I agree that the M1 is an awesome weapon, but hitting a house a mile away is no great feat. That would have been a gimme forty years ago in an M60A1.
It’s not about hitting the house, although that’s a part of the mission of course. I think it’s more about acquiring/targeting the small mobile squads of gomers up in the hills.
We can hit ‘em with small arms fire, but the rocks tend to protect them in their hidee holes.
The M1A1 can put an HE round *ON* them, while they move, or where they hide.
The M1s will quickly earn a rep for killing jihadis wherever they ‘hide.’ M1s are a great deterrent to courage under fire, AND recruiting ;-)
Think about it: would YOU want to see that turret sweep around to YOUR vector? Wipe yourself off, you’re dead!
Perhaps not, but hitting a house a mile away while scooting along at 30 mph over rough terrain would have been quite an accomplishment for an M60A1 and her crew. For an Abrams, it's pretty much all in a day's work.