U.S. hands oil terminal to Iraqi navy in first step

U.S. and British forces handed over to the Iraqi navy Thursday responsibility for protecting one of the country's crucial floating oil export terminals.In a ceremony on the rusting Khor al-Amaya platform, which handles 10 percent of oil exports from the southern oil hub of Basra, the commander of Task Force Iraqi Maritime, Admiral Tom Cropper, lauded a "breakthrough" in Iraqi military independence.The Khor al-Amaya floating oil terminal is by far the smaller of the two platforms serving Basra, and Cropper acknowledged that the decision to hand its security over first meant Thursday's ceremony marked a small, initial step...