And I still think that a platoon of elite troops armed with Ruger Mini-14s, or M1 Carbines for that matter, will utterly destroy a platoon of unmotivated conscripts armed with XM-8s. And after that encounter, they'll have the better weapons if they want them.
Even so, I'm all for issuing the XM-8 for all of the listed reasons.
But really, considering the type of mounted and dismounted warfare we're involved in, and the need to penetrate mud and cinder block walls etc, I think it's time to dump the 5.56 altogether. The old rationales for 5.56mm no longer apply, and the caliber is now deficient, no matter how nice the bullet launcher employed.