Word: kalashnikovs
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Across the Islamic world, from Tripoli to Tehran, the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was celebrated by bursts of bullets from every revolutionary's favorite automatic weapon. More than 10 million AK-47s, designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov, are now in circulation throughout the world...
...loudspeakers on the minarets are momentarily drowned out by the roar of two camouflaged MiG-21s streaking toward targets upcountry. Outside, a truck goes by with two Soviet soldiers in the back. They wear wide-brimmed khaki ranger hats and olive-drab bulletproof vests, and they hold their Kalashnikov assault rifles at the ready, barrels upright, on their knees...
When a rebel band does get hold of a modern Kalashnikov, the weapon is likely to end up as a status symbol in the hands of the tribal elder, while the younger warriors, men with better eyesight and surer footing, are left to fight with bolt-action British Lee-Enfield rifles...
Less complex Soviet weapons, such as rifles and machine guns, tend to be easily produced and highly reliable. The AK-47 Kalashnikov is the most esteemed and bestselling assault rifle in the world today, partly because it uses standardized ammunition available almost anywhere. The U.S. Army's M-16 is far less attractive on international arms markets; it has never lived down a much deserved reputation, earned in Viet Nam, for jamming frequently...
...ever elected the Bolsheviks, they can at least claim that they successfully defended the "Mother Homeland" from the German fascists. The government has a great stake in perpetuating the war's memory. War memorials are ubiquitous. In every major city, scouts guard tombs of unknown soldiers with Kalashnikov assault rifles. At each change of the guard four more 14-year-olds goose-step out to symbolically protect the "Mother Homeland" from another invasion...