Military warned not to use Israeli ammo

Shadowar did a post on this. I think it was shadowar. I wondered if the rounds were not to the same tolerance or something. Hard for me to believe that there isn't something else causing this. If the rounds are identical, how would they even know where they were made?

You can tell by lot number. The rounds had no defects but the concern was purely political.

If anything Israeli rounds are manufactured to a *higher* standard than ours.

Because they have to be Kosher?

Like the Hebrew National Hot Dogs... those're good eats, if you can get used to the non-chemical flavor.

It was shadowwar who did a post on this... I think in the comments it was also said there was no physical defect or difference between the rounds.

I just assumed that they were softpoints or some other non-standard ammunition. I can't believe that the US using Israeli bullets would be any different than Israelis using US hardware to attack Palestinians. If we can't buy from them, how can we sell to them?

Well, yeah. That's pretty much why many people think the whole thing is ridiculous. They're the same bullets, they're just made by a country that the group we may use them against doesn't like (yes, oversimplification). The only real reason for Arabs to bitch about it is that buying them in the first place can only strengthen our relationship with Israel.
Besides, even if we use them only for training, doesn't that mean that the Jew has freed up a bunch of ammo with which we can go shoot the poor oppressed Arabs?

Perhaps we should start taking into account all the French, Russian, and Chinese munitions that are fired at our troops in Iraq.

The bullet can kill, wherever it was made in. I wonder why they griped about it. Better thing to complain is too much killing is going on.

The first one with the Orthodox bullet is hilarious.

I think you may have misread the intent. The problem is not with the bullets in and of themselves. A bullet is a bullet. The problem lies in the fact that if the US uses bullets that were manufactured in Israel, then by the stretch of the fundamentalists imagination, the Jews are helping to fund the war in Iraq. Up until now I do not think that Bush has mentioned Israel as part of his force.

If you remember back in Iraq War I. Bush the Elder was asking Israel not to enter the war. The last thin he needed then and we need now is to torque-off any Arab moderates by accepting help from Israel.

My thinking…

IG

Baker is right here is the post from the 24th,

Army Told Not to Use Israeli Bullets in Iraq
Thu Jun 24, 2004 05:56 PM ET

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.


OK whats wrong with this picture, now the bullets have to be PC? Give me a break!

"The problem lies in the fact that if the US uses bullets that were manufactured in Israel, then by the stretch of the fundamentalists imagination, the Jews are helping to fund the war in Iraq."

Infogeek: Then considering all the military hardware used against us is French, Russian, and Chinese, then we have to make them accountable for supporting the Iraqi resistance? Nah. We buy the bullets, they aren't donated. They aren't picky about who they buy from, why should we be?

It comes down to appearances. We do not want to it to appear that Israel is funding or supporting the war against the Arab terrorists. Yes, we buy it, but they are still supplying. Once a connection like that could be established (Israel and the US against the Muslims) in the minds of the men who wear explodable shorts. It could get dicey.

Just an opinion.

Ig

Infogeek I did not miss the point. The point you stated is *exactly* the one I was heaping copious mounds of scorn upon. It is already dicey, the idea that NOT using "Joo" ammo would do a damn thing is laughable.

Shadow- thanks for the info but a simple link might be a better choice.

Perhaps we should start looking into why AK-47s and other Russian/Chinese made weapons are as common as dirt around the world, arming every opponent to the US. It isn't like we constantly face military opponents firing M-16s back at us. I wonder where the billions of rounds of ammunition used by rebels and terrorists around the world are made...

Lol take that a step further as the left would like to do and sue the armsmakers! After it is *they* who are responsible for war and not the person pulling the trigger right?

This is quite silly.

Maybe I could understand why we might not want to, say, feed food made in Israel to Muslims. But bullets? "It's ok to shoot these people, but we better not use Israeli bullets."