student said:Hope this is not too off topic, but just saw on BBC news quite a few marines in the thick of it were using AKs. What is the rationale behind this? I assume they had been issued US rifles, but they only had the AKs.
What you are seeing are most likely Iraqi soldiers. They are wearing some similar gear to our boys and are operating alongside them.
The SAW is no more accurate than the M-4 (the opposite is probably true). In fact, due to its weight, it is slower to get into action making an M-4 more preferable. Remarks regarding the 5.56mm's effectiveness aside, the SAW is no more likely to put anyone down than an M-4/M-16. Rarely do more than one or two rounds of a 6-9 round burst hit the target.
I will defer to your experience on this since I have none myself in this regard. However I would think that the innacuracy of the SAW wouldnt be such a drawback in its INTENDED role (i.e. not room clearing) since it's innacuracy would contribute to a "cone of fire" that would provide good suppression. In other words a machinegun isnt much good if it puts all of the bullets into the same hole.