[Gregster]

Originally posted by Morgeruat: UN troops are trained in the US, many of the weapons are developed for UN compatibility (the M16 A2 uses standard UN rounds(could be NATO, I'm not sure and don't feel like looking it up)

I dunno about that. Actually, many weapons systems of late design we created with NATO compatibility in mind, not UN. Example: the main gun and fire control system on the M1A1 tank I crewed on in Desert Storm was of West German design and/or manufacture, and the 120mm shells we were issued were German. Armor doctrine up until the end of the Cold War presupposed a coordinated West German/American/NATO defense against a massive Soviet armor and motorized infantry blitz into Western Europe...this sort of compatibility makes sure there's plenty of bullets that everyone can use to fling downrange at the bad guys.

Likewise, most NATO member small-arms use roughly the same ammo-- 7.52x51 ammo in light machineguns and some rifles, .50 heavy machinegun, 9mm pistol and submachinegun rounds, etc (much of the push to do away with the venerable .45 1911 pistol that served the US so well for 75 years was that is was incompatible with the 9mm sidearms just about everyone else had, hence the adoption of the Beretta). The M16A2 uses a 5.56mm round which some countries (i.e. France and the UK) have adopted, but only fairly recently and grudgingly as many still don't trust their lethality and longe-range effectiveness (though the move towards lighter gear for more mobile grunts is changing that thinking).

Of course, NATO has now been bring a lot of former Commie Bloc/Warsaw Pact nations into the fold whose weapons are not even close to compatible. There is a great deal of consistency in the weapons and ammo used by UN member nations, though I believe this has more to do with the fact that a relative few small arms (and ammo) enjoy prominence among the world's armies. It costs enough to go through testing and procurement of any new weapon without adding the cost of lining up procurement of a whole new type of ammo.

Originally posted by Morgeruat: it's only a matter of time before Saudi ejects us from the airbases we have there, as much of the country dislikes us.

It sure seems that way, but I wouldn't bet large sums of money on it. No amount of anti-Western sentiment is going to supplant the Saudis fundamental desire to keep their prosperous kingdom from getting pounded like a slab of cheap minute steak by one of their psycho neighbors.

Originally posted by Morgeruat: will the arabs unite and destroy american military in the region if we had just attacked, not likely, but they could hurt us in diferent ways, remember OPEC,

Yep, those of us who are old enough to remember the gas-rationing and long lines at the pump during the '70s shudder at the thought of the return of those days. BUt oh well. Just like then, basic macroeconomics will set in Americans will resign themselves to doing away with their gas-splurging sedans and trucks and start clearing all the car dealers of their fuel-efficient Jap four-bangers. There will another oil glut just like in the '80s, and we will laugh our asses off will OPEC goes broke and is forced to bring down the price of oil again.

[ 11-27-2002, 11:06 PM: Message edited by: Gregster ]