Defense: Under Fire

No one in Viet Nam doubts that the stubby, black-stocked M-16 is a dangerous weapon. Of late, however, newsmen, fighting men and Congressmen alike have suggested that the wicked little (7 lbs., 39 in.) automatic rifle can be as dangerous to friend as it is to foe. Though—at the urging of General William Westmoreland—it has become the standard weapon for U.S. combat troops in Viet Nam, its critics charge that the M-16 tends to jam during the intensive firing for which it was designed, leaving many an infantryman helpless in close-up combat....