The story is set in Britain and the characters have all signed the Official Secrets Act. The Gulf War is over. Another is brewing.There is always conflict, only those that saw it first hand can truly judge the headlines.

This was just another war story on CNN, merely filler in the 24hr news programming of the day. Now almost totally forgotten by the world at large.

The item ran as follows:
During the closing stages of Operation: DESERT STORM a joint allied force of 25 US Marines from 303 Airborne Platoon a 3 four-man squads of British Army 16th Air Assault Brigade Pathfinders mounted an attack on a small military position in northern Iraq. Successfully destroying a sensitive Iraqi chemical weapons factory. The mission was a morale booster to the flagging American home press that was tired of tales of laser-guided smart missiles and elusive SCUD launcher sites.

This was a lie.

In military terms the story is mostly the same as the above passage with alterations to the events as follows:

The installation was identified by satellite, a collection of low hanger like buildings and barrack blocks served by three desert MSRs not far from the Syrian border. The site was known locally as Samara.

From the British forward operations base in the UN-controlled Syrian province of Firalti the planning and preparations for the incursion were made. Upon issue of the Green Light order the men left RAF Firalti at dusk and flew across the border in two RAF Chinook Helicopters under cover of darkness in order to commence the attack at 04:30hrs: first light.

The operation was a disaster. 23 Marines and 9 Pathfinders were thereafter listed as MIA after failing to make the FRV. It was assumed those that survived the battle died during interrogation by Iraqi Tactical Command.

During the exfil phase one of the Chinooks was brought down by rocket fire. The other was only able to bring back five survivors.

There is no record of a debriefing at RAF Firalti. No record exists of the Chinooks flight plans or navigation charts. The survivors were listed as joining a UN medical detachment and being flown back to their respective commands.

The reports of the few survivors have never been collated. No official paperwork exists for the mission. If it were not for the living survivors, no record at all would stand to say a contact was present there.

You know more.

The British were all SAS. You know this secret and a few of the uncollated facts surrounding the mission. This is hidden beneath the shield of the British Official Secrets Act and military departmental underhandedness.

Something happened at Samara, something that elements within the British, Americans and UN coalition sought to hide. The mission that became Operation: TORCHLIGHT is known to a select few, its motives occluded in red tape and misdirection.

There is more to know.


Credits: Chris Glew