U.S removal of equipment from Iraq 35 percent complete

[SpartanDem]

As the United States draws down troops in Iraq and reinforces them in Afghanistan, the Army is pushing to complete the largest movement of military materiel since World War II, a massive logistical operation involving nearly 3 million pieces of equipment.

The operation, dubbed Nickel II after the code name for Gen. George S. Patton's celebrated repositioning of an entire Army corps during the 1944 Battle of the Bulge, began last June and is now about 35 percent complete, said Lt. Gen. William G. Webster Jr., commander of the Third Army, Patton's former unit.

In a briefing for Pentagon reporters from his headquarters in Kuwait, where equipment from Iraq is sorted, Webster said some of the gear is being refurbished for use in Afghanistan and some returned to the United States for use in training

Webster did not specify the cost of the operation but acknowledged that it would run into the tens of billions of dollars. He said the Third Army spent roughly $20 billion on repairing equipment and supplying troops during the 2007 surge of U.S. forces into Iraq to contain escalating sectarian violence. Those costs for Army operations in Iraq dropped to $16 billion last year and are projected to dip to $9 billion this year, Webster said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/02/AR2010040202087.html

[Arctic Dave]

1. That is a lot of time, money and lives wasted for nothing.

But on the bright side, some people made billions off of this. Don't you feel better knowing that. I'm sure the dead peoples family do.

[secondwind]

2. you got that right.............how sad, and what a waste!

[lunatica]

3. If McCain were President he would be singing Bomb, bomb Iraq!

He would have escalated this war and make everything worse. I don't care what anyone says, Obama is changing the history trend started by the like so Bush and supported by that creep McCain. And to make things worse Sarah Palin would be the VP with Cheney's powers.

I don't know how anyone can think things haven't improved. At least now we have hope and some momentum going in the correct direction. And if it's slow then we'll have to live with that. AT least it isn't McCain and Palin steering the ship.

[SpartanDem]

4. I agree Mcain would found/created an excuse for not leaving

[vaberella]

6. No, he'd be singing bomb bomb Vietnam.

He would send us to so much war it would be crazy. I seriously think he has a vendetta against Vietnam still.

[lunatica]

7. I have to agree with you. He's vindictive

He would have already started a war in Iran by now too. Just his embrace of Palin shows how obsessive he is with his hatred. He is cutting his nose off to spite his face. He's going all out to get re-elected because this is his last stand and he knows it. If he loses this election he's done. He's too old now (74 this year) and he knows he would never be able to make a come back in his late 70s. That's why he's throwing tantrums. He still has time to become a pundit on whatever news channel wants him. I'm sure he can milk his POW heroism some more for that role.

[backscatter712]

5. Definitely good news.

For all the gnashing and wailing, stories like this make one thing clear - the war in Iraq is winding down.

I don't want to count my chickens - things could turn bad again, but considering that the .mil is moving thousands and thousands of vehicles and pieces of heavy equipment out of there, that's a strong indication that the war in Iraq is coming to a close.

Obama made a promise to end the Iraq war, and he's keeping that promise.