From the Senate hearing on Iraqi prisoner abuse, a few moments ago:
JAMES INHOFE (R-OK): All kinds of accounts are coming out now, many are fictitious I would suggest, one was about a guy being dragged out of a barbershop, this was in the Washington Post this morning, they talked about the person doing this had AK47s…are our troops issued AK47s?
LT GEN LANCE SMITH: They are not, sir.
Hah! Gotcha, lying liberal media! Here’s the article, which Inhofe has clearly proven to be factually flawed, right?
BAQOUBA, Iraq (AP) An American soldier stands at the side of an Iraqi highway, puts his AK-47 on fully automatic and pulls the trigger.
— snip —
”We just do not have enough rifles to equip all of our soldiers. So in certain circumstances we allow soldiers to have an AK-47. They have to demonstrate some proficiency with the weapon … demonstrate an ability to use it,” said Lt. Col. Mark Young, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 4th Infantry Division.
— snip —
Now U.S. troops who have picked up AKs on raids or confiscated them at checkpoints are putting the rifles to use and they like what they see.
Some complain that standard U.S. military M16 and M4 rifles jam too easily in Iraq’s dusty environment. Many say the AK has better ”knockdown” power and can kill with fewer shots.
”The kind of war we are in now … you want to be able to stop the enemy quick,” said Sgt. 1st Class Tracy S. McCarson of Newport News, Va., an army scout, who carries an AK in his Humvee.
Some troops say the AK is easier to maintain and a better close-quarters weapon. Also, it has ”some psychological affect on the enemy when you fire back on them with their own weapons,” ”Normally an armor battalion is fighting from its tanks. Well, we are not fighting from our tanks right now,” Young said. ”We are certainly capable of performing the missions that we have been assigned, there’s no issue with that, but we do find ourselves somewhat challenged.”
— snip —
Some complain that standard U.S. military M16 and M4 rifles jam too easily in Iraq’s dusty environment. Many say the AK has better ”knockdown” power and can kill with fewer shots.
”The kind of war we are in now … you want to be able to stop the enemy quick,” said Sgt. 1st Class Tracy S. McCarson of Newport News, Va., an army scout, who carries an AK in his Humvee.
Some troops say the AK is easier to maintain and a better close-quarters weapon. Also, it has ”some psychological affect on the enemy when you fire back on them with their own weapons,” McCarson said.