How much ammo was used in iraq

Where do all those high-powered bullets go? Is it any wonder that check-point foul-ups so often end with the innocent occupants of a vehicle, many of them women and children, being shot dead, or that exchanges of gunfire in urban settings take such a toll in persons killed or wounded by stray shots from American guns?

Iraqis have complained repeatedly since the occupation began that U. Combining tense, frightened solders, massive firepower, and densely inhabited neighborhoods does not make for a safe environment.

Moreover, not to belabor a point, but I do hope the reader will remember that we are considering here only small-arms fire, to which in any realistic account of the war we must add the expenditure of enormous quantities of medium and heavy bullets, mortar and artillery shells, rockets, and bombs, along with a substantial amount of old-fashioned pummeling with boot heels, rifle butts, and assorted other clubs. The Iraqis have not been lying in a bed of roses for the past 52 months.

Unfortunately, the future does not appear to hold much relief for them, and many, many more are destined to perish in the lethal thunderstorms of U. Why, we might wonder, must this madness continue? What good can it possibly accomplish?

When Congressman Abercrombie told Gen. Izzo that he had "never heard of anything so goddamned stupid" as buying ammo manufactured in Israel for use by U. Yet the Army is not changing. The answer is better aim, not bigger bullets, officials say. Thomas Henthorn, chief of the small arms division at Fort Benning, Ga. At about 33 cents each, bullets do not get a lot of public attention in Washington, where the size of the debate is usually measured by how much a piece of equipment costs.

But billions of M rounds have been produced, and Congress is preparing to pay for many more. The defense request for the budget year that begins Oct. Shortcomings aren't surprising None of the M's shortcomings is surprising, said Don Alexander, a retired Army chief warrant officer with combat tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Somalia.

It just doesn't do very well at close ranges against smaller-statured people that are lightly equipped and clothed," says Alexander, who spent most of his year military career with the 5th Special Forces Group.

Paul Howe was part of a U. He got shot a couple more times, but the first round didn't faze him. With the M, troops have to hit their targets with more rounds, said Howe, who owns a combat shooting school in Texas. That can be tough to do under high-stress conditions when one shot is all a soldier might get.

Martin Fackler, a former combat surgeon and a leading authority on bullet injuries, said the problem is the gun, not the bullet. The M4 rifle has a It's that simple. Rules limit ammunition types Rules of war limit the type of ammunition conventional military units can shoot. Though millions of dollars have been spent on upgrading the facilities, they remain unable to meet current munitions needs in their current state.

As a result, the Department of Defense had to rely at least in part on foreign commercial producers to meet its small-calibre ammunition needs. One of these was the US firm Olin-Winchester. The other was Israel Military Industries, an Israeli ammunition manufacturer linked to the Israeli government, which produces the bulk of weapons and ordnance for the Israeli Defence Force.

The Pentagon reportedly bought million rounds of 5. US forced to import bullets from Israel as troops use , for every rebel killed. Facebook Twitter Email. Video: Flaming lorry drives through Coleraine. And yet, the DoD only claims 22, rifles of 7.

As the DoD pointed out, their data does not include weapons that were provided by the Department of Defense to the security forces in Iraq and Afghanistan without using the Foreign Military Sales system.

Other articles In addition, AOAV has published articles on the differences between the US Department of Defence and the Federal Procurement Database System contract listings ; the data provided by the DoD ; DoD contract numbering methodology; a short definition of small arms ; and articles listing the weapon types found in the reports such as assault rifles with a separate report on AK47s , machine guns , sniper rifles and pistols.

It highlights the fact that significant numbers of small arms, for instance, are sent to foreign governments but are never publicly recorded by the DoD publicly. We know by looking at other US government records, that at least 1,, small arms have been sent to Iraq and Afghanistan in the last 14 years.

It has a central mission: to carry out research and advocacy in order to reduce the incidence and impact of global armed violence. For more on this see here. The contracts on the DoD provide information in relation to the award, such as; the date of the award, who the contract was awarded to, the size of the contract, the contract number, weapon types, ammunition calibre or type of attachment.