Tangential to the topic, praise for the RPD.
http://strikehold.wordpress.com/2009...-rpds-in-iraq/
I gather that these were acquired in-theater.

When I first arrived in Iraq I was amazed at the variety of weapons available to anyone who wanted to purchase them. Every contracting company was rushing to snap up the better conditioned weapons before the bad guys got them. There were stories of Iraqi procurement agents queuing up in Sadar City alongside the Militia and haggling with them over the price of a good machine gun. Everyone wanted heavy calibre machine guns. The Iraqi police and army needed them to protect their compounds. The contractors needed them for their PSD and convoy protection. Without a good machine gun in the last vehicle of your team you were dead.