Taking a life in Bagdad costs about $2.40

last year the US military said troops were running out of ammunition and our suppliers could not make bullets fast enough for the demand.

Maybe the military should purchase ammunition on the black market in Bagdad and supply our troops with the ammo and this would take the bullets off the market so the killing would decrease. It cant be that simple could it !

"Bullets 'flooding Baghdad market"
BBC News Middle East

news.bbc.co.uk...

A lack of international control over the global bullets trade is partly to blame for the spiralling bloodshed in Iraq, a report has found.

Research carried out by the UK-based charity Oxfam says Baghdad's black market is awash with new ammunition.

$3bn market

In Baghdad, bullets for an AK-47 assault rifle cost between 15 and 45 cents each (8p to 24p each), depending on the manufacturer and the age of the bullet.

(I can't buy 9mm ammo this cheap in the states)

At current market prices, that puts the average cost of taking a human life in Baghdad at around $2.40 (£1.30).

Yeah sure, that's like a few bullets, but somones military over there is said to fire 15,000 rounds for every kill.

That's a bit more than £1.30!

I got a great idea. We go over there a buy a huge amount of these AK bullets then we bring them back over to the U.S.(don't ask me how were going to do that) then we sell them for like 5 bucks a piece and then we all on ATS will become millionairs!!!

Who did the math for this article???

2.40 pounds so = $ 4.41 USD a kill

15 and 45 cents a 7.62 x 39mm bullet

So they estimate it takes about 10-30 bullets to kill a person in warfare I would love to see how they came up with that number. Lets not factor in deaths with RPGs, IED Bombs, 500 LB JADAM bombs etc.. because everyone dies in Iraq from AK bullets it seems.

Really what was the point to show some bullets (mainly those of the most prolific rifle on the planet) are cheap ??? What a news flash

Also nice touch not showing who produces the most 7.62 X 39 ammo mentioned in this article I would bet its not the US. I have rifles that use that ammo and its mainly Russian made on the open market.



[edit on 15-6-2006 by ShadowXIX]

I aggree with sambo5us!
Viva capitalism!!

[edit on 6/15/2006 by wu kung]

unfortunately, those bullets don't fit in the M-16 family of weapons.

Originally posted by SIRR1
In Baghdad, bullets for an AK-47 assault rifle cost between 15 and 45 cents each (8p to 24p each), depending on the manufacturer and the age of the bullet.

(I can't buy 9mm ammo this cheap in the states)

9mm Winchester White Box bulk packs run about $12 with tax at Walmart - that's 12 cents a round.

Wolf 7.62x39 used to be under $2 per box of 20 (less than 10 cents a round), although supply and demand has taken care of that recently.

Sounds like the Iraqis should buy their ammo here.

Originally posted by Travellar
unfortunately, those bullets don't fit in the M-16 family of weapons.

Though it is my understanding that you can take an M16 round and use it in an AK.

Clever design trick.

Originally posted by Skibum
Though it is my understanding that you can take an M16 round and use it in an AK.

Clever design trick.

You cant do that without some type of conversion kit. You would need a different barrel and reciever etc. because the bullets are of a completely different size.

It would have to be something like the SR-47 if you wanted to accept standard AK-47 magazines aswell.

Originally posted by Zanzibar
Yeah sure, that's like a few bullets, but somones military over there is said to fire 15,000 rounds for every kill.

15.000 rounds per kill? They have to blind if they using that amount of ammunition.
Which military are you talking about?

Even better idea, why not buy all the bullets and destroy them (without anyone getting hurt BTW).

but destroying them wouldn't make us millionaires, would it? russians are obviously favoured by this "war"

Originally posted by The Conspiracy Follower
russians are obviously favoured by this "war"

How exactly? You have me intrigued here now.

It wasn't me who suggested this idea but ShadowXIX.
I suppose if the ammo is really produced in Russia, so someone there should be happy about having constant demand. Taking into account that ammo does not reach Baghdad through the legal ways, then some bad guys from Russia are interested in this war.

edit: if the US market suffers shortage, this tells something about the extent of this trade www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 16/6/2006 by The Conspiracy Follower]

Originally posted by Bikereddie
15.000 rounds per kill? They have to blind if they using that amount of ammunition.
Which military are you talking about?

According to figures released by the Department of Defense, the average number of rounds expended in Vietnam to kill one enemy solder with the M-16 was 50,000.

usmilitary.about.com...

Rounds per kill can easily get into the hundreds to even thousands. There is a concept called "suppression fire" for example, where the point is too throw up as much lead as you can to keep the enemie's head down and prevent them from returning fire while you advance or retreat. There are so many factors in combat its impossible to say x amount of bullets should produce Y amount of kills.

Then theres factors like training which eat up alot of ammo and does not produce any kills that must be factored in.