War in Iraq

Leaving Iraq

by Nikki Tundel, Minnesota Public Radio

The withdrawal of U.S. troops after the 1991 Persian Gulf War took seven months. And no one was shooting at them as they tried to head home.

St. Paul, Minn. — President Bush says withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq now would result in chaos and mass casualties. But that hasn't stopped some from calling for an immediate end to the war.

Senate Democrats submitted a proposal for a full-scale pullout by the end of April 2008, but they failed to get the legislation passed. House Democrats are planning to vote on a new redeployment plan requesting that the president begin withdrawing troops within 60 days.

Of course, no matter when it happens, leaving Iraq won't be easy -- at least not logistically. As one Army official puts it, moving out will be "like picking up Los Angeles and putting all the pieces somewhere else."

Reporter Nikki Tundel takes a look at just what it would take to get 160,000 troops and billions of pounds of military equipment out of a war zone.