How do you figure that's a stretch? Lightweight, compact, high round count, lethal cartridge I can carry all day. You can even mount an M203 grenade launcher to it. No Kool Aid here.
Okay, this is getting beyond the purpose of discuss as intended by the OP, but briefy:
The AR...
-Feels and sounds like a cartoon in operation
-Is more suseptible to dirt and grime than competing designs, as proven by the Army's own testing.
-Has too many small parts for a combat rifle. If you've ever been cleaning your rifle in the field, had your cover get kicked or blown over, and never seen your firing pin retaining pin again, you'd know this.
-And when compared to the 7.62mm MBR that actually are the purpose of this discussion, the AR-15 has questionable stopping power/lethality. I say this because its stopping power/lethality has been questioned for its entire career. The military is never quite able to spin the results of its testing to make all the uncertainty--about the weapon's reliability relative to competing designs, nor about the cartridge's fight stopping ability--to rest.
While I found the M16 to be a decent rifle, one that I could operate and keep in operating order, it never inspired my confidence. I am from the old school, a MT country boy that's been shooting his entire life. Where I grew up, the .223 was used on ground squirrels and coyotes. My one experience with it on deer was not favorable. I grew up listening to my grandpa talk about his exploits in Korea with an M1 Garand and a BAR. I tried to give Stoner's masterpiece a fighting chance, but in the end, I much preferred a real rifle, like my M1A. So you can drink your Kool Aid, and I'll drink mine, but this topic was not ever intended to be about the AR, and we've derailed the conversation enough.
Now back to the regularly scheduled broadcast...