[ArmySGT.]

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

I know a lot was made in the media about the alleged use of opiates by insurgents in Iraq but I've never seen a lot of evidence to prove that it was the norm and not just an odd occurrence here and there.

I didn’t get to see or watch the news of those events for years later. I don’t know of any use in the Insurgency. The Fedayeen were an Elite Group (abusing the work Elite for sure) of Ba’ athists. Saddam used history and myth to create backgrounds and lineages for his formations. The Fedayeen are the Ismaili sect that came to be known as the Assassins. Saddam used the name to enhance the fearsome reputation of his better equipped thugs.

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

However I have seen lots of evidence first hand of the M855 round over-penetrating and doing relatively little damage on wood, metal and more importantly, on feral animals (particularly goats).

Interestingly so has just about everyone. Which is why it is so damn frustrating that it is the primary ammunition type. Only political cronyism can explain the issue of AP ammo that is less effective in a fight with an enemy that does not wear body armor anyway.

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

The M855 round (specifically the Australian version of it) was in use with a number of Agricultural Protection officers in Western Australia in the early 1990s for culling feral goats, cats, foxes and dogs. They were using semi-auto versions of the F88 Austeyr (or it could have been that the full-auto lock-out was permanently fixed, I can't remember), the rifles and ammo were supplied direct from the Small Arms Factory, Lithgow.
The M855 round would drill right through the goats and they would stand there, look at you and then run off a couple of hundred metres to hide in the scrub only to bleed out later. Even gutshots didn't drop them with the 5.56mm.

Same thing with Turkeys on the Rifle ranges at Ft. Riley.
These birds would walk right across the range, blithely ignoring the 40 firers and their noisy rifles trying to qualify on a pop up range. Birds would hop, ruffle their feathers, and keep on strutting along.
Technically your supposed to shut down the range for wild life. However the turkeys are so numerous that no one closes a range because of them.

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

I can tell you, those goats were not using opiates - well, as far as I'm aware but you know what some of those radical goats are like, long beards, shaggy hair, don't bother to wash, berets & turtlenecks and using any kind of weed they can find, bloody hippies and beatniks the lot of 'em!

Randy old things always with a wink, a leer, or a whistle. Poor example for young gentlemen.

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

I tend to believe that a lot of the problems with dropping Fedayeen in OIF1 came down to over-penetration/low damage of the 5.56mm M855 ammo and the fact that the Fedayeen were very well motivated by religious belief rather than the idea that they were 'hopped up' on drugs.

Ten years on I wonder if the after action reports are available. It was the Marines in the vicinity of An Nasiriyah, if I recall correctly.