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Under Cover
Hilltop Times ^ | November 26, 2003 | Kari Tilton

Posted on 11/30/2003 3:30:53 PM PST by Ex-Dem

Standing atop Saddam Hussein’s presidential palace, Walter Davis witnessed first-hand the “shock and awe” campaign that marked the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom in March.

Watching as United States aircraft dropped bomb after bomb on strategic targets throughout Baghdad, Davis, a counter-intelligence expert, said he didn’t expect the Iraqi people to cooperate in his search for guerilla forces hiding throughout the country.

Much to his surprise, it was Iraqi citizens who were his greatest asset. In fact, the people were eager to provide critical intelligence information, he said.

“We didn’t have enough people to respond to all the Iraqi offers to help us,” said Davis, whose name has been changed to conceal his identity. “We worked together (with Iraqis) to track down our enemies.”

For six months, Davis, deployed from Hill’s Air Force Office of Special Investigation unit, worked with Iraqi citizens to thwart attacks on United States and coalition forces. Davis and his partner, also an OSI agent, lived as squatters much of the time, roaming from village to village targeting the elusive enemy with human intelligence.

“I never met an Iraqi who didn’t want us there and didn’t want to help us identify and eliminate various threats in their communities,” he said. “Most are grateful to us for toppling Saddam Hussein’s regime. Many said, ‘Praise be to God for the coalition’ asking, ‘If the U.S. didn’t come, who would?’”

Based out of a safe house in Baghdad, the agents infiltrated groups made up of former Fedayeen soldiers loyal to Hussein and other resistance forces entering Iraq from bordering countries.

In one instance, a group of concerned citizens came forward with information that helped prevent an assassination attempt on Paul Bremmer, head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, by a loosely organized group of former Fedayeen, he said.

Davis used his fluency in Arabic and his dark hair and brown eyes to gain the trust of the Iraqi people. He and his partner grew beards, dressed in clothing common to the region and traveled in an ordinary car that would be driven by any citizen there.

Davis says he was welcomed by the Iraqis as a brother.

“For the most part, we let people draw their own conclusions about why we were there. Most people assumed that I was an American of Lebanese descent working in Baghdad as a security advisor,” he said.

The agents’ cover enabled them to travel through the country with relative ease. But, in spite of being welcomed with open arms by most Iraqi citizens, Davis says they were prepared for an attack every time they traveled into downtown Baghdad. U.S. forces were being attacked nearly every day in the city.

“We couldn’t be sure that it wouldn’t be our turn each time we went out,” Davis said, adding that they were equally concerned with the threat of criminal violence and kidnapping.

The agents watched their backs and “dressed for success,” each time they went downtown. In other words, they were heavily armed, or as Davis puts, it “armed to the teeth.” Needless to say, the agents were careful about who they approached for information. Usually, they waited for Iraqis to come to them, he said.

After thorough confirmation and corroboration of intelligence information, the agents teamed with special forces troops to apprehend suspects. Most enemy soldiers taken into custody feared torment and death by the coalition, according to Davis.

“Evidence of Saddam’s brutality could be seen with the detainees who were convinced we were going to torture and kill them during interrogations. One man crouched in the corner of a holding cell sobbing ‘Please don’t electrocute me!’ This is a vivid example of the differences in our military tactics verses those of Hussein,” Davis said, adding that most of these prisoners had scars from torture they suffered at the hands of Hussein’s henchmen.

In addition to tracking down coalition resistance, the agents fished for information regarding weapons stockpiles that were just about everywhere, he said. Weapons “caches” that included plastic explosives, rocket propelled grenades, mortar rounds, and surface-to-air-missiles were commonplace. Davis and his partner confiscated weapons by the thousands.

In another demonstration of Iraqi cooperation, sheiks — religious community leaders — worked closely with the agents to root out Iraqi resistance holed up in their neighborhoods, worried their people might get caught in the crossfire.

“We spent hours and hours speaking with local religious leaders on the fates of their villages. Our message was, ‘We are here for you,’” Davis said.

Another top concern to the sheiks was their local infrastructure including electricity and running water as well as the health of their people.

The agents did whatever they could to make life better for their newly found friends, delivering medical and hygiene supplies, such as pre-natal vitamins and escorting teams of Army engineers into neighborhoods to update antiquated water systems.

“We worked closely with one local tribal council to identify critical infrastructures that were in need of repair. We focused on their water system, which was mostly out of commission,” he said.

The agents also trained a group of Iraqi police in common arrest tactics and techniques used by westernized countries and even taught a class to school children on the proper way to brush their teeth.

After spending six months among the Iraqi people, Davis says that he formed a strong bond with them and was most struck by their proud and resilient nature. Saying he is hopeful for the future of Iraq, he points to great strides already being made there.

“As a testament to the democratic values being instilled, any Iraqi can now voice a dissenting opinion against the political processes or opponents without fear of being killed along with their family,” Davis said.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: airforce; iraq; osi; undercover; usaf
Talk about moxy...

Oh, and check out the picture of him standing on a mound of AK-47s (follow the link).

1 posted on 11/30/2003 3:30:54 PM PST by Ex-Dem
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To: Ragtime Cowgirl
*PING*

Something you might be interested in.

For six months, Davis, deployed from Hill’s Air Force Office of Special Investigation unit, worked with Iraqi citizens to thwart attacks on United States and coalition forces. Davis and his partner, also an OSI agent, lived as squatters much of the time, roaming from village to village targeting the elusive enemy with human intelligence.

“I never met an Iraqi who didn’t want us there and didn’t want to help us identify and eliminate various threats in their communities,” he said. “Most are grateful to us for toppling Saddam Hussein’s regime. Many said, ‘Praise be to God for the coalition’ asking, ‘If the U.S. didn’t come, who would?’”

2 posted on 11/30/2003 3:36:28 PM PST by Ex-Dem ([N]o [B]alance in [C]overage)
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To: Ex-Dem

3 posted on 11/30/2003 3:38:35 PM PST by martin_fierro (_____oooo_(_°_¿_°_)_oooo_____)
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To: Ex-Dem
Standing atop Saddam Hussein’s presidential palace, Walter Davis witnessed first-hand the “shock and awe” campaign that marked the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom in March.

This first sentence makes me regard the rest of the article with great skepticism. IIRC, the presidential palaces were some of the first (and most heavily)-targeted buildings on S&A night one. (Guess I'll go check my videotapes...)

Either somebody is lying -- or this guy is one lucky dumb@SS!

4 posted on 11/30/2003 4:13:28 PM PST by TXnMA (No Longer!!! -- and glad to be back home in God's Gountry!!)
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To: TXnMA
To be evenhanded, I guess I should admit that he might have been privy to some exceptionally good pre-strike intel as to exactly would be targeted on S&A night one...

...still skeptical -- or 'sceptical', if you prefer...

Webster's says both spellings are correct...

5 posted on 11/30/2003 4:21:54 PM PST by TXnMA (No Longer!!! -- and glad to be back home in God's Gountry!!)
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To: Ex-Dem
any Iraqi can now voice a dissenting opinion...

...if you can hear him over the pipeline explosion he just triggered.
6 posted on 11/30/2003 4:54:12 PM PST by gcruse (http://gcruse.typepad.com/)
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