The cold weather was accompanied by frozen ground, creating considerable danger of frostbite casualties, icy roads, and weapon malfunctions.
Weapon malfunctions are such a widely acknowledged reality that basic training courses typically explain how to rapidly troubleshoot such failures during a gunfight.
Thing is, gunmen are – by definition – risk-takers, and often tend to view weapon malfunctions as an occupational hazard, so it's unlikely the more foolhardy criminals out there will be too put off by the dangers associated with antique firearms.
But weapons malfunction, intelligence and humans err, and there have been civilian casualties (or "martyrs", as Mr Hussein's men call them), some of whom have been buried amid choreographed outrage reminiscent of Ramallah and Gaza.
The nightmare scenario for the U.S. military — however unlikely — would be that the weapon would malfunction, fall into unfriendly hands and be taken apart and studied by an unfriendly government or terrorist group.
These weapons can also be hacked and behave unpredictably when confronted with unanticipated circumstances; experts point to the failure of the Patriot missile defense system in the First Gulf War as evidence that all sorts of weapons can malfunction in unknown ways.
These weapons can also be hacked and behave unpredictably when confronted with unanticipated circumstances; experts point to the failure of the Patriot missile defence system in the First Gulf War as evidence that all sorts of weapons can malfunction in unknown ways.
Moreover, the weapons themselves can malfunction and degrade.
San Francisco police ballistics expert Andy Smith testified that the gun was in good, working condition and that the weapon probably didn't malfunction.
65 percent (222 troops) were confident in the M249's reliability, defined as level of soldier confidence their weapon will fire without malfunction, and 64 percent (218 troops) were confident in its durability, defined as level of soldier confidence their weapon will not break or need repair.
Moreover, some of the locally made weapons are prone to malfunction, which can kill those who use them.
