Australian Combat Troops End Iraq Deployment
By Phil Mercer
Sydney
02 June 2008
Australian combat troops have begun leaving Iraq. Their departure fulfills an election promise by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who pledged to pull his country's out of Iraq by the middle of 2008. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.
For Australia's 550 combat soldiers, the war in Iraq is over.
They have begun leaving their base at Tallil, 300 kilometers south of Baghdad, where they have been helping to train Iraqi security forces.
They have handed their military responsibilities over to American units.
In southern Iraq, a ceremony was held to mark Australia's exit from a conflict that has been widely unpopular back home.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-06-02-voa8.cfm
Good news.
By Phil Mercer
Sydney
02 June 2008
Australian combat troops have begun leaving Iraq. Their departure fulfills an election promise by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who pledged to pull his country's out of Iraq by the middle of 2008. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.
For Australia's 550 combat soldiers, the war in Iraq is over.
They have begun leaving their base at Tallil, 300 kilometers south of Baghdad, where they have been helping to train Iraqi security forces.
They have handed their military responsibilities over to American units.
In southern Iraq, a ceremony was held to mark Australia's exit from a conflict that has been widely unpopular back home.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-06-02-voa8.cfm
Good news.
