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An old American rifle gains prominence in Islamic State propaganda footage
[WAPO] As the Islamic State battles to hold what remains of its capital in Syria, the terror group ‐ as it did during the fight for Mosul ‐ has released propaganda footage highlighting their defense. The 38-minute video, filmed in Raqqa and released Tuesday, cycles through the Islamic State’s standard fare of suicide bombings, sniper attacks and street fighting.In a segment showcasing the militants’ sniper detachment, one U.S.-made rifle is featured prominently. The type of weapon, a modified 7.62mm M14 called an Enhanced Battle Rifle, has appeared with the Islamic State before, along with a Syrian rebel group that once had backing from the Pentagon and Iraqi Special Operation forces. Militants on battlefields from Afghanistan to Syria have long-displayed Western-made arms in their propaganda. The weapons are usually given to commanders and elite fighters to distinguish them from regular foot soldiers. The most prevalent American weapon found on foreign battlefields is arguably the gas-operated M-16 rifle, a mainstay in U.S. armories since the Vietnam War and sold and lost by the United States and its proxy forces ever since. The black rifle, with its hallmark triangular front sight, has been a staple with the Islamic State since it overran large swaths of Iraq in 2014, routing Iraqi security forces and taking large stores of U.S.-supplied weapons and ammunition. What makes the appearance of the M14 somewhat unique is its age and relative rarity in the U.S. military compared to the widely issued M-16. Though the M14 appears in the Islamic State video with a scope and a modern furnishing, allowing the shooter to attach accessories, the core, or action, of the weapon derives from the World War II-era M1 Garand rifle. The M14 was designed to replace the M1 Garand in the years following the Korean War. Unlike the M-16 and its carbine variants, the M14 was only issued for less than a decade. Weighing more than 10 pounds loaded and roughly three-feet long, the M14 was introduced when rifle designs were rapidly evolving. In the late 1950s the Soviets were busy adopting and fielding the Kalashnikov series of rifles. Posted by: Besoeker 2017-09-09 |
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