Saturday, May 06, 2006
New York Times Defends Zarqawi's Inability
The New York Times seems more than willing to come to the defense of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq and suspected actual beheader of American hostage Nick Berg, regarding the lack of respect he is getting for his trouble firing the SAW full auto. I'm not kidding.
The weapon in question is complicated to master, and American soldiers and marines undergo many days of training to achieve the most basic competence with it. Moreover, the weapon in Mr. Zarqawi’s hands was an older variant, which makes its malfunctioning unsurprising. The veterans said Mr. Zarqawi, who had spent his years as a terrorist surrounded by simpler weapons of Soviet design, could hardly have been expected to know how to handle it.
So quit picking on the evil murderer.
You know, if I didn't know better, I might think that the NYT was on the side of our enemies.
The SAW is complicated to master--you have to put in the clip or belt, set the selector switch, rack in the first round and then pull the freakin' trigger. It's really hard. The SAW is, however, not popular in Iraq with our troops, as it tends to jam. Why Zarqawi chose to use the SAW rather than an RPK is anyone's guess.
The weapon in question is complicated to master, and American soldiers and marines undergo many days of training to achieve the most basic competence with it. Moreover, the weapon in Mr. Zarqawi’s hands was an older variant, which makes its malfunctioning unsurprising. The veterans said Mr. Zarqawi, who had spent his years as a terrorist surrounded by simpler weapons of Soviet design, could hardly have been expected to know how to handle it.
So quit picking on the evil murderer.
You know, if I didn't know better, I might think that the NYT was on the side of our enemies.
The SAW is complicated to master--you have to put in the clip or belt, set the selector switch, rack in the first round and then pull the freakin' trigger. It's really hard. The SAW is, however, not popular in Iraq with our troops, as it tends to jam. Why Zarqawi chose to use the SAW rather than an RPK is anyone's guess.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 12:57 PM 
Comments:
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Thanks for walking me through the operation of the weapon. As a gun-savvy guy I was wondering if there was something unusual about this particular machinegun!
I really liked the part about the SAW being so complicated that it takes days of training for basic competence. Not mentioned that it takes days of training for the M-16 and M9 (pistol). That's taking people who haven't fired the weapons and progressing to the point that the bullets go about where the shooter wants. About 2 minutes is all the training required for a photo-op.
Zarqawi's big mistake was in not getting NBC to help produce his video.
When you want a fake to look convincing, you need to call upon experts.
When you want a fake to look convincing, you need to call upon experts.
Hi -
The reason he went for the SAW is that the Iraqis are more than a little spooked by how accurate US firepower is: sure, they all use AKs, but that weapon is notoriously inaccurate but can be fired with virtually no training.
It's a prestige thing: it is using the weapon of your enemy, which means that you have at least vanquished one of them. Everyone uses the Russian weapons; few can even understand how to take apart and maintain the SAW, let alone use it proficiently.
The reason he went for the SAW is that the Iraqis are more than a little spooked by how accurate US firepower is: sure, they all use AKs, but that weapon is notoriously inaccurate but can be fired with virtually no training.
It's a prestige thing: it is using the weapon of your enemy, which means that you have at least vanquished one of them. Everyone uses the Russian weapons; few can even understand how to take apart and maintain the SAW, let alone use it proficiently.
Gee, it can't be that hard....I witenessed a 12 year old kid pick one up last weekend and inside of two minutes had the thing going like a pro!
His father holds a Class III, had just bought it, and had never fired it. The kid kept begging to shoot and was the first one to shoot it.
His father holds a Class III, had just bought it, and had never fired it. The kid kept begging to shoot and was the first one to shoot it.
# posted by 
: 6:29 AM
: 6:29 AM
He carried and tried to use the SAW for the simple reason that a sword was too dangerous to those around him.
Thanks all for the comments. I'm going to answer anon (2) and ontheway. If the others check back, sorry. The clip is the plastic or metal thing you put into the gun. The area inside the clip is the magazine. You can also have a magazine inside the gun with no clip.
It's even easier if it's open bolt--clip (or belt) in, selector switch to full auto, rack the bolt open, pull the trigger. In any event it's not like you have to calculate Pi to the 30th digit or paraphrase Proust in 100 words or less. It's a gun with a barrel bolt and trigger. How many combinations of failure to fire are there?
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It's even easier if it's open bolt--clip (or belt) in, selector switch to full auto, rack the bolt open, pull the trigger. In any event it's not like you have to calculate Pi to the 30th digit or paraphrase Proust in 100 words or less. It's a gun with a barrel bolt and trigger. How many combinations of failure to fire are there?
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