WP is discussing the AK-47 this Monday 11/27

[Rabid Rabbit]

If you go to the front page of the washington post and scroll down to to the "live online" you can submit questions. I haven't seen this book or heard of the author but it sounds like there is more to the book than just history.

Outlook: Iraq's WMD--AK-47s

Larry Kahaner
Author, "AK-47: The Weapon that Changed the Face of War"
Monday, November 27, 2006; 12:00 PM

Larry Kahaner, author of "AK-47: The Weapon that Changed the Face of War," will be online Monday, Nov. 27, at noon ET to discuss his Sunday Outlook article on how this dangerous weapon is adding to the violence in Iraq. Born out of World War II, the AK-47 was disseminated from the Soviet Union around the world, altering Cold War era conflicts from Vietnam to Afghanistan. In Iraq, it is costing U.S. lives in the hands of insurgents.

 

[DRMMR02]

Well there's no doubt about it, Mikhail Kalashnikov is one of the most influential men of the 20th century, if not of all time. His invention truly did change warfare forever.

 

[50caliber123]

a bullet from any gun is just as dangerous as the next if it finds its target. However,the round that the AK-47 fires is a lmedium-powered intermediate rifle round, not a high power weapon. Antigun spin anyone?

 

[bthest86]

the AK-47 was disseminated from the Soviet Union around the world, altering Cold War era conflicts from Vietnam to Afghanistan. In Iraq, it is costing U.S. lives in the hands of insurgents.

Would there be an issue if the insurgency were using FALs or M16s? Or is the AK-47 just so much more terrible and dangerous than other assault rifles? No it isn't. The fact that the AK is so infamous and widespread is really thanks to the Soviet Union and Communism rather than the rifle itself.

Soundes like a good way to disguis a book promotion as actual news.

 

[benEzra]

Sounds a bit melodramatic.

The AK is a great design, but it's hardly the most dangerous weapon we're facing over there. It's robust, but ballistically outmatched.

I dare say a fairly small proportion of U.S. combat deaths over there would be due to AK's, compared to IED's and such.


BTW, this appears to be the same guy who claimed that Kalashnikov invented the Sturmgehwer concept...

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=235995
http://www.amazon.com/AK-47-Weapon-..._bbs_sr_1/104-1043262-9799923?ie=UTF8&s=books

Sounds like he is good at generating publicity, but based on the other thread, I'm not sure about the quality of his work.

 

[Outlaws]

Here is my question I submitted.

It would be my option the AK47 is not "dangerous", what is dangerous is the mindset of those who use it. If they didn't have AK47's they would just use something else. Everytime I turn on the TV I hear, "soldier killed in IED blast". What is your opinion on "gun control"?

 

[akodo]

I am sure everyone here has thoughts along the same line.

1. Isn't the most common weapon being imployed actually the AKM, not the AK-47?

2. If the AK-47 was never created, couldn't the insurgents use SKSs, do you really think there would be any difference?

3.If the AK-47 was never created, couldn't the insurgents useFN-FAls or G3s or M-14s (battle rifles) do you really think there would be any difference (longer range, more effective against bodyarmor)

4.If the AK-47 was never created, couldn't the insurgents use AR-15s, FN-FNCs, or any of the other of many assault rifles having no direct connection to the AK-47 family of weapons?

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Outlook: Iraq's WMD--AK-47s

Larry Kahaner
Author, "AK-47: The Weapon that Changed the Face of War"

I was under the impression a WMD was a weapon that killed many people (hence the "Mass") in one swoop. I don't even consider the IEDs WMD's. And if they wish to start classifying these as such, stop whining about not finding any WMDs in Iraq because they are flippin everywhere.
They'd use any weapon available. If somehow there were no guns they'd use machetes or pointy sticks. Hey why don't you have Diane Feinstein go over there and yell "Mr. and Mrs. Iraq turn them all in!" Lemme know how that works for ya.

 

[Cosmoline]

Meh, it's more bravo sierra

I heard this guy interviewed on NPR. He gave a long string of erroneous and even outrageous responses to their questions. For one thing he claimed the CIA was really responsible for arming the third world with AK-47's during the cold war He also has a poor grasp of ballistics and doesn't seem to appreciate the AK's place among the myriad of small arms from WWII and the Cold War era. He relies heavily on UN and UN-associated NGO agitprop to support his claims that the AK is a "WMD." He also quipped that the US continues to resist using the AK-47 for moral reasons in Iraq, apparently TOTALLY IGNORANT of the millions of US dollars spent arming the Iraqi army with AK's from east block factories.

 

[Solo]

Question:
If the AK-47 is a WMD.... does that mean Bush did the right thing in invading Iraq?

 

[Outlaws]

I just know that if the AK is a WMD, then there are a lot of homes inside the US subject to a preemptive strike in the not so distant future. :banghead:

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Calling small arms WMD is an IANSA propaganda technique, used before.

A true Weapon of Mass Destruction destroys anything within a large area
whether specifically targeted or not. Even IEDs are specifically targeted
weapons. WMD should be used to describe nuclear, biological, chemical
weapons.

 

[69Chevy]

Reminds me of the lord or war where ethan hawk tells nicholas cage that the AKs he sells are the real WMDs. Might have been where this guy picked it up.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Reminds me of the lord or war where ethan hawk tells nicholas cage that the AKs he sells are the real WMDs. Might have been where this guy picked it up.

Hmm...considering most of the anti-gun activists seem to get their expert knowledge from Hollywood I wouldn't be the least bit surprised.

One time I saw an AK and Godzilla fighting and the AK totally won and then the AK was like "yeah I rule the world now" and the world was all "oh noes, we give up" and then everyone in the world had to like, worship the AK as their ruler because they were all enslaved and junk. Lucasfilm and Pixar totally confirmed it.

 

[cbsbyte]

I bet more people have died by someone wielding an AK(all versions) than from Nuclear explosins. There are tens of millions of Aks in the world, far more than any nuclear arms. Would that make them a WMD?

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Here's a Wikipedia definition (I know it's editable by anyone but I think this is a decent general desription): Weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a term used to describe a munition with the capacity to indiscriminately kill large numbers of living beings. The phrase broadly encompasses several areas of weapon synthesis, including nuclear, biological, chemical (NBC) and, increasingly, radiological weapons.

Indiscriminately is the key term. You don't aim a WMD at someone, you aim it at an area and it kills anything in the blast radius (or as far as it's payload of whatever nastiness will go). No small arms are weapons of mass destruction.
Nuclear weapons are only one kind of WMD. There are many more that HAVE been used. Just because they weren't used ON or BY the U.S.A doesn't make them less deadly.

 

[Cosmoline]

I bet more people have died by someone wielding an AK(all versions) than from Nuclear explosins. There are tens of millions of Aks in the world, far more than any nuclear arms. Would that make them a WMD?

By that definition of "WMD," high fat food would be one as well. AK-47's are SMALL ARMS. That's all. They're not magic, and they're not insant death machines.

 

[CornCod]

If the M-16 had been the official rifle of the Iraqi Army and the most popular civilian rifle of the people of Iraq, the insurgency would be a lot weaker because half the M-16's would not be working because they require very elaborate maintenence in a desert environment. Additionally, many guerillas are not given formal training in weapon maintainence and the AK series weapons are very forgiving of poor maintenence. The AR-15/M-16 series is a fine rifle, but not the perfect guerilla arm.

Here's a great quote from the best American infantry leader in the Vietnam conflict:

One of the bulldozers uncovered the decomposing body of an enemy soldier, complete with AK47. I happened to be standing right there, looking down into the hole and pulled the AK out of the bog. "Watch this, guys," I said, "and I'll show you how a real infantry weapon works." I pulled the bolt back and fired 30 rounds - the AK could have been cleaned that day rather than buried in glug for a year or so. That was the kind of weapon our soldiers needed, not the confidence-sapping M-16. ~ [[David Hackworth, US Army battallion commander, Vietnam War. In About Face, The Macmillan Company of Australia 1989 p669]]

 

[cbsbyte]

By that definition of "WMD," high fat food would be one as well. AK-47's are SMALL ARMS. That's all. They're not magic, and they're not insant death machine

Don't be silly, high fat food, though bad for your health is not a weapon. A WMD is not magic either. Most are not very complicated to make. A firearm is a weapon, for good or bad it is designed to kill people. All I am saying that more people have died from firearms, than from WMD. That is the mind set of many antis.

 

[WeedWhacker]

A firearm is a weapon, for good or bad it is designed to kill people. All I am saying that more people have died from firearms, than from WMD.

An AK-47 is designed to spit a chunk of lead out the end of a metal tube at a high rate of speed. That is ALL it is designed to do. Your statement is akin to saying that screwdrivers were designed to stab humans in the ear. A tool depends on the wielder for its use.

... designed to kill people indeed...

 

[Vic]

How do you get...

How do you get Weapons Of Mass Destruction from a rifle, shoulder held, gas operated? WMD=NBC (Nuclear/Biological/Chemical), that's what I was taught. Do we make up new definitions as to suit our agendas? Mass destruction cannot even be achieved with a machine gun (M60 or better) unless it's fitted to a C130 (see puff the dragon Viet Nam) or a UH1N. The stupidity never ceases to amaze me. The AK47 or AKM is nothing more than an infantry weapon that is select fire. The AK copies sold in this country are just Semi-Automatic gas operated rifles that don't even qualify as an infantry weapon, much less a WMD. The fact that the Chinese and Russians flooded every third world country with them as a source of political pull or financial gain means nothing. I'll bet a folding stock AK47 with slanted brake sold for $100 to $150.00 USD. I'll take 10 please! NOT to mention the 7.62 x 39. In military configuration...it makes holes (steel core FMJ). Has nearly NO expansion properties unless it hits a bone on the way through. Personally, the M16/AR15 with its inherent accuracy would make me a little more nervous but STILL would never be classified as WMD.

 

[cbsbyte]

An AK-47 is designed to spit a chunk of lead out the end of a metal tube at a high rate of speed. That is ALL it is designed to do. Your statement is akin to saying that screwdrivers were designed to stab humans in the ear. A tool depends on the wielder for its use.

True a firearm is a tool just like a screwdriver except it is designed to destroy something with a high volicity projectile. On the other hand, a screwdriver is designed to help rotate a screw into a hole, not to kill. Of course one can misuse almost any object to kill, but most of those objects where not designed for the use of killing, unlike a firearm. For hundreds of years, firearms where designed for one use...to destroy an animal, human, or vehicle etc.

 

[Vic]

As long as....

As long as people/governments continue to commit atrocities upon other people...firearms have a valid reason of existance and should be USED to their full potiental for people to defend themselves against animals or human animals. Ask 6 million jews from WWII...OH, THATS RIGHT! You can't because they're all DEAD! If you believe that humans do not do unspeakable things to other humans, go to WWW. bangedup.com and gaze upon the death in photos and videos there ("you can't handle the truth" from a FEW GOOD MEN).:banghead:

 

[Cosmoline]

Don't be silly, high fat food, though bad for your health is not a weapon. A WMD is not magic either. Most are not very complicated to make. A firearm is a weapon, for good or bad it is designed to kill people. All I am saying that more people have died from firearms, than from WMD. That is the mind set of many antis.

A firearm is designed to hold and fire cartridges and launch projectiles from them. Only some firearms, with bayonets fixed, are actually designed to kill people. To claim that "firearms are designed to kill people" assumes that every bullet spent that doesn't kill a person is a *MISUSE* of that firearm. It is in itself Anti rhetoric, and you must disregard specific information about how firearms work in order to accept it.

For hundreds of years, firearms where designed for one use...to destroy an animal, human, or vehicle etc.

Dude, that ain't one use. You've gone from telling us that firearms are "designed to kill people" to telling us they're designed for multiple destructive uses. You must know that the bullet comes from a cartridge, and isn't magically created by the firearm. Some *projectiles* are designed to kill specific things, or to destroy specific machinery. Others are designed to signal or even throw rope.

TRUTH IS IN THE DETAILS. The antis rely on ignorance. They don't want people to understand how firearms actually work. In this way, they can condemn the scary looking ones as "weapons designed to kill people," thus making them into fetish objects of absolute evil. The anti mind attributes a desire to kill to the firearm itself, and at the same time absolves the shooter of responsibility. This is why the "innocent child soldier" with the EEEVIL Ak-47 has become one of their favorite ikons. It sums up their whole worldview. The rifle is leading the child into sin.

 

[Vic]

Goes back to what I said...

Librals "cant handle the truth". Agree with you on the above

Also..."The Conservatism is Dead. Voters Nov, 7 2006 " Dont be too sure. They're just P.O.'d at Bush. You idiots try another AWB...better move to a new country because you'll go another 10-12 years as minority, maybe even to independent candidates. Hopefully FOREVER.