By Elizabeth Dwoskin and Gopal Ratnam – As the Army’s logistics chief for the Iraq drawdown, it’s U.S. Army Major General Thomas Richardson’s job to tally all the equipment and supplies the Pentagon has shipped to Iraq over eight years of war, and to make sure none is inadvertently left behind on Dec. 31, the day the U.S. officially clears out. When he took the assignment in September 2010, the Army had identified just over 2 million items at 92 bases that had to be sent back to the U.S., moved to Afghanistan, sold, given away, or destroyed. He estimated it would take about 20,000 truckloads to get all of it.
Richardson’s bigger challenge is finding takers for all the things the military no longer wants. An Alabama school district happily took eight used trombones and clarinets. U.S. towns and counties can petition the Pentagon for some of the leftovers and pay only shipping costs. Cleveland County, Okla., paid $42,000 for a used Caterpillar (CAT) bulldozer that is now clearing roads and public parks. A volunteer fire department in South Dakota bought advanced firefighting equipment it otherwise could not have afforded… more> http://twurl.nl/lgbxv3
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- The War In Iraq Is Finally Over (outsidethebeltway.com)
- Commentary: Americans can agree that the Iraq war was a mistake (telegraph.co.uk)
