[September 16, 2017] In early 2007 the Iraq War between a “coalition of the willing” and Iraqi insurgents was not going as planned for the U.S. and its allies. U.S. President Bush announced a “surge” of troops to compensate for too little forces operating there. To expand coalition operational area, the Osirak nuclear research facility was one of several locations considered for basing troops.
It may sound farfetched but at mid-point in the build-up to the Surge, every available piece of land was closely being scrutinized to base the large number of troops and equipment arriving in country. Senior leaders of the Coalition (at least 27 nations providing military forces) were convinced that a quick infusion of combat troops would allow those currently on the ground better hold onto ground recently captured from insurgents.
Troops have to go somewhere and since the beginning of time, those forces must be housed, feed, armed, trained, and be operational to conduct combat. The Coalition was straining its current facilities which were mostly old Iraqi military bases. These bases were well placed, had crude physical protection already in place, and good road networks. But they were not large enough to contain the additional surge forces.
American Engineers (mostly U.S. Army and Air Force) were the lead in the planning and construction but it was up to the commander of the Multi-National Corps – Iraq (MNC-I) to determine where he wanted his forces to be located so they could fight the battle properly. Considerable disagreement ensued among the various commanders but it was decided that the majority of those surge forces would be located within 50 miles of Baghdad.
Baghdad and its surrounding areas were determined to be the Center of Gravity of the fight and thus nearly all new inbound units would go there. Dividing up responsibility for the new Area of Responsibility fell on the shoulders of Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno, the MNC-I commander, and his staff who determined the equivalent of two additional army divisions would continue the fight.1
A reconnaissance to the Osirak facility was made by a commander of the U.S. Navy Seabees and guarded by a full company of U.S. Infantry soldiers. Although the facility was in the right location with good structures, roads, and protection, it was discovered that the radioactive background was too high to house troops. Despite Iraqi squatters living there the Osirak facility should have been deserted.
The reason for the radiation was the bombing of the facility by the Israeli Defense force on June 7, 1981 and then again during the Desert Storm air campaign on several occasions in January and February 1991. A good source of the history of the Osirak nuclear facilities can be found at the Federation of American Scientists (link here).
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- Coalition engineers with the help of large multi-national contracting firms were tapped to build the facilities at the time and place of General Odierno’s choosing. In the end, the work was done on time and all inbound troops were given proper, safe, and adequate facilities from which to conduct their combat operations. Few people realize the work effort required to transport and house a force of over 30,000 troops and support personnel. The logistical and engineering effort exceeded all past efforts since the early part of the Vietnam War. The rest is history with the “surge” being successful and Iraqi insurgents largely destroyed and prevented from harming citizens within the Baghdad area for years to come. Only after U.S. President Obama announced a troop withdrawal and timetable for it did the insurgency return and they did so with a vengeance that cost the lives of many Iraqis and U.S. military forces.