The Power Hour
News Release
Did the US Military participate in
starting the Oil Well Fires of Kuwait in 1991?
The following is a transcript taken from a conversation with a Gulf War
veteran who claims to have taken part in such a mission.
JR: What was the branch of service that you served in.
GV: For different reasons, I’d rather not state that.
JR: Fair enough. There are a lot of people afraid of retaliation from
the Gulf War. Do you understand why they feel that way.
GV: Yes I do. I learned do to what I did in the service, to live in a
different world that most people have been lead to believe exists only
in their worst nightmares.
JR: Now you were involved in an operation in Kuwait that really no one
has heard about until this point in time. We’ve had five, four other
reports of people similar to yourself that have brought this to our
attention. You were chosen for a mission; and why do you think you were
chosen for this mission?
GV: We’re all a product of our environment, as a young man I watched
different movies and television shows, and I remember thinking how
incredibly cool Rambo was and… things of that nature. There was so many
media in the form of movies, and commercials television that primed me
to except the idea that to win was everything.
JR: And so the military sort of capitalizes on that feeling?
GV: Oh very much so. They, they find… a lot of times before they even
get you into boot camp where they can use your personality and…. your
morals and… they capitalize on these things and, and steer you as it
were into the training avenues where you will be most beneficial to
them.
JR: Lets go to the time of this mission in Kuwait. You were, where were
you when you learned about this mission?
GV: We had just gotten back into camp the day before, on a different
mission, and we were actually in our quarters resting when we were told
to muster out into the briefing tent, at which point a gentlemen who I
originally, who I had first assumed to be American but I was concerned
because he was wearing a U.N. uniform and insignias. He began to brief
us on the operation. He pointed out the strategic points. And we were
briefed as a group. There were probably 30 to 40 in the group. And then…
we were asked to leave, and our individual commanders were given the
objectives for their group. At which point our individual commanders
briefed us on our individual objectives, and then we went and… we drew
our gear. We were transported via armor personal carrier close to the
front at which point we set out on foot, I acted alone.
JR: Why were you told that you were going to be doing this mission? What
were you told was the purpose of this?
GV: There was concern that America, the American public, might see this
conflict as an unnecessary thing, and we were asked to do this… or we
were ordered to do this in order to remove any… to sway any public
opinion… American public opinion to remove any doubts whatsoever that
Saddam Hussein and his regime were a terrible evil that had to be dealt
with.
JR: And what branches of the service were represented in this briefing
tent?
GV: I recognized faces from the Navy Seals, Marine Force Recon, and
Delta Force.
JR: Ok, now you’re on your way on your mission. You’ve been taken by
armored personnel carrier, you’re dropped off to your area and what do
you do then?
GV: Well then we moved through gaps in our lines to where we’re actually
forward of the front… As the popular expression says “behind enemy
lines”. We traveled up, well I say we, well I, I was acting alone. My
mission objective was assigned to me personally. I did not have a, an
operative with me. I moved forward and I… I carried out my mission
parameters, and then I moved, and then I withdrew and concealed myself
until such a time as the front moved past me.
JR: Ok let me back up a second. You carried out your mission, lets talk
about that mission.
GV: Yes
JR: What was your mission? What were you told that you were supposed to
do?
GV: To damage… I was given (number deleted) Kuwaiti oil wells to damage
and to start a fire.
JR: And how did you do this?
GV: With the use of explosives and incendiaries.
JR: And how did you utilize these explosives? What were these
explosives?
GV: The explosive I used was C4. It’s light weight, its easy to use, its
very safe to transport. You take it and… a wellhead is nothing more than
a pipe sticking out of the ground with… with valves, and it’s not like a
water well where it, where you have a top that you can take off. It is
completely sealed due to the environmental concerns involved with crude
oil. The… depending on the sight of the well… the, the valve is any
where from three to six feet off of the ground. I placed the explosive
on the wellhead and the incendiaries near by so that after the… after
the wellhead was damaged, that the incendiary could light the crude oil
to fire.
JR: And did you light it yourself?
GV: No I actually transmitted a signal via a transmitter to a central
location.
JR: Which basically told them the well had been set?
GV: The well had been set and they could detonate it at their leisure.
JR: And what did you do then?
GV: Then I removed myself from the area… I egressed from the area and
concealed myself until our units had advanced forward of me.
JR: And, I don’t understand. Help me understand what you mean by that.
GV: The whole idea behind the operation was to make it as if look as if
the Republican Guard, while they were retreating, had set the oil wells
a fire in a panic to keep us from getting them… and to villainize them.
This mission would not have been achieved if our forces saw those
involved were not Republican Guard.
JR: In other words you were in fear of your own men seeing you
basically?
GV: That is correct.
JR: Did you see any body else in the oil well field at the time that you
were there?
GV: No I did not.
JR: So you then egressed from the area, made sure that your own men did
not see you, and then the oil well fires were started?
GV: Yes
JR: Did you see them start?
GV: I actually, due to where I was concealed I could not see them, but
due to the nature of … the operation you could feel the explosions and
you could hear the fire.
JR: So the story that we are told, that the Republican Guard in their
retreating, they started them very hastily, is not accurate?
GV: That is correct.
JR: Did you see any Republican Guard?
GV: In the entire (deleted) months that I spent in that theater of
operations I did not see one individual that wore a Republican Guard
uniform.
JR: Did you see any Iraqi troops that wore uniforms?
GV: I saw quite a few Iraqis troops that wore uniforms.
JR: But you saw no Republican Guards?
GV: I saw no Republican Guard Uniforms.
JR: After this period of time when you started the oil well fires, did
you have any concerns that you had started these fires, or did you think
it was for the best thing for this country?
GV: At the time, like I say due to the nature of my mind set, it did not
bother me.
JR: That was your job and your mission and you carried it out.
GV: That is correct.
JR: Well I appreciate very much your being frank with us and open about
this because there are many people that are now coming forward and
saying the same thing. That there were no Republican Guard anywhere
around, and that it was the American troops that actually started the
oil well fires. I want to thank you very much, is there any thing you
want to say in closing?
GV: I believe it’s a shame that our government is getting ready to
repeat mistakes… I believe. I went over to fight what I thought was a
common enemy of the world, and I watched my friends bleed and die for
this cause, only for us to be stopped short of our objective, our final
objective. I have no reason to believe that it will be any different
this time. And I understand the necessity for the loss of life to
protect our country. But loss and waste are two very different things.
JR: And why are you coming forward, right now in saying this?
GV: I feel that for us to return over there with this current
administrations mind set that it would, that history would only repeat
itself.
JR: Thank you very much, I do thank you, I salute you for what you are
doing.
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