The US Army is now planning to replace the Iraqi Army’s AK-47s M-16s, claiming, among other things, that the M-16 is more reliable.

Yeah, right.

While the M-16 is unquestionably more accurate, reliability and cost are on the AK’s side. Additionally, this will require significant retraining.

This is just a way to get the M-16 into service so that Colt (or maybe FN, when I last checked they made weapons in South Carolina under license) make lots of money.