A Soldiers Tale, Weapons of Mass Destruction
Matthew Davis
Matthew Davis is a veteran of the Iraqi war he has served in the US military for 9 years. Matt was deployed to Iraq, March of 2003 and served 15 months with his battalion, Bravo Company j. Bravo Company j was a special unit known as the Iraqi Survey Group(ISG). The mission of the ISG was to search for the infamous weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The ISG consisted of a total of 10 units, each unit performed at least 77 missions. Throughout these missions no evidence or components to create nuclear biological or chemical weapons (NBC) or WMD's were found. Speculation was, that the troops arrived years to late to find any evidence that may have provided support for George W. Bush and his administration claims. In hindsight speculation is what lead American troop's into a war in which American's know little about or chose to turn a blind eye to facts.
Matt was reservist when in the fall of 2002 he was informed he was being deployed to Iraq. He was never informed of the duties he would perform in Iraq until the day he arrived in Baghdad. His battalion was informed that they were part of a government project commissioned in 2003 by President G.W Bush, Pentagon and CIA. This program being the ISG. Much of Matt's training at Fort Dix was antiquated and did not prepare his battalion for this mission. The problems that arose at Fort Dix were many. For instance the winter weather in New Jersey could not be compared to the desert climate conditions in Iraq. There are several Military training bases located in desert climates through out the U.S., but the fact that the training manuals and tactics were being transcribed during the training process itself posed a problem. The military personal that were leading the the training had never been to Iraq, as a matter of fact their were veterans from the Iraq war to train in coming battlion's. So what we can gather from this information is, that if there were in fact WMD and this was the mission of Bravo Company J, then why was there no manual for training composed by the ISG? The only similarities between Fort Dix and Iraq were that they both could be classified as third world countries.
The article below was taken from a public event in which Frank Wolf spoke about the mission of the ISG to the USIP on December 13, 2006
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) gave the opening remarks and explained his role in creating the ISG after a third visit to Iraq last summer and seeing first-hand a worsening security situation there. He conceived the idea of gathering a group of distinguished Americans to independently put “fresh eyes” on a way forward in Iraq. Rep. Wolf commended the bipartisan work of the ISG and described its report as a way for the country to come together on Iraq.
http://www.usip.org/events/experts-discuss-iraq-study-group
If plan to recruit a group of distinguished Americans to perform a specific task, would it not make sense to provide them with the means to carry out the mission. Not in the case of the U.S. military, the soldiers that participated in this mission provided much of their own equipment. Matt had invested close to a thousand dollars if not more for equipment that the military did not provide him. But KBR employees which is a subsidiary of the Halliburton Company, were provided with salaries starting at $50,000 and received brand new vehicles to tool around Iraq in. The KBR is an American company that was award the contract to oversee the gas and oil monetization operation in Iraq. The Halliburton companies head CEO was Dick Cheney, he gave up this position to become VP of the U.S.
Upon Matt's arrival in Iraq he was notified that part of his mission would also include providing armed security and support for others working with the ISG, which included KBR employee's. The first facility Bravo Company J visited on their ghost chase was an old oily refinery and a paper making factory. At many of these faculties the soldiers were met by heavily armed civilians. No evidence of WMD were found at these faculties. Traveling along the roads to get from point A to B posed the most threat for soldiers. The roads of Iraq were paved with the unknown. Long these paths one would find car bombs, suicide bombers, and roadside bombs which are also know as IED, improved explosive devices.
Matt and his company were station at Camp Slayer. Camp Slayer is located in southeastern Baghdad, the camp was once the palatial vacation spot for Saddam Hussien's Ba'ath party. Once know as the Radwaniyah Presidential complex, which was composed of man made lakes and extravagant Palaces.This is also the site were most of the 1,200 or so American and British troops connected to the ISG mission resided as well as CIA, FBI and covert Special Force teams. Living among the garish remains of this once luxurious resort was often bitter sweet for those residing here. Most of the area was leveled by the first air strikes, assuming this was where Saddam Hussein was residing. The site of camp slayer holds an undeniable history that links America and Iraq.
Much of the media that Matt has come in contact with, either exploited or built negative stories about the Iraqi war. Much of the media in Iraq rarely leave the safety zone of the Green Area. What they often portray is destruction and devastation of the war. Its rare to have a reporter hype the fact that soldiers are rebuilding the country and trying to restore some sort of sane environment for the people of Iraq.
Often times one wonders why they are helping the people of Iraq. Many of the citizens hold remorse toward American soldiers. On base a market place was setup for Iraq people to sell their goods to the soldiers on the base. The market place was set up to aid the economic devastation many Iraqi's faced during these uncertain times in Iraq. Much to the dismay of the Military many of the people working in the market place were in possession of items used to build home made bombs. Needless to say the Market was shut down.
Many of the soldiers of this battalion are at odds as to the purpose of their mission and it legitimacy. So go so far as to say the they feel the war was unjustified. There are other countries that pose bigger threats to our nation that are in possession of WMD. Iraq just seemed like the easiest target and would pose the most resistance.
Once it was confirmed by the Duelfer reports that the ISG had only found remnants from 1980's era WMD program. Which included crates of shells and rockets buried along the Iranian border. Some if the WMD's contained degraded mustard and sarin nerve agents. Matt's battalions next mission was to pack up the over 48,000 boxes of paper work,audio tapes and video belonging to Saddam's regime. After this daunting task Bravo Company j was reassigned to a base where their duties were stand guard for 12 hours a day 6 days a week. Matt's final thoughts are as follows "Don't make the military a carrear, but use it to your advantage".
Much of what Matt had described about his time served in Iraq was quantified by viewing a documentary compiled by Jeremy Zerechak. The film Land of Confusion, is real footage of Bravo Company J, from the inception of their deployment to the final moments of their tour of duty.
Matt was reservist when in the fall of 2002 he was informed he was being deployed to Iraq. He was never informed of the duties he would perform in Iraq until the day he arrived in Baghdad. His battalion was informed that they were part of a government project commissioned in 2003 by President G.W Bush, Pentagon and CIA. This program being the ISG. Much of Matt's training at Fort Dix was antiquated and did not prepare his battalion for this mission. The problems that arose at Fort Dix were many. For instance the winter weather in New Jersey could not be compared to the desert climate conditions in Iraq. There are several Military training bases located in desert climates through out the U.S., but the fact that the training manuals and tactics were being transcribed during the training process itself posed a problem. The military personal that were leading the the training had never been to Iraq, as a matter of fact their were veterans from the Iraq war to train in coming battlion's. So what we can gather from this information is, that if there were in fact WMD and this was the mission of Bravo Company J, then why was there no manual for training composed by the ISG? The only similarities between Fort Dix and Iraq were that they both could be classified as third world countries.
The article below was taken from a public event in which Frank Wolf spoke about the mission of the ISG to the USIP on December 13, 2006
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) gave the opening remarks and explained his role in creating the ISG after a third visit to Iraq last summer and seeing first-hand a worsening security situation there. He conceived the idea of gathering a group of distinguished Americans to independently put “fresh eyes” on a way forward in Iraq. Rep. Wolf commended the bipartisan work of the ISG and described its report as a way for the country to come together on Iraq.
http://www.usip.org/events/experts-discuss-iraq-study-group
If plan to recruit a group of distinguished Americans to perform a specific task, would it not make sense to provide them with the means to carry out the mission. Not in the case of the U.S. military, the soldiers that participated in this mission provided much of their own equipment. Matt had invested close to a thousand dollars if not more for equipment that the military did not provide him. But KBR employees which is a subsidiary of the Halliburton Company, were provided with salaries starting at $50,000 and received brand new vehicles to tool around Iraq in. The KBR is an American company that was award the contract to oversee the gas and oil monetization operation in Iraq. The Halliburton companies head CEO was Dick Cheney, he gave up this position to become VP of the U.S.
Upon Matt's arrival in Iraq he was notified that part of his mission would also include providing armed security and support for others working with the ISG, which included KBR employee's. The first facility Bravo Company J visited on their ghost chase was an old oily refinery and a paper making factory. At many of these faculties the soldiers were met by heavily armed civilians. No evidence of WMD were found at these faculties. Traveling along the roads to get from point A to B posed the most threat for soldiers. The roads of Iraq were paved with the unknown. Long these paths one would find car bombs, suicide bombers, and roadside bombs which are also know as IED, improved explosive devices.
Matt and his company were station at Camp Slayer. Camp Slayer is located in southeastern Baghdad, the camp was once the palatial vacation spot for Saddam Hussien's Ba'ath party. Once know as the Radwaniyah Presidential complex, which was composed of man made lakes and extravagant Palaces.This is also the site were most of the 1,200 or so American and British troops connected to the ISG mission resided as well as CIA, FBI and covert Special Force teams. Living among the garish remains of this once luxurious resort was often bitter sweet for those residing here. Most of the area was leveled by the first air strikes, assuming this was where Saddam Hussein was residing. The site of camp slayer holds an undeniable history that links America and Iraq.
Much of the media that Matt has come in contact with, either exploited or built negative stories about the Iraqi war. Much of the media in Iraq rarely leave the safety zone of the Green Area. What they often portray is destruction and devastation of the war. Its rare to have a reporter hype the fact that soldiers are rebuilding the country and trying to restore some sort of sane environment for the people of Iraq.
Often times one wonders why they are helping the people of Iraq. Many of the citizens hold remorse toward American soldiers. On base a market place was setup for Iraq people to sell their goods to the soldiers on the base. The market place was set up to aid the economic devastation many Iraqi's faced during these uncertain times in Iraq. Much to the dismay of the Military many of the people working in the market place were in possession of items used to build home made bombs. Needless to say the Market was shut down.
Many of the soldiers of this battalion are at odds as to the purpose of their mission and it legitimacy. So go so far as to say the they feel the war was unjustified. There are other countries that pose bigger threats to our nation that are in possession of WMD. Iraq just seemed like the easiest target and would pose the most resistance.
Once it was confirmed by the Duelfer reports that the ISG had only found remnants from 1980's era WMD program. Which included crates of shells and rockets buried along the Iranian border. Some if the WMD's contained degraded mustard and sarin nerve agents. Matt's battalions next mission was to pack up the over 48,000 boxes of paper work,audio tapes and video belonging to Saddam's regime. After this daunting task Bravo Company j was reassigned to a base where their duties were stand guard for 12 hours a day 6 days a week. Matt's final thoughts are as follows "Don't make the military a carrear, but use it to your advantage".
Much of what Matt had described about his time served in Iraq was quantified by viewing a documentary compiled by Jeremy Zerechak. The film Land of Confusion, is real footage of Bravo Company J, from the inception of their deployment to the final moments of their tour of duty.
Camp Slayer
