I have GOT to get me one of them Yazid sticks! Ah, let's see...here's one:
Posted on 03/24/2004 5:29:02 PM PST by Dog
British army dog survives 'contract killing' March 25, 2004 - 12:13AM
An English springer spaniel with a talent for sniffing out guns, ammunition and explosives in Iraq has survived a suspected contract killing, a British newspaper reported.
Blaze, who is serving with British forces in southern Iraq, escaped with only cuts and bruises after the would-be killer roared up in a car, "deliberately swerved" and hit him, The Sun said, quoting military sources.
"There is no doubt that this was a deliberate assassination attempt," a senior army officer was quoted as saying. "We are convinced that there was a price on Blaze's head."
The incident took place on a road in Al-Zubayr, south-west of Basra city, the headquarters for 8800 British troops who occupy oil-rich southern Iraq, the newspaper said.
Blaze is among several sniffer dogs brought to Iraq by the British army to help find weapons and explosives. Each costs £25,000 ($A61,600) to train.
His handler, Lance Corporal Steve Dineley, 24, said: "I was gutted when he got run over and so were all the guys. We were very angry but he has made a great recovery."
AFP
I have GOT to get me one of them Yazid sticks! Ah, let's see...here's one:
It's an M4 upper on an M16A1 lower with Car15 collapsing buttstock; some have the M16A1 fixed butt instead, much handier if you're in a kayak and drop your paddle overboard. The Israelis are required to spend their US military aid money with American manufacturers; so rather than build such packages themselves at their own arms factories, they obtain M4 top assemblies from Colt and rebuild their old M16A1s instead. The 16-inch length Car15 barrel and upper receiver is also sometimes seen with the M16A1 lower, another nice package, especially if an M203 grenade launcher is added to the mix.
Israel has a neat little arrangement: their foreign sales of modern or obsolete equipment are done at prices that not only reflect their intrinsic value, but also that of their replacement in the Israeli inventory with the most modern equipment, keeping at least some units equipped with up-to-date and unworn equipment. And those who broker or arrange such international deals get a percentage of the action; a nice incentive for those businessment to aggressively pursue such deals.
Of course some reservists are very used to the older hardware they've trained with and used, often in combat, for the last decade or two, and those old soldiers REALLY know how to get the best use out of it. Too, there's a lot of older equipment in some police and kibbutz armories, but every time an army unit receives the newest and best gear, their older equipment trickles down to others. The Israelis don't waste a whole lot.
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