U.S. rearms Iraqi soldiers for a new era

Brig. Gen. Swan contends that the weapon itself will inculcate discipline in soldiers who are eager to emulate the Americans.

"They see what our soldiers do every day," Swan said. "There is a desire to be equipped the same."

They'll quickly learn that the rifle won't work if it isn't cleaned, he said.

Anthony Cordesman, a military analyst for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, sees the switch as a purely strategic step necessitated by the U.S. military's realization that it is going to have a long association with the Iraqi army.

"It's become very obvious you can't run a major network and supply system in Iraq without the Iraqi army becoming dependent on the U.S.," Cordesman said. "You're going to have to equip people with the weapon the U.S. equips, supports and trains with."

But, no matter what its strategic or tactical merits, the Iraqi army's adoption of the M-16 is indisputably symbolic, a choice of composite over wood and iron and West over East.

The meaning was impossible to miss in the smile on the face of a 3rd Brigade recruit who had just unwrapped his new weapon and declared it "the best," without having fired a shot.

Nothing is closer to a soldier's soul than his rifle, said Brig. Gen. Stephen Gledhill, a Briton who is Swan's second in command. "A soldier should love his rifle."

And the problem with the AK-47?

"It does represent the old regime," he said with practiced dryness.

doug.smith@latimes.com

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Times staff writer Saif Rasheed contributed to this report.