DAY ONE: Burgess Memoirs from Kuwait
Posted by
Michelle Stein
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February 16, 2004
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Codel Davis 16 Feb 2004
This morning we arrived in Kuwait at 9 a.m. local time (this would have corresponded to 2 a.m. in Washington DC). All in all a long, but uneventful flight.
A stopover in Shannon, Ireland got us in contact with about 200 servicemen who were returning to Fort Dix from Kosovo. Their deployment had been for eight months, and they were happy to be returning home. This underscored the fact that, while we were traveling to the Middle East, there were in fact other deployments around the world which also occupied our military.
We also stopped for fuel in Sicily, around midnight local time. The warm Mediterranean breezes and humid night air made me promise myself that a return to this area was indeed justified.
Because of a significant amount of jet lag, the schedule was somewhat short today. After checking into the hotel we didn't take eight-hour trip to Camp Doha. This will be the site of the largest troop movement since the Second World War. From now until and of May, approximately 250,000 soldiers will pass through this camp either leaving the theater or arriving in country. Clearly very demanding logistics and staging will occupy the command at this post for the several months to come.
We were given a briefing this afternoon by General David McKienan of the Third Army. This was given in a secure room at the Centcom Headquarters at Camp Doha. General Mckienan stressed the importance of interconnectivity of all of the command and control functions at his headquarters. A rather impressive roomful of computers, maps and specialists brought the General minute-by-minute account of what was happening throughout the entire theater. Since one of his main functions is to coordinate the supplies moving to the various posts throughout Iraq, it is imperative that this type of the information be immediately available.
The General did stress that although his location is the country of Kuwait, they are still clearly in an active combat zone. While there have been no actual incidents inside the camp itself, there have been altercations at the checkpoints leading into the camp.
He went on to further outlined that every terrorist group has some type of representation within the country of Kuwait.
His current location is 460 mi. to the city of Baghdad, and over 800 trucks each day leave his location to carry supplies northward. Because of activities by insurgents along the route, force protection is a necessary and significant part of his operation.
When questioned about troop morale the General, without hesitation, stated that it was excellent. Areas of concern involve the length of the rotation the soldiers currently are experiencing. Because of the longer rotations retention may be an issue in the future and he encouraged us as members of Congress to keep this fact in mind when dealing with issues such as troop pay and benefits.
This evening we met with members of the Kuwaiti diplomatic corps and various representatives of business industries in this country.
In Kuwait, the United States has a special relationship because of the leading role the US had in liberating Kuwait after it was attacked and occupied by Iraq in 1991. When the United States needed assistance with the planned military activity in Iraq last year, the country of Kuwait provided almost 40% of its surface area for staging the deployment into Iraq. The United States has had the use of one-half of the Kuwait airport for the past year and a half.
Most people in Kuwait with whom I have spoken are quite emphatic about their support for the United States. Many Kuwaitis were arrested, imprisoned, murdered or simply disappeared during the Iraq occupation in 1991.
Tonight at dinner, I had a long conversation with Mr. Abdullah Al-Roumi, who is the director of the Kuwait oil-tanker Company. During the occupation, he fled across the desert with a Bedouin guide and eventually safely made it into the country of Saudi Arabia. More than once he was confronted by occupying Iraqis and threatened with death, and for reasons that Mr. Al-Roumi attributes to divine intervention, his life was spared. He did make it into the country of Saudi Arabia and returned to his home after the Iraqi occupation ended.
Because of the lateness of the hour and a significant amount of jet lag, the evening concluded with a promise that we would try to meet with Abdullah again tomorrow after our plane returns from Baghdad. Certainly his story was very compelling and he likely will be a rich resource for at least anecdotal information about the previous Iraqi occupation. While he acknowledged that the price America is paying for the current military activity as far as dollars and lives, he is convinced the action that we took was absolutely necessary because of the proven aggressive and criminal intent of the previous leaders of Iraq.
