|
Israeli-made bullets recently purchased
by the U.S. Army should be used for training only, not
to fight Muslim guerrillas in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S.
lawmakers told Army generals.
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 the House of Representatives
Armed Services subcommittee with jurisdiction over land
forces.
 The
Army contracted 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 Brigadier
General 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.
Representative Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania,
who chairs the subcommittee on tactical air and land forces,
concurred with Abercrombie, explaining that although the
Army should not have to worry about "political correctness,"
there are still "propaganda pitfalls" of using
Israeli rounds in the U.S.-declared war on terror.
"There's a sensitivity that I think
all of us recognize," Weldon told the Army witnesses,
including Major General 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 without using the Israeli
bullets.
But some Israeli military generals were
upset. IDF Colonel Moshe Lesheme told WND, "Israel
has been at the forefront of the war on terror since it
founding 50 years ago. We pioneered many of the anti-terror
and urban-warfare techniques that the U.S. military has
no problem using in Iraq and Afghanistan. Israeli firms
have created an enormous amount of military technology
that enhanced the American military. And now suddenly
our bullets are illegitimate?"
"It is decisions like these that
feed the Palestinian propaganda machine and demean Israel,"
said Morton Klein, President of the Zionist Organization
of America. "It makes it seem like there's a difference
between terrorism against Israelis and terrorism against
anyone else. And that is simply unacceptable."
See two previous stories about the
critical U.S. ammunition shortage:
US Asks
Private Sector To Ease Ammunition Shortage
U.S. ammunition
plant reaching its limit
|
