VIKING HAMMER (AND THE UGLY BABY)

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01.Masters of Chaos Pages 8/17/04 12:00 PM Page 321 Viking Hammer (and the Ugly Baby) and set to work in the suspected chemical facility. The 081 had already unearthed chemical hazard suits, atropine injectors, and manuals written in Arabic on how to make chemical munitions, improvised explosive devices, and mines from mortars. Field tests showed traces of ricin and potassium chloride. The evidence would be thoroughly analyzed in the United States, but it appeared as though there had been at least crude experimentation with chemical materials and bomb-making. One eerie detail puzzled the medics of 081. Most of the bodies were found carrying an antibiotic commonly used to treat upper respiratory infections. Had something in Sargat made them sick? The captain was concerned when each of his men who went into Sargat also became ill in the following days with chills and symptoms of stomach flu. The men went on to their next battle on the Green Line, but the captain had blood samples drawn just in case the investigation turned up firm evidence of a toxic substance. It was not the job of ODA 081 to draw conclusions about what it had found; its mission was to capture Sargat and secure any prisoners and evidence. The analysis and official conclusions were the province of the intelligence agencies—but the men had enough training to add up what they had seen and reach their own personal conclusions. They did not know whether Baghdad had been involved, but the central fact seemed indisputable, that this was indeed a major terrorist outpost. The large number of armed Arabs who had been there, the evidence of frequent travel, and signs of linkages to other radical groups all strongly indicated that Sargat was an international terrorist training camp, much like those that Al Qaeda had run in Afghanistan. Logical conjecture supported this conclusion. The skill and tenacity of the fighters encountered here suggested that they were experienced or at least were trained by professionals. It was reasonable to suppose that Al Qaeda would have searched for an alternative training site and base after the United States forces routed it from Afghanistan in late 2001. This location was ideal, and Ansar al-Islam may have been formed or cultivated precisely to provide a haven for Al Qaeda militants fleeing Afghanistan. While some of those militants had fled into Pakistan, there 321
01.Masters of Chaos Pages 8/17/04 12:00 PM Page 322 322 M asters of C haos had been reports of others heading the opposite direction, across Afghanistan into Iran. This camp, right on the Iranian border, was easy to reach from Iran. It provided a 300-square-kilometer enclave with plenty of room for military training. Was it just a coincidence that the Kurds in Halabja had started coming under attack soon after September 2001? The idea that Al Qaeda, through its associate Zarqawi, had selected this area as its new base of operations struck the team sergeant as far more than plausible. He believed, given the heavy fortifications, ample weaponry, and quality of the fighters, that his team had just invaded the world’s largest existing terrorist training camp since the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan. This was no way station, in his view. It was remote yet in the heart of the region, so radicals could wreak havoc all over the Middle East. It provided a backdoor escape through Iran—a country virtually sealed off to the western world. That is exactly what happened midday on March 28, when a caravan of vehicles congregated in Biyara, the border town south of Sargat. The team on the red prong had spotted senior Al Qaeda operatives in the caravan, and called for air strikes, but no bombers had been available. The ferocious fighting of Operation Viking Hammer and the details of what had been found at Sargat and Biyara remained virtually unknown to the world at large, but the inner circles of Washington buzzed with news of both as the analysts sifted through the training camp evidence. Abu Musab Zarqawi would emerge as a central figure in the year ahead, and the world had not seen the last of Ansar al-Islam’s suicide bombers. Kurdish intelligence sources verified that Zarqawi had been seen not only in Sargat but also in several other villages in the area, including one called Darga-shakhan where many Arabs and Afghans had stayed. As for the battle itself, it was typical of the Special Forces not to ballyhoo the courageous feats in Sargat valley, yet the awarding of three Silver Stars told at least part of the story. The captain, the team sergeant, and the communications sergeant all received the Silver Star, the army’s third-highest combat medal, for their “exceptional gallantry and bravery” in Operation Viking Hammer. The
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VIKING HAMMER (AND THE UGLY BABY)

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