting up an IED it WAS the Iraq police. I'll let you guess how much the ROE let us do (cause I can't tell you)

 

[JuanCarlos]

About half the time we saw someone setting up an IED it WAS the Iraq police. I'll let you guess how much the ROE let us do (cause I can't tell you)

Oh, you don't need to tell me. I've been IED'd by the IP myself. Seemed they were always crooked, worthless, or both.

 

[hoytinak]

About half the time we saw someone setting up an IED it WAS the Iraq police. I'll let you guess how much the ROE let us do (cause I can't tell you)

Yep.....3 outta the 5 times my truck got hit was within 150 meters of a IP or IA check point.

 

[johnsonrlp]

Yep, one time when they saw us they ran back to the checkpoint and watched EOD come out.

 

[warrior poet]

Yeah, I have gotten attacked by *ahem* friends. Iraqi culture is hard for us to understand. It is immediate family, extended family, clan, and then friends/ allies. We rate just above friendly strangers to them and they have no cultural problem with lying to those not of their clan. :barf: That said, there are SOME very loyal Iraqis, including two I call friends. One is a policeman, another is an electrician. Why I trust them... long stories each that come from months of working together and backing each other up. But that's enough of that, back to the OP.
Why would they convert to the M16? Probably logistic support. We currently are doing the logistic support for the Iraqi army, and we don't use 7.62 X 39. Giving them the M16, believe it or not, costs us less money in the long run, as we do not have to buy the ammo, repair tools, train up the teachers to become Iraqi armorers, etc, etc, ad nausem. Everything they will need is off the shelf U.S. gear and easy for us to help them use.
Personally, though, I think it is a miserable choice. I perfer the AK to the M16 (though the G3 beats them both... by a mile) from my own experiences with them. The AKM (almost no Iraqi has an original AK-47, and it is a pet peeve of mine when people confuse the two. ) is perfect for their needs.

 

[copenhagen]

Originally posted by WhyteP38:

Anyone with around $1500 can buy a current, semi-auto Colt AR-15 that is, for technology purposes, as close to a full-auto, current-issue M16 as you need.

OK, I know I’m being a bit anal retentive, but actually, no, I am not allowed to own one here in California.

Originally posted by toybox99615:

I wonder how inexpensive an AK47 or M16 would be on the black-market in Iraq. I'll bet they go for less than they do at a gun show here.

Last time I was to Iraq, they were going for 10-15 US dollars each.

Originally posted by MosinM38:

My big problem is this....
For a M-16 to be a better rifle than the Ak it will require 2 things.
#1. Reliable and religous cleaning.
#2. Someone who knows how to shoot it (No spray and praying).

I couldn't agree with you more.