Afghans switch to M-16A2

[cbsbyte]

Though there is also a separate entity that makes the Canadian military version of the M16... I don't recall the name.

Diamaco which was a Canadian company, now bought out by Colt Canada. FN USA never made rifles for any foreign countries.

And the article says that the maker of the M-16 is American... now... I could be wrong... and correct me if I am... but doesn't FN- Herstal in Belgium hold the contract to make the M-16 for the U.S. military?

Actually M16s are made by FN and Colt. I believe read somewhere that the Afgans are receiving the Canadian Diamacos, instead of US made rifles. Canadian version differs slight from the US M16.

Anyway if the Canadians are supplying the rifles then it really is none of out business. Afgans can buy anything they want.

 

[buck00]

Keep in mind that whatever we give them now, we will be fighting against it in 20 years if not sooner.

Might be a good idea in the long-run. M-16s will not hold up as well as AKs, so if we're fighting them in 15 or 20 years... this might be to our advantage. Plus the supply of 5.56 NATO will be limited, and in theory they won't be able to get tons of it from China or Pakistan with ease.

 

[kcmarine]

Keep in mind that whatever we give them now, we will be fighting against it in 20 years if not sooner.

Not if we act in a responsible manner in the world.

 

[MD_Willington]

IIRC Canada and the US are supplying them, the Canadian Armed Forces agreed to give them 2500 older C7 Diemaco rifles + ammo + training...

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/12/23/canada-afghan-rifles.html?ref=rss

PS, Gen. Rick Hillier stepping down...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/hillier/

 

[RP88]

Define "rammed down their throat". As a patrolman in a police department, I can ASSURE you that just because I want X does not mean that the brass doesn't want- and get- Y. Might be the same thing here. The higherups in the ANA might very well want -16s, probably due to a price break, or maybe just logistics, and the line soldiers want to keep their AKs. Guess who wins that fight?

I think its more along the lines like "The higherups wanted trained soldiers, so they bent to the will of the US higherups to let them Americanize the ANA at any cost". Not really a compromise as it is a compromising position. I would bet that your department would be a little more keen to consider feedback from its officers since you're all well-trained and arent being pressured by an occupying nation (unless you were fighting to keep your revolver over something like a beretta or something). But who knows. Either way, it would have been more cost-effective just to keep the AK and learn how to use the sights. Maybe even chime in and say the reason why Allah doesnt help them that much is because he doesnt like lazy shooters.

 

[EdLaver]

I think its a waste of tax payer money. Let them use what they are familiar with. Teach them how to aim it. I just hope we won't be fighting these same "well trained" Afghans in a few years. That will be both a waste of lives and tax dollars.

 

[Dienekes]

Sort of reminiscent of Vietnam circa 1964, showing highly motivated 115 pound South Vietnamese soldiers humping M1 Garands.

There are a lot of reasons that mindlessly giving First World weaponry and systems to Third World forces :banghead: doesn't work out.

If I didn't know better I'd almost think Robert MacNamara had a hand in this...

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Hmmm, not sure about the written report but I've read several accounts of the locals wanting M16s because that is what the "winners" used. Much like THR, it seems like many place more emphasis on the gear than the training and believe that owning an M16 will let them fight like U.S. forces.

 

[elmerfudd]

Why not just train them with semi-auto AK's? Teach them to use the sights, reward marksmanship and punish poor performance. If ANA soldiers got bumped up a rank by qualifying expert and received some sort of demerit for failing to qualify, I would be that in a couple years time there would be a real culture of marksmanship starting to form among them. They could also have marksmanship competitions between squads, platoons and companies.

 

[HorseSoldier]

How about we let them do what they do, instead of imposing our military culture on them? They want AKs, fine.

All they do is what the Russian military culture imposed on them before us. Prior to that, it was what they could scrounge from the British military culture. Don't really see how giving them free weapons and ammo made in America instead of made overseas is really insulting the ancient and honorable Afghani Cult of the Kalashnikov or anything.