The very idea that combat troops in a war zone would go around firing blanks is totally absurd.
That alone discredits the BBC piece. You can't fire blanks in an gas operated weapon (such as the M-16, M-60, etc) without putting a device on the muzzle to provide necessary backpressure to operate the mechanism. What happens if you get attacked with live ammo? The idea is so absurd as to be laughable.