Packing and patrolling, U.S. troops roll out of Iraq

Reuters ^ | 11/30/2011 | Patrick Markey

[MinorityRepublican]

An Iraqi soldier shakes hands with a U.S. soldier at Camp Echo in Diwaniya,

CAMP ECHO, Iraq (Reuters) - Camp Echo's dusty motorpools are empty, its private contract caterers have long gone home and murals depicting the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York's twin towers have been painted over.

One of the last seven U.S. military bases in Iraq, Echo is in rapid handover to Iraqi hands as American soldiers there pack up and complete their final task - protecting the last few departing troops heading home south across the Kuwaiti border.

Nearly nine years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein, the U.S. mission in Iraq is fast winding down with only 13,000 troops left in the country. Hundreds are departing each day until the end of 2011.

Hundreds of convoys of military vehicles and civilian trucks have gone south into Kuwait since President Barack Obama last month said troops would leave as scheduled, effectively ending the large-scale U.S. military presence on Iraqi soil.

"It's time. The president and everyone is saying it's time. We did as much as we can," U.S. Army Sergeant Fred Fox said at Echo in Diwaniya, 150 km (95 miles) south of Baghdad.

"It's time for us to go home and let them take care of their own," he said.

[AU72]

Nobody wants to be the last to die in Iraq to cover his re-election.

[wbarmy]

Are they saying that the “murals” are offensive to the Iraqis and must be painted over. Let them do it themselves.

[MasterGunner01]

When you think of all the $100s of millions in equipment given to the Iraqis, I wonder how much of it will be operational in a year? I think there will be lots of broken equipment that the locals won't be able to fix. They had a hard enough time keeping Combloc stuff running.