So yeah, I'm a FAL fanboy; they're just so cool in just about every way.
But militarily and historically, the FAL was the most magnificent WRONG rifle.
Lead by the US, the west just missed the boat on the assault rifle. The FAL was a magnificent rifle, but it (and all the other .308's) were just the wrong rifle in the age of the Assault Rifle. The supposedly backwards Soviets got it. They built a rifle for the next war while the west built a better rifle for the last war.
Still, I just love the FAL.
FN FAL - Coolest "wrong" rifle ever
1“I think there’s a right-wing conspiracy to promote the idea of a left-wing conspiracy”