KUWAIT: U.S. troops continue to make their way out of Iraq while shipping their gear through the neighboring Kuwait city

Record ID: 350888

  • Title: KUWAIT: U.S. troops continue to make their way out of Iraq while shipping their gear through the neighboring Kuwait city
  • Date: 1st September 2010
  • Summary: AL SHUAIBA PORT, KUWAIT (AUGUST 31, 2010) (REUTERS) MILITARY HUMMER VEHICLES WAITING TO BE SHIPPED OUT OF KUWAIT CLOSE OF HUMMER TRUCK LOADING CONTAINER ONTO SHIP SOLDIERS TALKING CLOSE OF METAL HANDLE/ CRANE TO LIFT HUMMER VEHICLES SOLDIER CHECKING HIS EQUIPMENT LIST SOLDIER SIGNALING FOR TRUCK TO MOVE MILITARY EQUIPMENT BEING LOADED INSIDE SHIP (SOUNDBITE) (Eng
  • Embargoed: 16th September 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kuwait
  • Country: Kuwait
  • Topics: International Relations,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA3F1NPRIKYWAB1KG4442B4JTI8
  • Story Text: As U.S. troops continue to make their way out of Iraq, the equipment that has sustained and protected them for the past seven years is being moved out as well.
    Tons of gear and equipment are being moved by the U.S. forces from Joint Base Balad (JBB), north of Baghdad as U.S. operations in the country drawdown.
    As US troops mark the end of their combat operation in Iraq on Tuesday (August 31), across the border in neighboring Kuwait the biggest logistical operation since WWII, according to the military, is underway.
    Much of the materiel is being moved through al-Shuaiba port.
    Logistical operation coordinator, NCO John kelly, said al Shuaiba would be handling 12 to 15 ships a month.
    "On this particular vessel we're loading almost 1200 pieces of equipment; its a good cargo mix of trucks, track vehicles, containerized cargo, and construction equipment."
    Just under one million items worth $151 million, ranging from SUVs and Humvees to air conditioners, have been deemed surplus to U.S. requirements and donated to Iraqi security forces.
    Every day over the few past weeks, convoys of 40 or more trucks and troop carriers have rumbled south through hundreds of kilometres (miles) of desert to Kuwait.
    The convoys prefer to roll at night, to have clear roads and reduce the threat of roadside bomb attacks, mainly carried out in the south by Shi'ite militia, but with so much tonnage to be moved they have also been running at day through the pounding heat of the Iraqi summer.
    The U.S. military recently cut its strength to under 50,000 troops in Iraq, helping to make good on Obama's promise to end the war launched 7-1/2 years ago by his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush.
    The United States handed over control of all combat duties to Iraqi security forces on Aug. 7 and will move into an advisory role on Sept. 1, training and supporting Iraq's army and police.
    Most U.S. military units began switching their focus to training and assisting Iraqi troops and police when they pulled out of Iraqi towns and cities on June 30, 2009.
    U.S. forces have not been legally able to conduct unilateral operations in Iraq since a bilateral security agreement came into force in January 2009, and the U.S. military began a steady cut in troop numbers, from a peak of 176,000 soldiers.
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