Interesting Iraq Perspective

[itento]

Subject: Iraq Info

I received this and thought I would send it along, its long but

interesting.

jj

Hi guys and gals. -- This comes from boots on the ground folks, and is

interesting (to say the least). Very candid-- just like the troops like

it. Later. Jim/Dad

This is a bit long but gives a good prospective of how things are really

going over in Iraq. This email from a guy who is there.............

No politics here, just a Marine with a bird's eye view opinion:

1) The M-16 rifle : Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the

talcum powder like sand over there. The sand is everywhere. Jordan says you

feel filthy 2 minutes after coming out of the shower. The M-4 carbine

version is more popular because it's lighter and shorter, but it has jamming

problems also. They like the ability to mount the various optical gunsights and

weapons lights on the picattiny rails, but the weapon itself is not

great in a desert environment. They all hate the

5.56mm (.223) round. Poor penetration on the cinderblock structure

common over there and even torso hits can't be reliably counted on to put the

enemy down. Fun fact: Random autopsies on dead insurgents show a high level

of opiate use.

2) The M243 SAW (squad assault weapon): .223 cal. Drum fed light

machine gun. Big thumbs down. Universally considered a piece of shit. Chronic

jamming problems, most of which require partial disassembly (that's fun

in the middle of a firefight).

3) The M9 Beretta 9mm: Mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in desert

environment; but they all hate the 9mm cartridge. The use of handguns

for self-defense is actually fairly common. Same old story on the 9mm:Bad

guys hit multiple times and still in the fight.

4) Mossberg 12ga. Military shotgun: Works well, used frequently for

clearing houses to good effect.

5) The M240 Machine Gun: 7.62 Nato (.308) cal. belt fed machine gun,

developed to replace the old M-60 (what a beautiful weapon that was!!).

Thumbs up. Accurate, reliable, and the 7.62 round puts 'em down.

Originally developed as a vehicle mounted weapon, more and more are

being dismounted and taken into the field by infantry. The 7.62 round chews

up the structure over there.

6) The M2 .50 cal heavy machine gun: Thumbs way, way up. "Ma deuce" is

still worth her considerable weight in gold. The ultimate fight

stopper, puts their dicks in the dirt every time. The most coveted weapon

in-theater.

7) The .45 pistol: Thumbs up. Still the best pistol round out there.

Everybody authorized to carry a sidearm is trying to get their hands on

one.

With few exceptions, can reliably be expected to put 'em down with a

torso hit. The special ops guys (who are doing most of the pistol work) use

the HK military model and supposedly love it. The old government model

.45's are being re-issued en masse.

8) The M-14: Thumbs up. They are being re-issued in bulk, mostly in a

modified version to special ops guys. Modifications include lightweight

Kevlar stocks and low power red dot or ACOG sights. Very reliable in

the sandy environment, and they love the 7.62 round.

9) The Barrett .50 cal sniper rifle: Thumbs way up. Spectacular range

and accuracy and hits like a freight train. Used frequently to take out

vehicle suicide bombers ( we actually stop a lot of them) and barricaded enemy.

Definitely here to stay.

10) The M24 sniper rifle: Thumbs up. Mostly in .308 but some in 300

win mag. Heavily modified Remington 700's. Great performance. Snipers

have been used heavily to great effect. Rumor has it that a marine sniper on

his third tour in Anbar province has actually exceeded Carlos Hathcock's

record for confirmed kills with OVER 100.

11) The new body armor: Thumbs up. Relatively light at approx. 6

lbs.and can reliably be expected to soak up small shrapnel and even will stop an

AK-47 round. The bad news: Hot as shit to wear, almost unbearable in

the summer heat (which averages over 120 degrees). Also, the enemy now goes

for head shots whenever possible. All the bullshit about the "old" body

armor making our guys vulnerable to the IED's was a non-starter. The IED

explosions are enormous and body armor doesn't make any difference at

all in most cases.

12) Night Vision and Infrared Equipment: Thumbs way up. Spectacular

performance. Our guys see in the dark and own the night, period. Very

little enemy action after evening prayers. More and more enemy being

whacked at night during movement by our hunter-killer teams. We've all

seen the videos.

13) Lights: Thumbs up. Most of the weapon mounted and personal lights

are Surefire's, and the troops love 'em. Invaluable for night urban

operations.

Jordan carried a $34 Surefire G2 on a neck lanyard and loved it. I cant

help but notice that most of the good fighting weapons and ordnance are

50 or more years old!!!!!!!!! With all our technology,it's the WWII and

Vietnam era weapons that everybody wants!!!! The infantry fighting is

frequent, up close and brutal. No quarter is given or shown.

Bad guy weapons:

1) Mostly AK47's . The entire country is an arsenal. Works better in

the desert than the M16 and the .308 Russian round kills reliably. PKM belt

fed light machine guns are also common and effective. Luckily, the enemy

mostly shoots like shit. Undisciplined "spray and pray" type fire. However,

they are seeing more and more precision weapons, especially sniper rifles.

(Iran, again) Fun fact: Captured enemy have apparently marveled at the

marksmanship of our guys and how hard they fight. They are apparently

told in Jihad school that the Americans rely solely on technology, and can be

easily beaten in close quarters combat for their lack of toughness.

Let's just say they know better now.

2) The RPG: Probably the infantry weapon most feared by our guys.

Simple, reliable and as common as dogshit. The enemy responded to our

up-armored humvees by aiming at the windshields, often at point blank range. Still

killing a lot of our guys.

3) The IED: The biggest killer of all. Can be anything from old Soviet

anti-armor mines to jury rigged artillery shells. A lot found in

Jordan's area were in abandoned cars. The enemy would take 2 or 3 155mm

artillery shells and wire them together. Most were detonated by cell phone, and

the explosions are enormous. You're not safe in any vehicle, even an M1

tank. Driving is by far the most dangerous thing our guys do over there.

Lately, they are much more sophisticated "shape charges" (Iranian) specifically

designed to penetrate armor. Fact: Most of the ready made IED's are

supplied by Iran, who is also providing terrorists (Hezbollah types) to

train the insurgents in their use and tactics.

That's why the attacks have been so deadly lately. Their concealment

methods are ingenious, the latest being shape charges in Styrofoam

containers spray painted to look like the cinderblocks that litter all

Iraqi roads. We find about 40% before they detonate, and the bomb disposal

guys are unsung heroes of this war.

4) Mortars and rockets: Very prevalent. The soviet era 122mm rockets

(with an 18km range) are becoming more prevalent. One of Jordan's NCO's lost

a leg to one. These weapons cause a lot of damage "inside the wire".

Jordan's base was hit almost daily his entire time there by mortar and

rocket fire, often at night to disrupt sleep patterns and cause fatigue

(It did). More of a psychological weapon than anything else. The enemy

mortar teams would jump out of vehicles, fire a few rounds, and then haul ass

in a matter of seconds.

5) Bad guy technology: Simple yet effective. Most communication is by

cell and satellite phones, and also by email on laptops. They use handheld

GPS units for navigation and "Googleearth" for overhead views of our

positions. Their weapons are good, if not fancy, and prevalent. Their explosives

and bomb technology is TOP OF THE LINE. Night vision is rare. They are

very careless with their equipment and the captured GPS units and laptops are

treasure troves of Intel when captured.

Who are the bad guys (remember that is what the Captain called them!)?:

Most of the carnage is caused by the Zarqawi Al Qaeda group. They

operate mostly in Anbar province (Fallujah and Ramadi). These are mostly

"foreigners", non-Iraqi Sunni Arab Jihadists from all over the Muslim

world (and Europe). Most enter Iraq through Syria (with, of course, the

knowledge and complicity of the Syrian govt.),and then travel down the "rat line"

which is the trail of towns along the EuphratesRiver that we've been

hitting hard for the last few months. Some are virtually untrained young

Jihadists that often end up as suicide bombers or in "sacrifice squads". Most,

however, are hard core terrorists from all the usual suspects (Al Qaeda,

Hezbollah, Hamas etc.) These are the guys running around murdering

civilians en masse and cutting heads off. The Chechens (many of whom are

Caucasian), are supposedly the most ruthless and the best fighters (they have been

fighting the Russians for years). In the Baghdad area and south, most

of the insurgents are Iranian inspired (and led)Iraqi Shiites.

The Iranian Shiia have been very adept at infiltrating the Iraqi local

govt.'s, the police forces and the Army. They have had a massive spy

and agitator network there since the Iran-Iraq war in the early 80's. Most

of the Saddam loyalists were killed, captured or gave up long ago.

Bad Guy Tactics:

When they are engaged on an infantry level they get their asses kicked

every time. Brave, but stupid. Suicidal Banzai-type charges were very common

earlier in the war and still occur. They will literally sacrifice 8-10

man teams in suicide squads by sending them screaming and firing AK's and

RPG's directly at our bases just to probe the defenses. They get mowed down

like grass every time (see the M2 and M240 above). Jordan's base was hit

like this often. When engaged, they have a tendency to flee to the same

building, probably for what they think will be a glorious last stand.

Instead, we call in air and that's the end of that more often than not.

These hole-ups are referred to as Alpha Whiskey Romeo's (Allah's Waiting

Room). We have the laser guided ground-air thing down to a science.

The fast mover's, mostly Marine F-18's, are taking an ever increasing toll

on the enemy. When caught out in the open, the helicopter gunships and

AC-130 Spectre gunships cut them to ribbons with cannon and rocket fire,

especially at night. Interestingly, artillery is hardly used at all. Fun fact:

The enemy death toll is supposedly between 45-50 thousand. That is why

we're seeing less and less infantry attacks and more IED, suicide bomber shit.

The new strategy is simple: attrition.

The insurgent tactic most frustrating is their use of civilian

non-combatants as cover. They know we do all we can to avoid civilian

casualties and therefore schools, hospitals and (especially) Mosques are

locations where they meet, stage for attacks, cache weapons and ammo and

flee to when engaged. They have absolutely no regard whatsoever for

civilian casualties. They will terrorize locals and murder without

hesitation anyone believed to be sympathetic to the Americans or the new

Iraqi govt. Kidnapping of family members (especially children) is

common to influence people they are trying to influence but cant reach, such as

local govt. officials, clerics, tribal leaders, etc.). The first thing our

guys are told is "don't get captured". They know that if captured they will be

tortured and beheaded on the internet. Zarqawi openly offers bounties for

anyone who brings him a live American serviceman. This motivates the criminal

element who otherwise don't give a shit about the war. A lot of the beheading

victims were actually kidnapped by common criminals and sold to Zarqawi. As such,

for our guys, every fight is to the death. Surrender is not an option.

The Iraqi's are a mixed bag. Some fight well, others aren't worth a

shit. Most do okay with American support. Finding leaders is hard, but they

are getting better. It is widely viewed that Zarqawi's use of suicide

bombers, en masse, against the civilian population was a serious tactical

mistake. Many Iraqi's were galvanized and the caliber of recruits in the Army and

the police forces went up, along with their motivation. It also led to an

exponential increase in good intel because the Iraqi's are sick of the

insurgent attacks against civilians. The Kurds are solidly pro-American

and fearless fighters.

According to Jordan, morale among our guys is very high. They not only

believe they are winning, but that they are winning decisively. They

are stunned and dismayed by what they see in the American press, whom they

almost universally view as against them. The embedded reporters are

despised and distrusted. They are inflicting casualties at a rate of

20-1 and then see shit like "Are we losing in Iraq" on TV and the print

media. For the most part, they are satisfied with their equipment, food and

leadership. Bottom line though, and they all say this, there are not enough guys

there to drive the final stake through the heart of the insurgency, primarily

because there aren't enough troops in-theater to shut down the borders

with Iran and Syria. The Iranians and the Syrians just cant stand the

thought of Iraq being an American ally (with, of course, permanent US bases there).

Anyway guys, that's it, hope you found it interesting, I sure did.

[cking]

Good article, matches well with what I've read in SOF and Michael Yon. Now will see if the Dem's pay any attention to advice of those involved or are just more interested in seeing their faces on the news.

Politicians are undoubtably our most dangerous enemy to the Union.

[38supPat]

Isn't there a movie out about this...oh yeah, Deja Vu...lol

Lets see how many times this supposed email pops up again

[38supPat]

Oh yeah, here it is....

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...c=29867&hl=

Well now we have this, instead of urban legends, I present to you the internet legends...the phantom email....

Oops, that one is in the trash can and not visible to the rest of the population, we suffice it to say, it is the same post by someone else claiming it as an email from a friend.....

Here it is in full:

Notice above post it is Jordan who is the supposed auhtor from Iraq and in this one it is Mike

Unedited from a friend's e mail to me.

Received this from a friend of mine - it is very insightful - from a Marine just back from Iraq. It gives an experienced Marine’s opinions about our weapons and their performance. It was passed from the father of the Marine. His comments are: “The comments on the enemy, Syria and Iran's involvement and support and who this enemy is and how they fight is worth going to the end of this email. It is very enlightening, mostly encouraging, but there is more to do.”

To balance what you hear through our "free" press.

Hello to all my fellow gunners, military buffs, veterans and interested guys. A couple of weekends ago I got to spend time with my son Mike, who was on his first leave since returning from Iraq. He is well (a little thin), and already bored. He will be returning to Iraq for a

second tour in early '06 and has already re-enlisted early for 4 more years. He loves the Marine Corps and is actually looking forward to returning to Iraq.

Mike spent 7 months at "Camp Blue Diamond" in Ramadi. Aka: Fort Apache. He saw and did a lot and the following is what he told me about weapons, equipment, tactics and other miscellaneous info which may be of interest to you. Nothing is by any means classified. No politics here, just a Marine with a bird's eye view's opinions:

1) The M-16 rifle: Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the talcum powder like sand over there. The sand is everywhere. Mike says you feel filthy 2 minutes after coming out of the shower. The M-4 carbine version is more popular because it's lighter and shorter, but it has jamming problems also. They like the ability to mount the various optical gun sights and weapons lights on the picattiny rails, but the weapon itself is not great in a desert environment. They all hate the 5.56mm (.223) round. Poor penetration on the cinderblock structure common over there and even torso hits can’t be reliably counted on to put the enemy down. Fun fact:

Random autopsies on dead insurgents shows a high level of opiate use.

2) The M243 SAW (squad assault weapon): .223 cal. Drum fed light machine gun. Big thumbs down. Universally considered a piece of shit. Chronic jamming problems, most of which require partial disassembly (that's fun in the middle of a firefight).

3) The M9 Beretta 9mm: Mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in desert environment; but they all hate the 9mm cartridge. The use of handguns for self-defense is actually fairly common. Same old story on the 9mm: Bad guys hit multiple times and still in the fight.

4) Mossberg 12ga. Military shotgun: Works well, used frequently for clearing houses to good effect.

5) The M240 Machine Gun: 7.62 Nato (.308) cal. belt fed machine gun, developed to replace the old M-60 (what a beautiful weapon that was!!). Thumbs up. Accurate, reliable, and the 7.62 round puts 'em down. Originally developed as a vehicle mounted weapon, more and more are being dismounted and taken into the field by infantry. The 7.62 round chews up the structure over there.

6) The M2 .50 cal heavy machine gun: Thumbs way, way up. "Ma deuce" is still worth her considerable weight in gold. The ultimate fight

stopper, puts their dicks in the dirt every time. The most coveted weapon in-theater.

7) The .45 pistol: Thumbs up. Still the best pistol round out there. Everybody authorized to carry a sidearm is trying to get their hands on

one. With few exceptions, can reliably be expected to put 'em down with a torso hit. The special ops guys (who are doing most of the pistol work) use the HK military model and supposedly love it. The old government model .45's are being re-issued en masse.

8) The M-14: Thumbs up. They are being re-issued in bulk, mostly in a modified version to special ops guys. Modifications include lightweight Kevlar stocks and low power red dot or ACOG sights. Very reliable in the sandy environment, and they love the 7.62 round.

9) The Barrett .50 cal sniper rifle: Thumbs way up. Spectacular range and accuracy and hits like a freight train. Used frequently to take out vehicle suicide bombers (we actually stop a lot of them) and barricaded enemy. Definitely here to stay.

10) The M24 sniper rifle: Thumbs up. Mostly in .308 but some in 300 win mag. Heavily modified Remington 700's. Great performance. Snipers have been used heavily to great effect. Rumor has it that a marine sniper on his third tour in Anbar province has actually exceeded Carlos Hathcock's record for confirmed kills with OVER 100.

11) The new body armor: Thumbs up. Relatively light at approx. 6 lbs. and can reliably be expected to soak up small shrapnel and even will stop an AK-47 round. The bad news: Hot as shit to wear, almost unbearable in the summer heat (which averages over 120 degrees). Also, the enemy now goes for head shots whenever possible. All the bullshit about the "old" body armor making our guys vulnerable to the IED's was a non-starter. The IED explosions are enormous and body armor doesn't make any difference at all in most cases.

12) Night Vision and Infrared Equipment: Thumbs way up. Spectacular performance. Our guys see in the dark and own the night, period. Very little enemy action after evening prayers. More and more enemy being whacked at night during movement by our hunter-killer teams. We've all seen the videos.

13) Lights: Thumbs up. Most of the weapon mounted and personal lights are Surefire's, and the troops love 'em. Invaluable for night urban operations. Mike carried a $34 Surefire G2 on a neck lanyard and loved it.

I can’t help but notice that most of the good fighting weapons and ordnance are 50 or more years old!!!!!!!!! With all our technology,

it's the WWII and Vietnam era weapons that everybody wants!!!! The infantry fighting is frequent, up close and brutal. No quarter is given or shown.

Bad guy weapons:

1) Mostly AK47's The entire country is an arsenal. Works better in the desert than the M16 and the .308 Russian round kills reliably. PKM belt fed light machine guns are also common and effective. Luckily, the enemy mostly shoots like shit. Undisciplined "spray and pray" type fire. However, they are seeing more and more precision weapons, especially sniper rifles. (Iran, again) Fun fact: Captured enemy have apparently marveled at the marksmanship of our guys and how hard they fight. They are apparently told in Jihad school that the Americans rely solely on technology, and can be easily beaten in close quarters combat for their lack of toughness. Let's just say they know better now.

2) The RPG: Probably the infantry weapon most feared by our guys. Simple, reliable and as common as dogshit. The enemy responded to our up-armored humvees by aiming at the windshields, often at point blank range. Still killing a lot of our guys.

3) The IED: The biggest killer of all. Can be anything from old Soviet anti-armor mines to jury rigged artillery shells. A lot found in

Mike's area were in abandoned cars. The enemy would take 2 or 3 155mm artillery shells and wire them together. Most were detonated by cell phone, and the explosions are enormous. You're not safe in any vehicle, even an M1 tank. Driving is by far the most dangerous thing our guys do over there. Lately, they are much more sophisticated "shape charges" (Iranian) specifically designed to penetrate armor Fact: Most of the ready made Ides’ are supplied by Iran, who is also providing terrorists (Hezbollah types) to train the insurgents in their use and tactics. That's why the attacks have been so deadly lately. Their concealment methods are ingenious, the latest being shape charges in Styrofoam containers spray painted to look like the cinderblocks that litter all Iraqi roads. We find about 40% before they detonate, and the bomb disposal guys are unsung heroes of this war.

4) Mortars and rockets: Very prevalent. The soviet era 122mm rockets (with an 18km range) are becoming more prevalent. One of Mike's NCOs lost a leg to one. These weapons cause a lot of damage "inside the wire". Mike's base was hit almost daily his entire time there by mortar and rocket fire, often at night to disrupt sleep patterns and cause fatigue (It did). More of a psychological weapon than anything else. The enemy mortar teams would jump out of vehicles, fire a few rounds, and then haul ass in a matter of seconds.

5) Bad guy technology: Simple yet effective. Most communication is by cell and satellite phones, and also by email on laptops. They use

handheld GPS units for navigation and "Google earth" for overhead views of our positions. Their weapons are good, if not fancy, and prevalent. Their explosives and bomb technology is TOP OF THE LINE. Night vision is rare. They are very careless with their equipment and the captured GPS units and laptops are treasure troves of Intel when captured.

Who are the bad guys?:

Most of the carnage is caused by the Zarqawi Al Qaeda group. They operate mostly in Anbar province (Fallujah and Ramadi). These are

mostly "foreigners", non-Iraqi Sunni Arab Jihadists from all over the Muslim world (and Europe). Most enter Iraq through Syria (with, of

course, the knowledge and complicity of the Syrian govt.) , and then travel down the "rat line" which is the trail of towns along the

Euphrates River that we've been hitting hard for the last few months. Some are virtually untrained young Jihadists that often end up as

suicide bombers or in "sacrifice squads". Most, however, are hard core terrorists from all the usual suspects (Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas etc.) These are the guys running around murdering civilians en masse and cutting heads off. The Chechens (many of whom are Caucasian), are supposedly the most ruthless and the best fighters. (they have been fighting the Russians for years). In the Baghdad area and south, most of the insurgents are Iranian inspired (and led) Iraqi Shiites. The Iranian Shiia have been very adept at infiltrating the Iraqi local

govt.'s, the police forces and the Army. The have had a massive spy and agitator network there since the Iran-Iraq war in the early 80's. Most of the Saddam loyalists were killed, captured or gave up long ago.

Bad Guy Tactics:

When they are engaged on an infantry level they get their asses kicked every time. Brave, but stupid. Suicidal Banzai-type charges were very common earlier in the war and still occur. They will literally sacrifice 8-10 man teams in suicide squads by sending them screaming and

firing Ak's and RPG's directly at our bases just to probe the defenses. They get mowed down like grass every time. (see the M2 and M240 above). Mike's base was hit like this often. When engaged, they have a tendency to flee to the same building, probably for what they think will be a glorious last stand. Instead, we call in air and that's the end of that more often than not. These hole-ups are referred to as Alpha Whiskey Romeo's (Allah's Waiting Room). We have the laser guided ground-air thing down to a science. The fast mover's, mostly Marine F-18's, are taking an ever increasing toll on the enemy. When caught out in the open, the helicopter gunships and AC-130 Spectre gunships cut them to ribbons with cannon and rocket fire, especially at night. Interestingly, artillery is hardly used at all. Fun fact: The enemy death toll is supposedly between 45-50 thousand. That is why we're seeing less and less infantry attacks and more IED, suicide bomber shit.

The new strategy is simple: attrition.

The insurgent tactic most frustrating is their use of civilian non-combatants as cover. They know we do all we can to avoid civilian

casualties and therefore schools, hospitals and (especially) Mosques are locations where they meet, stage for attacks, cache weapons and ammo and flee to when engaged. They have absolutely no regard whatsoever for civilian casualties. They will terrorize locals and murder without hesitation anyone believed to be sympathetic to the Americans or the new Iraqi govt. Kidnapping of family members (especially children) is common to influence people they are trying to influence but cant reach, such as local govt. officials, clerics, tribal leaders, etc.).

The first thing our guys are told is "don't get captured". They know that if captured they will be tortured and beheaded on the internet.

Zarqawi openly offers bounties for anyone who brings him a live American serviceman. This motivates the criminal element who otherwise don't give a shit about the war. A lot of the beheading victims were actually kidnapped by common criminals and sold to Zarqawi. As such, for our guys, every fight is to the death. Surrender is not an option.

The Iraqi's are a mixed bag. Some fight well, others aren't worth a shit. Most do okay with American support. Finding leaders is hard, but

they are getting better. It is widely viewed that Zarqawi's use of suicide bombers, en masse, against the civilian population was a serious

tactical mistake. Many Iraqi's were galvanized and the caliber of recruits in the Army and the police forces went up, along with their

motivation. It also led to an exponential increase in good intel because the Iraqi's are sick of the insurgent attacks against civilians.

The Kurds are solidly pro-American and fearless fighters. According to Mike, morale among our guys is very high They not only believe they are winning, but that they are winning decisively. They are stunned and dismayed by what they see in the American press, whom they almost universally view as against them. The embedded reporters are despised and distrusted. They are inflicting casualties at a rate of 20-1 and then see shit like "Are we losing in Iraq" on TV and the print media. For the most part, they are satisfied with their equipment, food and leadership. Bottom line though, and they all say this, there are not enough guys there to drive the final stake through the heart of the insurgency, primarily because there aren't enough troops in-theater to shut down the borders with Iran and Syria. The Iranians and the Syrians just can’t stand the thought of Iraq being an American ally (with, of course, permanent US bases there).

That's it, hope you found it interesting, I sure did.

[ihatepickles]

That email is generally considered to be a hoax. Several of the facts are wrong (Interceptor body armor is not 6 pounds but 20. The M249 is not drum fed and no trooper would make that mistake) and the tone of the letter doesn't jive with the GI slang in use today.

Generally, every time something like this (not just Iraq related, but some anonymized "a friend sent this to me..." so pass it on) is circulated, it's a hoax.

[38supPat]

At least they had the common sense to change the names on the email....even though it is word for word the same email...lol

[uscbigdawg]

IHP,

Thanks for pointing out the hoax of this article. First, anything is unreliable in that environment, including the AK. M-4's and M-16's are just as reliable as anything else when kept clean (okay accept not as much as the AK's....but they still run in the crap).

And, it doesn't surprise me that rounds aren't putting them down with high rates of opiate use (see peote [spelling]).

There are some other flaws too. I haven't seen an infantry unit hump a 240B. If they want to be that HOOAH, more power to them. Lastly the M2 is NOT an anti-personnel weapon. Not saying it's not being used that way, but don't know of anyone that would do that (Geneva Conventions and all...since we're the only ones that follow it).

All in all, it's a nice piece to read though.

Rich

[George]

Old hat, nothing new here. Nothing that needs to be discussed round heah' either.