Israel and U.S. sell weapons to sworn enemies

Israel and the United States will apparently sell weapons to anyone who can afford them:

Use of Israeli-made light arms by militants against security forces in Waziristan has raised several questions amongst many recently.

TheNation has learnt on good authority that militants are using Israeli-made light arms including “Uzi gun” and “Rapid-fire pistol” against security forces in North Waziristan as the operation Rah-I-Rast reached its final stage.

In addition to Israel-made sophisticated arms, militants are making use of the latest version of US-made M-16 carbine with laser designator and binoculars, Bulgarian and Czechoslovakia made Kalakov and M-4 carbine with a grenade launcher and laser designator, which is a unique weapon with the US marines.

Availability of sophisticated Israeli weapons within the militants' ranks and their use against security forces has raised several eyebrows in Islamabad.

Perhaps a cunning plan to supply weapons to Muslims for killing other Muslims has been discovered. Nope, this story is a load of crap.

Uzis fire a pistol cartridge, most typically 9 mm. They're great for personal protection and close quarters fighting or whenever a smallish, reasonably discrete weapon is required. Taking one into any reasonably open battle would get you killed. That's why you can't recall combat footage of anyone carrying one of these popguns into a serious fight. Regardless, if they are being used, they are widely available and could have come from anywhere.

There's no telling what a "rapid-fire pistol" is.

The M-16 is also widely available and could have come from anywhere. Pakistan's army uses them so maybe the Islamists are using seized weapons. Unless the Islamists are using laser-guided weapons a laser designator is pointless, amounting to nothing more than extra weight to carry.

M-4 carbines are also widely used; anyone with the cash can equip it to mount a grenade launcher: the grenade launcher equipped M-4 is certainly not unique to the U.S. marines.

Where does this anti-U.S. and Israel smear job come from? It originally appeared in The Nation, a Pakistani newspaper, and was picked up by "expert analyst" Antony Loewenstein.