Stubob
07-07-2007, 09:19 AM
MOSCOW - Sixty years after the AK47 went into production, designer Mikhail
Kalashnikov says he doesn't stay awake at night worrying about the bloodshed
wrought by the world's most popular assault rifle.
"I sleep well. It's the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to
an agreement and resorting to violence," Kalashnikov said Friday at a
ceremony marking the birth of the rifle, whose initials stand for "Avtomat
Kalashnikov."
It was before he started designing the gun that he slept badly, worried
about the superior weapons that Nazi soldiers were using with grisly
effectiveness against the Red Army in World War II. He saw them at close
range himself, while fighting on the front lines.
While hospitalized with wounds after a Nazi shell hit his tank in the 1941
battle of Bryansk, Kalashnikov designed an automatic rifle combining the
best features of the American M1 and the German StG44.
"Blame the Nazi Germans for making me become a gun designer," said
Kalashnikov, frail but sharp at age 87. "I always wanted to construct
agricultural machinery."
Since production began, more than 100 million AK47s have been made - either
at the home factory in the central Russian city of Izhevsk, under license in
dozens of other countries, or illegally. Sergei Chemezov, director of the
Russian arms export monopoly Rosoboronexport, said nearly a million a year
are produced without license.
The AK47 has been a mainstay in wars, coups, terrorist attacks, robberies
and other mayhem. Its popularity comes from being rugged and easy to
maintain, though its accuracy is not high.
It proved ideal and extremely reliable for warfare in jungle or desert -
easily assembled and able to keep firing in sandy or wet conditions that
would jam a U.S.-made M16.
"During the Vietnam War, American soldiers would throw away their M16s to
grab AK47s and bullets for it from dead Vietnamese soldiers," Kalashnikov
said. "I hear American soldiers in Iraq use it quite often."
The simplicity and reliability of the AK47 made it a favorite of rebel
movements worldwide - it even features on the Mozambique flag. Keen to
support anti-colonial movements in Asia and Africa, the Soviets furnished
the rifle, sometimes for free, to pro-Soviet regimes or insurgents.
In 2005, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who styles himself as a leader of
the fight against imperialism, ordered 100,000 for his army.
"The Kalashnikov rifle is a symbol of the creative genius of our people,"
President Vladimir Putin said in a statement read to Kalashnikov at the
ceremony in the Central Russian Army Museum.
Kalashnikov is still active and prolific - he tours the world as a
consultant, helping strike new arms deals, and has penned several books on
his life, about arms and about youth education.
"After the collapse of the great and mighty Soviet Union, so much crap has
been imposed on us, especially on the younger generation," he said. "I wrote
six books to help them find their way in life."
He said he is proud of his bronze bust installed in his native village of
Kurya in the Siberian region of Altai. He said newlyweds bring flowers to
the bust after their wedding ceremonies.
"They whisper 'Uncle Misha, wish us happiness and healthy kids,' " he said.
"What other gun designer can boast of that?"
This was e-mailed by a Vietnam Vet
Kalashnikov says he doesn't stay awake at night worrying about the bloodshed
wrought by the world's most popular assault rifle.
"I sleep well. It's the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to
an agreement and resorting to violence," Kalashnikov said Friday at a
ceremony marking the birth of the rifle, whose initials stand for "Avtomat
Kalashnikov."
It was before he started designing the gun that he slept badly, worried
about the superior weapons that Nazi soldiers were using with grisly
effectiveness against the Red Army in World War II. He saw them at close
range himself, while fighting on the front lines.
While hospitalized with wounds after a Nazi shell hit his tank in the 1941
battle of Bryansk, Kalashnikov designed an automatic rifle combining the
best features of the American M1 and the German StG44.
"Blame the Nazi Germans for making me become a gun designer," said
Kalashnikov, frail but sharp at age 87. "I always wanted to construct
agricultural machinery."
Since production began, more than 100 million AK47s have been made - either
at the home factory in the central Russian city of Izhevsk, under license in
dozens of other countries, or illegally. Sergei Chemezov, director of the
Russian arms export monopoly Rosoboronexport, said nearly a million a year
are produced without license.
The AK47 has been a mainstay in wars, coups, terrorist attacks, robberies
and other mayhem. Its popularity comes from being rugged and easy to
maintain, though its accuracy is not high.
It proved ideal and extremely reliable for warfare in jungle or desert -
easily assembled and able to keep firing in sandy or wet conditions that
would jam a U.S.-made M16.
"During the Vietnam War, American soldiers would throw away their M16s to
grab AK47s and bullets for it from dead Vietnamese soldiers," Kalashnikov
said. "I hear American soldiers in Iraq use it quite often."
The simplicity and reliability of the AK47 made it a favorite of rebel
movements worldwide - it even features on the Mozambique flag. Keen to
support anti-colonial movements in Asia and Africa, the Soviets furnished
the rifle, sometimes for free, to pro-Soviet regimes or insurgents.
In 2005, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who styles himself as a leader of
the fight against imperialism, ordered 100,000 for his army.
"The Kalashnikov rifle is a symbol of the creative genius of our people,"
President Vladimir Putin said in a statement read to Kalashnikov at the
ceremony in the Central Russian Army Museum.
Kalashnikov is still active and prolific - he tours the world as a
consultant, helping strike new arms deals, and has penned several books on
his life, about arms and about youth education.
"After the collapse of the great and mighty Soviet Union, so much crap has
been imposed on us, especially on the younger generation," he said. "I wrote
six books to help them find their way in life."
He said he is proud of his bronze bust installed in his native village of
Kurya in the Siberian region of Altai. He said newlyweds bring flowers to
the bust after their wedding ceremonies.
"They whisper 'Uncle Misha, wish us happiness and healthy kids,' " he said.
"What other gun designer can boast of that?"
This was e-mailed by a Vietnam Vet