Iraq Drawdown Continues

The commander of the last US division headquarters and organization in Iraq told reporters Thursday that he is pleased with the US military’s drawdown process so far. Army Maj. Gen. Bernard Champoux, commanding general of the US Division Center in support of US Forces-Iraq, said the process has been both a “dream come true” and a “nightmare” for logisticians who have been working out of Camp Virginia in Kuwait for more than a month. “This is just an enormous task. . . . You can just imagine the amount of people and equipment that have to move,” said Champoux via teleconference from Iraq. “But, this has all been part of a very deliberate, thoughtful plan. It’s been well synchronized.” There are still about 3,400 truckloads of gear—some 374,000 pieces of equipment—to haul out of Iraq by year’s end, he said. That includes everything from vehicles to computers. Most of the equipment already removed “has gone directly . . . back to the United States,” said Champoux. But much equipment also has gone into Kuwait for processing for onward movement back to the United States, or to maintain stocks in Kuwait, he said. (Champoux transcript)