">Forum Views () 
">Forum Replies ()  
 
 
Read more with google mobile :
Newly in Iraq, Army troops heading to Afghanistan  
 
 
Yahoo!
My Yahoo!
Mail
Yahoo! Search
Search:
Sign InNew User? Sign Up
News Home -
Help
  
 
  
Navigation
Primary Navigation
 
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular
Secondary Navigation
 
Africa
Europe
Latin America
Middle East
North America
 
Search
 
 
Search:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Newly in Iraq, Army troops heading to Afghanistan
 
 
 
 
 
 
 By CHELSEA J. CARTER,Associated Press Writer AP - Tuesday, April 21
BAGHDAD - Only in Iraq a few weeks, nearly 500 U.S. Army combat engineers who specialize in clearing roads of explosives learned they were being shipped off to southern Afghanistan, one of the clearest signs of America's shifting wartime priorities.
ADVERTISEMENT
  
The transfer, which moved into its final stages Monday, is the largest movement so far of personnel and equipment from Iraq as President Barack Obama puts the focus on the fight in the Taliban heartland.
"We are probably going to be the beginning of the influx you are going to see to Afghanistan," Lt. Col. Kevin Landers, commander of the Fort Carson, Colo.-based 4th Engineer Battalion, said as crews packed crates and cleaned vehicles for the flight to Kandahar.
It's now clear some of the troops and firepower will flow directly from Iraq, where the Pentagon plans to gradually draw down its more than 132,000 personnel before the withdrawal of all combat forces by September 2010.
Obama has ordered 17,000 more U.S. soldiers and Marines to Afghanistan to bolster the 38,000 American troops already battling the resurgent Taliban.
"We are going to take this footprint out of Iraq," said Landers, whose battalion received word of its reassignment last month just after taking command of clearing roads in Baghdad of bombs and debris.
Since then, his troops have conducted routine operations while preparing for their departure.
They won't be replaced _ another sign of America's evolving military map.
By the end of next year, the U.S. military presence could be down to about 30,000 to 50,000 personnel to train and advise Iraqi security forces. Plans call for all American forces to leave Iraq by the end of 2012.
Military officials have publicly said they would not redirect large numbers of soldiers directly from Iraq to Afghanistan. Quietly, though, the military has been sending troops and equipment for months.
In late March, the Fort Sill, Okla.-based 100th Brigade Support Battalion was moved from the giant U.S. base in Balad, 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Baghdad, to southern Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, a stream of military transport planes has been ferrying helicopters, vehicles, weapons and other equipment from Iraq to Afghanistan.
But this week's airlift of the 4th Engineer Battalion "is the largest unit movement of personnel and gear from Iraq to Afghanistan to date," said Lt. Col. Dave Dancer, operations chief for the 225th Engineer Brigade, which oversees the 4th Engineers.
The battalion arrived in Iraq in late February. Four days after taking command in mid-March, it received new orders: pack up and compete its 12-month deployment in Afghanistan, said Landers, 42, of Atlanta.
The battalion began sending troops and equipment _ everything from giant tow trucks and bulldozers to desks and chairs _ last week, said Command Sgt. Major Anthony Archer, 41, of Austin, Texas. The transition is expected to be completed within weeks.
On Monday, soldiers were busy cleaning wrecker trucks, which are used to haul damaged or broken down military equipment, before loading them on airplanes to send later in the week.
Sgt. Tony Hardy, 38, of Fountain, Colo., said his troops hadn't had time to think too much about the move.
"Just keep them busy. Keep them working and it keeps their mind on what we have got to do and not what they may have to do," Hardy said.
Landers and Archer broke the news to the soldiers in late March at Camp Victory, the main U.S. military base in Iraq.
"We told them what we had in front of us ... and that we needed them to pull together as a team," Landers said. Families in Colorado were later told in a video conference.
Landers said his soldiers will face challenges with the new assignment _ from new terrain to a new enemy to new tactics.
But he said the battalion drilled at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif., where troops are put through combat scenarios meant to replicate hazards faced in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"There wasn't necessarily a signal, something that said we were going to go," Pfc. Angela Dubose, 25, of Duluth, Ga., said of the unit's new orders. "But it sort of made sense."
She said she broke the news to her family over the phone.
"When I left, I told my family to expect the unexpected," she said.
Although violence is down sharply across Iraq, a gradual rise in attacks recently has brought worries the relative calm may not last.
A suicide bomber wearing an Iraqi army uniform attacked a U.S. military delegation visiting the mayor of violence-wracked Baqouba on Monday, killing three Iraqi civilians and wounding at least eight American soldiers as well as three Iraqi policemen and other people.
Police officials said the bomber was disguised as a soldier _ a tactic used before to pass through checkpoints _ but U.S. forces have been attacked by actual members of Iraqi security forces as well.
The bombing occurred as a group of Iraqi officials, led by Mayor Abdullah al-Hiyali, waited at the main gate of the municipal building to greet the U.S. soldiers, said Raad al-Dahalaki, the deputy mayor of Baqouba, 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad.
"When the U.S. soldiers left their vehicles and started to walk toward the building, a man wearing a military uniform mingled with the crowd of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi policemen and set off the explosion," al-Dahalaki said.
___
Associated Press writer Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.
 
 
 
Email Story
IM Story
Printable View
Blog This
 
 
   
Recommend this article
0 users recommend
Sign in to recommend this article »
Most Recommended Stories »
  
Related Articles: World
NY Times wins 5 Pulitzers amid financial crisisAP -  35 minutes ago
Oversight panel has bailout questions for GeithnerAP -  35 minutes ago
FBI's newest 'Most Wanted' terrorist is AmericanAP -  36 minutes ago
Divided committee to vote on health secretaryAP -  38 minutes ago
PROMISES, PROMISES: Obama and black farmersAP -  39 minutes ago
 
 
 
 
Most Popular – World
 
 
 
 
 
 Viewed
 
 
 
 
Police nab Norwegian pair during high-speed sex
 
 
Physicist Stephen Hawking 'very ill': university
 
 
'Beginner's luck' may lay trail to Cleopatra tomb
 
 
PepsiCo beats profits forecast
 
 
Bank of America profits roar, but loan losses loom
 
 
View Complete List »
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Search:
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Top Stories
Most Popular
Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy 
- Terms of Service 
- Community 
- Intellectual Property Rights Policy 
- Help
        
    
   
 
Other News on Tuesday, 21 April 2009 NATO release of pirates sends wrong signal: Clinton
| International
|  
Russia gives cautious response to Obama nuclear plan
| International
|  
Cartel tells smugglers to live clean life
| International
|  
Ties to poor boost Ecuador's Correa before vote
| International
|  
Germany reports worrying rise in far-right crime
| International
|  
Videogamers show signs of addictive behavior: study
| Technology
|  
Oracle to buy Sun Micro, enters hardware market
| Technology
|  
Nokia sells mobile TV technology unit
| Technology
|  
Text query firm launches new media service
| Technology
|  
Microsoft CEO very surprised by Oracle-Sun deal
| Technology
|  
Page Not Found |  
Da Vinci Code follow-up due in September
| Entertainment
|  
Israel seeks U.S. cannon to fight Gaza rockets  
Friends say imprisoned journalist is Iran's pawn  
Newly in Iraq, Army troops heading to Afghanistan  
Oxfam predicts millions more victims of climate  
Suicide bomb kills at least four at Iraq checkpoint  
Robust profits mask problems in bank sector  
Israel: Sirens wail in memory of Holocaust  
Physicist Stephen Hawking 'very ill': university  
UN chief condemns Ahmadinejad speech on Israel  
Bank of America profits roar, but loan losses loom  
Obama to cut budget by $100 mln  
More people live with paralysis than doctors knew  
Pirate suspect's dad says voyage was boy's 1st  
Oxfam predicts millions more victims of climate  
Obama given euphoric CIA welcome  
Oxfam fears climate change could sink aid  
Blackwater out of Iraq? No, not yet  
US marks Columbine, 10 years on  
US-TECH Summary  
Mexico approves Cuban-American as US ambassador  
Cyberspies hack into U.S. fighter project: report  
Court asked to allow ex-Nazi guard's deportation  
Web-only newspapers? Don't junk the presses yet  
Obama proposes $100 bln loan for IMF war chest  
Boston police arrest 'Craigslist killer': report  
Obama moves spark hope and uncertainty in Cuba  
Google, AT&T and Twitter executives visit Iraq  
Google refines searches for pictures and news  
Russia pulls out of NATO meeting over Georgia  
IBM net profit down but beats expectations  
Russia's Medvedev offers to rewrite energy rules  
Fox News taps MySpace for citizen journalists  
Adobe's Flash video player leaps from Web to TV  
Software giant Oracle buys Java whiz Sun  
Nokia sells mobile TV technology unit  
Taiwan probing military bribery claims  
Somali pirates free Philippine tanker, 23 crew  
Japan PM sends offering to war shrine  
Malaysian ex-leader decries media coverage of PM  
China: success in Olympic anti-piracy campaign  
China says planning more dams on troubled Yangtze  
KRouge prison chief held 'self-criticism' meetings  
Three sentenced over arson in 2008 Tibet riots  
Thai state of emergency extended by new protest  
Taiwan to test China by meeting allies  
India central bank cuts lending rates, growth view  
Russia, China finalise oil pipeline deal  
India's central bank cuts rates by 25 basis points  
Seoul shares end flat; LG Elec up after results  
Asia markets stabilise, 'lengthy' recovery ahead  
Greeks seek refuge in coffee shops amid slump  
Philippine growth in Q1 seen at 2.1-3.1 pct  
Serbia taps Westerners for medical tourism  
Toyota's domestic output to hit three-decade low  
Spokesman: Jackie Chan comments out of context  
Japan Airlines seeks two-bln-dlr govt loan  
Tourists flock to crisis-stricken Iceland  
Report: Toyota sees Japan output at 31 year low  
Chinese modern dance enjoys taste of freedom  
Japan Airlines mulls state loans as travel slumps  
Heir to The New York Herald Tribune dies at 95  
For chefs in Canada, a tasty seal of approval  
Green Day announces summer tour  
Coachella organizers pull plug on the Cure  
Downey, Foxx duet memorably in "Soloist"  
Iraqi victims outraged at slow Blackwater exit  
Iran says U.S.-Iranian reporter appeals jail term  
Israel remembers Holocaust; seething over Iran  
'Silent' heart attacks go unnoticed: study  
Turkish police detain 19 in al Qaeda raids  
Happiest European children in Netherlands  
Israel wants to buy US missile defense system  
UK inflation negative for first time since 1960  
Credit Suisse to pay for losses on Lehman products  
House hearings heat up debate over climate change  
Supreme Court limits warrantless vehicle searches  
Court says terror victim family can't claim money  
Colleges push tuition aid for illegal immigrants  
NTSB: Bus that crashed killing 9 was speeding  
Pistachio product recalls  
Penguin signs China e-book deal as sales rise in U.S.  
DA, Craigslist suspect shared a tool: Computers  
Somali pirate arrives in NYC, awaits court hearing  
Cisco offers security for "cloud" computing  
Cuban prisoners don't want to be traded for spies  
Oman punishes Internet writer for govt leak  
Stocks fluctuate after lackluster earnings reports  
IMF: Losses from global credit crisis mounting  
Russia intercepts Georgian spy: reports  
Russian oil tycoon Khodorkovsky pleads not guilty  
Georgian rebels free OSCE observers: mission  
Jailed tycoon Khodorkovsky pleads not guilty  
Inter-Korean talks end shortly after starting  
Khmer Rouge defendant says guards taught to hate  
Sri Lanka rebels: 1,000 civilians die in govt raid  
Five killed in Indian Kashmir blast ahead of polls  
Two Koreas end rare talks without agreement  
UN official says war on drugs has failed  
Two Koreas hold rare talks after fight over venue  
India central bank cuts lending rates, growth view  
Moderate earthquake hits northern Japan  
Pakistan boosts police pay as violence grows  
SK Energy shuts No.1 unit on weak margins  
Sanofi-Aventis widens Asian dengue vaccine trials  
Allianz sees 2009 profit in Taiwan, to stay in mkt  
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary  
S.Korea wins $170m in renewable energy investment  
Jimmy Dean, wife unhurt as fire damages Va. home  
South Korea exports probably bottomed; outlook tough  
Music Web site MUZU signs Universal deal  
Kazakh official raises specter of recession  
Jay Leno to give free show in hard-hit Ohio city  
Thai govt says to cut 2010 spend by 5.6 bln dlrs  
Lauryn Hill to headline Stockholm Jazz Festival  
Taiwan dlr at near 2-wk closing low on fund outflows  
Part-timer joins pop giants on UK Ivor award list  
Central Europe shopping map redrawn  
Japan stocks tumble on renewed bank fears  
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro  
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found  
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever  
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production  
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time  
AMD to Start Production of piledriver  
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs  
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia  
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air  
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch  
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent  
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up  
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform  
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis  
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets  
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights