I won’t argue with your points about the use of bayonets in Iraq, but let’s be serious here . . . the bayonet, for all intents and purposes, was shown to be obsolete as a military weapon as far back as the Civil War!
How could it be obsolete since the Civil War if it continues to be used in every war as an irreplaceable tool of last resort, and as an irreplaceable tool called a knife? If anything it should be better designed so that soldiers are not driven to carry multiple knives.
There is no reason that the military could not design a popular combat knife that could double as a bayonet.
There was a bayonet charge down Henry Hill that was darn successful.
Look at this, now they even make a special bayonet for general officers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWeEDrMVlag