Army - The Soldiers' Newspaper

Maj 'Chris' inspects a weapons training system during a search for materials at Taji, 40km North of Baghdad.
Photo by WO2 Al Green, 1JPAU(P)

On a long dusty road in Iraq
Aussies play a key role in looking for WMD

By WO2 Al Green
BAGHDAD shimmers in the early morning heat and dust as a coalition convoy slowly winds its way north. At either end providing security are US Rangers manning heavy weapons. Within the convoy are members of Iraq Survey Group (ISG) consisting of Australian, British and American service personnel.

Despite the early start, nobody is relaxing, they are keeping their weapons at the ready and are watching their flanks for ambush, as nowhere is safe on this road and there are no totally safe roads in Iraq. The danger of road travel is one factor in the difficult task that members of ISG face as they seek to discover and destroy the former Ba'ath regime's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) capabilities, including its delivery systems and the research, development, and training which supported it.

It is a training centre 50km north of Baghdad where the team is off to today, in order to collect and analyse materials and documents pertaining to weapons systems, their variants and training methods. This information in turn will give an insight to the former regime's weapons system employment.

Taji, today's destination, is a sprawling train-wreck of a place - a mass grave for Iraqi armour and wrecked helicopters from the previous Gulf War. But the convoy members give this scant regard, it's a set of nondescript low-lying buildings and warehouses that draw their attention - these will be the subjects of today's search.

It's brutally hot - pushing 50 degrees - and although the area is secured, body armour stays on. The reason for this is that although each building to be searched has already been cleared of explosives, there is a small chance of enemy action.

Helmets (which are easy to don in case of immediate threat) are, at this stage, permitted to be removed and are stacked neatly nearby with webbing - just in case. When the team is dealing with live ordnance the lids are back on no-matter how hot it gets.

Sweating profusely the experts get down to work. The ISG teams consist of members from America, Australia and Britain who are specialist and subject-matter experts with extensive experience. The Australians on task today specialise in missile and radar systems. As they work over the systems and data, their depth of knowledge is well evident as they pick up variants or confirm text-book descriptions of the systems that they examine.

The US Rangers who provided security for the convoy now shadow the ISG personnel, watching their back so that they can concentrate on the task at hand without fear of surprise attack. One Ranger limps slightly. SSgt Josh Garrison was wounded when his Humvee damaged the week before on escort duties near this location. His uniform and leg still bears signs of shrapnel. But now he is back on duty and focussed on the task - there is no doubt Rangers are a tough crew.

The ISG personnel are also proving their toughness and tenacity. The searched buildings are full of broken glass, rubbish, faeces and wild dogs that sniff and growl, cowering away as they are evicted from their squats. Somewhere under all this lie clues to the way the former regime trained its forces. It's a tedious and exacting affair, collecting documents and materials.

It's also heavy work as missile system trainers are loaded into containers and man-handled out to the collection area. Commander Australian Forces Air Cdre Graham Bentley with the group on a fact-finding visit, pitches in and lends a hand - rank means little in Iraq when there's a job to do.

Over lunch everybody tucks into an American ration pack (MRE) - the Aussies in Baghdad have been on them for two-months solid. An Aussie reading the packet queries "what the hell is smoke flavouring?" The Rangers demonstrate some of their specialist recipes to make the crackers more palatable and SSgt Garrison tells us about his family's reaction to his attack.

"When I told my five year old daughter that my car just got blown-up all she said was "was it fun Daddy?" - I think I gotta talk to that girl about her idea of fun." Perhaps just another Ranger in the making.

By 1300 hours the buildings bake like ovens but the effort is still relentless. The effort has to be, according to the Australian Commander within the ISG, Brig Steve Meekin..

"We are up against the legacy of a tough, skilled and cunning adversary," he said.

But as Brig Meekin pointed out, one thing in the ISG's favour is its access to leads from the exploitation of documents and computer media, along with the results of interrogations of high-profile former Baathists, both of which are a great help to its work.

"We've also debriefed cooperative Iraqi citizens and have the capabilities of coalition intelligence and security agencies to rely upon," he said.

Brig Meekin said that another factor assisting the group's endeavours is that, despite potential ambushes, the ISG has full and unfettered freedom of movement and access in Iraq. But this full and free access comes at the price of constant vigilance.

Leaving the secure compound at Taji, security personnel warn that "an RPG ambush back in Baghdad has taken out three guys, so go easily and stay alert."