200,000 Missing AK47's In Iraq

[chris lindberg]

I was just watching CTV NewsNet and they were saying that the Americans have handed out a total of 350,000 AK-47's and other guns to the Iraq Police/Army during the last three years and up to 200,000 of them are missing, most likely in the hands of the Iraqi insurgents.

[Canada 02]

how easy is it to get ammunition for these guns?

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

how easy is it to get ammunition for these guns?

Not to tough, it uses the very common 7.62 short cartridge round which is as available as dirt.

The AK-47 is the most highly exported assault rifle as the old Soviets made sure that every friendly nation or terrorist group had one, they also licensed the stamps out to manufacturing in Pakistan, China, and other countries who produced these rifles in the millions.

Its far more available and cheaper the the contemporary M-16, and its easier rifle to operate and far more rugged.

[ricoFlame]

that's A LOT of guns. not good, only adding to the plethore of problems over there.

[TheDragon]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Its far more available and cheaper the the contemporary M-16, and its easier rifle to operate and far more rugged.

Indeed. They can be dropped in sand, mud or dust and still fire without jamming. I don't even think they need to be cleaned all that often, either.

There is also an abundance of armor piercing 7.62 rounds out there.

But wait, I got an idea! Let's arm the Saudis!

[CrusaderPi]

Hardly surprising that a counrty like Iraq has that many missing guns. It's like saying a construction site is missing a bunch of bolts.

[Hemi-Cuda]

wasn't there stories during the first gulf war of soldiers dropping their M16's and picking up AK-47's from fallen enemies because the M16's were so unreliable? Colt had to basically redesign the entire weapon after finding out that they didn't like desert conditions so much

[Kybosh]

I'm curious as to how many AK-47's are in circulation worldwide. I bet billions would be a fair guess.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

wasn't there stories during the first gulf war of soldiers dropping their M16's and picking up AK-47's from fallen enemies because the M16's were so unreliable? Colt had to basically redesign the entire weapon after finding out that they didn't like desert conditions so much

Thats more of an urban legend that continued from the Vietnam war days when the M-16 was first deployed and they found that it continually mis fed rounds, jammed and fell apart, so troops picked up the reliable AK-47's.

The other thing that was terribly wrong is that in close action battles the AK-47 could be used as an effective weapon for crushing skulls with the rifle butt, or using the bayonet.

With the early M-16, using a butt stike would shatter the springs leaving the weapon as less the useless, and attaching a bayonet and striking would damage the barrel.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Kybosh

I'm curious as to how many AK-47's are in circulation worldwide. I bet billions would be a fair guess.

More then 100 million have been sold world wide since its inception.

[Incinerator]

Some of the insurgents probably joined the Iraqi police/army to obtain those 200,000 missing guns. I can't imagine their recruitment process would be that tough to go through...

[chris lindberg]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20137021/

^ here's the story

"Much of the equipment provided to Iraqi troops, including the AK-47s, originates from countries in the former Soviet bloc. In a report last year, Amnesty International said that in 2004 and 2005 more than 350,000 AK-47 rifles and similar weapons were taken out of Bosnia and Serbia, for use in Iraq, by private contractors working for the Pentagon and with the approval of NATO and European security forces in Bosnia."

[Flash Walken]

Well, there IS a south american paramilitary group murdering innocent civilians....Maybe Ollie North couldn't take the job on the 9/11 commission because of a previous business commitment?