This is how Poland saved 13 Americans CIA in IraQ 1990 Operation Samum real story

This is how Poland saved 13 Americans CIA in IraQ 1990 Operation Samum real story

Poland of Europe are and will be the best and reliable allie of the United States in this new century




Have you ever heard about Operation Samum which the point was that to evacuate US officers from Iraq just before Desert Storm? That was Polish Intelligence Service big succes. General Gromos 2;aw Czempi 4;ski take out of Iraq US officers. He learned them to spell their "new" polish names because they were given new IDs and document. They have to act polish building workers. Polish officer told him to drink bottle of alcohole and say to Iraqi officer on border line that they are very happy cause they are coming back to Poland. They were very drunk but fortunatelly they spelled their new names correctly. Operation was succesful. US gerneral gave polish officers medals. Brits and other countries refused to make this operation.

For the Americans, Polish intelligence was the last chance-everyone else had already left Iraq as the atmosphere was too hot to handle. For the government in Warsaw, Operation Samum was an opportunity to show that Poland could be an equal partner and in the future a worthy NATO member.

A brilliant performance, what's better is the fact that:

Polish forces rescued not only CIA agents from Baghdad but also secret maps apparently so crucial that Operation Desert Storm could have had a different outcome if the mission had failed.

But even though it was a success, all the details of the operation will never see the light of day.



Operation Simoom[1] (Polish: Operacja Samum) was a top secret Polish intelligence operation conducted in Iraq in 1990.

In 1990 the CIA asked European intelligence agencies to assist in the withdrawal of six American operatives (a mix of CIA and DIA officers) investigating Iraqi troops movements in Iraq before the Gulf War (WP 1995). Several countries, such as Russia, Great Britain, and France refused to help in such a dangerous operation; only Poland agreed to help (WP 1995). The operation was very risky because if the cover were to be blown, all operatives were likely to be killed.

Poland had ties throughout Iraq because of construction work carried out there by Polish engineering companies (WP 1995) and sent a few operatives to start working on the operation. Gromos 2;aw Czempi 4;ski (WV 1999) became the commander of this operation, assigned to it by Polish Minister of Internal Affairs and first chief of Urząd Ochrony Pa 4;stwa, Krzysztof Koz 2;owski (WP 1995). Ironically, Czempi 4;ski has previously been a spy in the United States and either took part or led many operations against the Western intelligence services (WP 1995). The main plan was to reestablish contact with the hiding American spies and give them Polish passports so they could escape from Iraq in a bus, alongside Polish and Russian workers.
The escape came after the six agents spent weeks on the run in Kuwait and Baghdad (WP 1995). The operation was very difficult because the Iraqis started to suspect some kind of American-Polish intrigue (WP 1995).

The agents were given refuge at a Polish construction camp, and then provided with passports and put on a refugee bus. An Iraqi officer at checkpoint on the border had studied in Poland and spoke Polish well enough to communicate. When the bus arrived at the border, he asked one of the American spies a question in Polish. Since the spy did not know Polish at all, he pretended to be heavily drunk (another version states that the operative in question fainted). Nevertheless, the bus managed to cross the border with all occupants (WP 1995). Poles moved the agents out of Iraq and into the safety of Turkey (WP 1995). Operatives from both sides returned to their countries. Polish forces rescued not only the agents but also secret maps—detailed maps of Baghdad and particulars about military installations scattered throughout Iraq—apparently crucial for Operation Desert Storm. (WP 1995, WV 1999)
As a reward for Poland's help, the US government promised to cancel half, or $16.5 billion, of Poland's foreign debt (NYT 1995).

In at least two other operations, the Poles later aided another 15 foreigners to escape, mostly Britons, held hostage by the Iraqis as part of Saddam Hussein's "human shield" campaign to deter an allied invasion. (WP 1995)

Information about this operation was first revealed in 1995 by The Washington Post (NYT 1995, WV 1999). In 1999, Polish director W 2;adys 2;aw Pasikowski made a movie, Operacja Samum about this operation; it was the first Polish production co-financed by Warner Bros. and third by