American troops fire 250,000 bullets for every local they kill

WASHINGTON - United States forces have fired so many bullets in Iraq and Afghanistan - an estimated 250,000 for every insurgent killed - that American ammunition-makers cannot keep up with demand.

As a result the US is having to import supplies from Israel.

A US Government report says that US forces are using 1.8 billion rounds of small-arms ammunition a year. The total has more than doubled in five years, largely as a result of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as changes in military doctrine and increased training.

Estimating how many bullets US forces have expended for every insurgent killed is not a simple or precisely scientific matter.

The former head of US forces in Iraq, General Tommy Franks, famously claimed that his forces "don't do body counts".

Estimates from military officials suggest that at least 20,000 insurgents have been killed in President George W. Bush's "war on terror".

John Pike, director of the Washington military research group GlobalSecurity.org, said that, based on General Accounting Office figures, US forces expended around 6 billion bullets between 2002 and 2005.

"How many evil-doers have we sent to their maker using bullets rather than bombs? I don't know," he said. "If they don't do body counts, how can I? But using these figures it works out at around 300,000 bullets per insurgent. Let's round that down to 250,000 so that we are underestimating."

Pointing out that officials say many of these bullets have been used for training purposes, he said: "What are you training for? To kill insurgents."

The General Accounting Office report notes that the three Government-owned, contractor-operated plants that produce small- and medium-calibre ammunition were built in 1941.

Though millions of dollars have been spent on upgrading the facilities, they remain unable to meet current munitions needs.

"As a result," the report says, "the Department of Defence had to rely at least in part on foreign commercial producers to meet its small-calibre ammunition needs."

A report in Manufacturing & Technology News said that the Pentagon eventually found two producers capable of meeting its requirements.

One of these was the US firm Olin-Winchester.

The other was Israel Military Industries, an ammunition manufacturer linked to the Israeli Government, which produces the bulk of weapons and ordnance for the Israeli Defence Force.

The Pentagon reportedly bought 313 million rounds of 5.56mm, 7.62mm and 50-calibre ammunition last year and paid US$10 million ($14.6 million) more than it would have cost for it to produce the ammunition at its own facilities.

- INDEPENDENT