Stop the War

US forces have fired so many bullets in Iraq and Afghanistan - an estimated 250,000 for every insurgent killed - that American ammunition-makers cannot keep up with demand. As a result the US is having to import supplies from Israel.

A government report says that US forces are now using 1.8 billion rounds of small-arms ammunition a year. The total has more than doubled in five years.

The General Accounting Office stated "The government-owned plant producing small-calibre ammunition cannot meet the increased requirements, even with modernisation efforts...As a result, the Department of Defense had to rely at least in part on foreign commercial producers to meet its small-calibre ammunition needs"

The Pentagon reportedly bought 313 million rounds of 5.56mm, 7.62mm and 50-calibre ammunition last year much of it from Israel.