Posted on 06/24/2004 3:57:10 PM PDT by Woahhs
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Israeli-made bullets bought by the U.S. Army to plug a shortfall should be used for training only, not to fight Muslim guerrillas in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. lawmakers told Army generals on Thursday.
Since the Army has other stockpiled ammunition, "by no means, under any circumstances should a round (from Israel) be utilized," said Rep. Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii, the top Democrat on a House of Representatives Armed Services subcommittee with jurisdiction over land forces.
The Army contracted with Israel Military Industries Ltd. in December for $70 million in small-caliber ammunition.
The Israeli firm was one of only two worldwide that could meet U.S. technical specifications and delivery needs, said Brig. Gen. Paul Izzo, the Army's program executive officer for ammunition. The other was East Alton, Illinois-based Winchester Ammunition, which also received a $70 million contract.
Although the Army should not have to worry about "political correctness," Abercrombie was making a valid point about the propaganda pitfalls of using Israeli rounds in the U.S.-declared war on terror, said Rep. Curt Weldon, the Pennsylvania Republican who chairs the subcommittee on tactical air and land forces.
"There's a sensitivity that I think all of us recognize," Weldon told the Army witnesses, including Maj. Gen. Buford Blount, who led the U.S. Third Infantry Division that captured Baghdad in April 2003.
Blount, now the Army's assistant deputy chief of staff, said the Army had sufficient small caliber ammunition -- 5.56mm, 7.62mm and .50 caliber -- to conduct current operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
But taken together with training needs, the United States had strained its production facilities, he testified.
"To fight a major combat operation in another theater will require the Army to impose restrictions on training expenditures and to focus current inventory and new production on combat operations," Blount said.
As a result, he said the Army hoped to stretch U.S. supplies to supplement the capacity of the government-owned Lake City plant in Independence, Missouri, that currently makes more than 90 percent of U.S. small caliber ammunition.
The Lake City factory, operated by Alliant Techsystems Inc., has nearly quadrupled its production in the past four years. This year, it will produce more than 1.2 billion rounds, Karen Davies, president of the ATK arm that runs it, told the panel. Lake City provided more than 2 billion rounds a year during World War II and Vietnam, she said.
The Army's needs will grow to about 1.5 billion to 1.7 billion rounds a year in coming years, Blount said.
"In the near-term, balancing training requirements with current operational needs is a manageable risk-mitigation strategy," he said.
The Army does not want to repeat its history of building capacity during wartime "only to dismantle it in peacetime," Blount added.
I said .45, do I ever feel STUPID!
It was, of course the vastly superior, per NATO, 9mm.
Clinton’s Legacy: Army Is Running Out of Bullets .
Ran out for training. Good thing there wasn't a war on.
Fortunately IMI makes 9mm too, enough to sell as surplus in fact.
We should be using good ol' RED-WHITE-AND-BLUE, American made bullets!!!
...tipped with a glob of pork fat!
Can't do that without building plant capacity. Same problem we have with gasoline.
Actually, it's pretty easy to tell if it's Israeli - the tips of the bullets are snipped off...
Me too, he's a bozo(sorry clowns)
Don't feel too bad I'm in CA, we've got a bunch of them including Pelosi!
Seriesly.LOL!
Kinda strange...
But in the FWIW column -
During the late Iran/Iraq dustup, Iraq was using arty shells made by IMI and sold thru a 3rd party on Cyprus, no bother it then....
Bullets are fungible.
All of the house is up for election every even year.
It didn't matter. What mattered was the Moslem troops believed it to be the case.
What the generals are trying to do is keep a lid on a potentially explosive situation. They made the right call. Right now we have a few thousand diehard militants to contend with. If the U.S. started using Israeli bullets (or, God forbid, issuing said ammunition to Iraqi forces), we'd have 25 million folks suddenly wanting our blood. It's just good strategy.
Curt Weldon (R) making excuses for the lunacy of Abercrombie (D) is unforgivable...
It proves that no matter how warped or destructive a Democrat's position is, the GOP refuses to call an idiot "an idiot" out of "professional courtesy."
THIS is why this two-party power monopoly must be broken. WE are the ones who will be left holding the bag -- whether it's (R) or (D).
We would use French bullets, but they fire backwards.
As opposed to twenty-five million folks who would gladly reap the benefits if their "missionaries" win?
No, a good strategy would be to subject captured jihadis to burning at the stake.
There was only one thing that would cause Imperial Japanese troops to break and run during WW2: the flamethrower.
Abercrombie the B*tch
It seems to me that getting a picture of Bill Clinton on the headstamp of a case would be awfully difficult!
Mark
By all means, let's be "sensitive".
You'll need to check with Michael Moore for the answer to that question! lol
Mark
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