All language subtitles for banged_up_abroad_-_season_4_episode_2_saddam_s_iraq

In 1990, Saddam invaded Kuwait.

We had to get out of Iraq.

It was at that moment that the nightmare
really started.

We were now in a very, very dangerous
situation.

This place was hell on earth.

We were incredibly scared.

If they wanted to kill you, they killed
you, and nobody said a word to them.

We had no idea whether we were going to
come out of this alive.

I went to Iraq in May 1990.

I was 26 years old.

I had been given a 12 -month contract on
a gas and oil field. The money looked

good, so I decided to take up on the
option.

It was a very exciting opportunity for a
young lad to go to a part of the world

which most people didn't know about.

I was looking forward to it in a big
way.

The oil field was 15 miles west of
Tikrit, Saddam's hometown, and it was

Haqqil Saddam, which is the Arabic for
Saddam's oil field.

It didn't cause any alarm bells, but
just felt that we were working on

important.

The living quarters were within the
Ardwar compound area, and everything was

self -contained within that site.

My immediate boss on the project was
another Irishman about ten years older

me.

His name was John White.

John White. We formed a good
relationship from the beginning.

How was your flight?

Oh, grand.

When Tom turned up, I thought he was a
fantastic guy.

He was so full of life, so exuberant. We
got on very well straight away.

So we've got good people here.

Want me to show you around?

Tom was one of the 15 engineers that I
had under my control, and they looked up

to me because of my experience in the
region.

I knew quite a bit about the lie of the
land, or so I thought.

At that particular point, all things
were going splendid.

And my two -weeks R &R was coming up. I
was really, really looking forward to

getting back to Ireland.

to see my children, my wife.

I was very excited about that.

At that particular point, there was
nothing on the horizon to suggest that I

wouldn't make it home.

That morning, I turned on my radio.

I heard the news that Saddam had invaded
Kuwait.

We heard that they were pulling families
out of homes, raping women.

There were mass killings.

The reports from Kuwait were shocking,
absolutely shocking.

Very quickly, the Western world started
making some serious threats against

Iraq.

And we realized that we were now in a
very, very dangerous situation.

We were now in the middle of what was
shaping up to be the full -scale war.

My whole desire was to get out of there
and to get back to my family in Ireland.

Hi, love. It's me.

But my wife said Saddam had put a block
on all Westerners, in and out of the

country.

Like, hit home like a thunderbolt.

She said we were going to be used as
human shields.

A realisation dawned that we were
already on a site of strategic

were on Saddam's oil field.

It was nerve -wracking to consider that
we were going to be in the line of fire

when the Western forces came in and
bombed the place.

So I knew that we needed to take some
drastic action.

I wasn't sure what was going to become
of us.

Very soon, the group of us started to
plan for the escape.

We knew that the only way out was going
to be a land crossing across one of the

countries that border Iraq.

Syria, Turkey, Jordan and Iran.

We split into teams of two and three.

Gerard, what do you think about yourself
and Michael heading towards Turkey? If

a team discovered there was a way out,
that team would return to the site and

then a larger group would make the
attempt to escape.

But there were risks.

We knew if they discovered what we were
up to, we would be lifted immediately by

Iraqi security.

But these risks seemed more manageable
than just sitting there and waiting for

the bombing to happen.

Over the next few days, the teams went
out to the various border trips.

One by one they went out and one by one
they came back.

Soldiers were to be seen everywhere.

Checkpoints along the main roads every
20 or 30 miles.

It was beginning to look like our
situation was really hopeless.

But the determination was there.

to continue to try. So what do you
reckon?

Well, have to go on the main roads.

Have to look at some of the more
difficult options.

John and I decided that rather than use
the main road approach, we would drive

north to a small little town called
Hatra and head west and have a look at

120 mile of desert which separated Hatra
from the Syrian border.

Sounds grand.

We knew there were big, big risks in
trying to get across this completely

inhospitable desert.

So our plan was to penetrate 15, 20
kilometres and see if the vehicle was

to get through and come back and report
back to the rest of the team.

I had no understanding that John might
deviate from that plan.

That morning we set out at 7am on that
reconnaissance mission.

There was a great sense of adventure and
a great sense of hope.

John seemed excited about this trip. If
there was this option to get out, well,

he would be home with his family pretty
soon. That's, after all, what he wanted.

Back in Ireland, I'd been part of the
Reserve Defence Forces.

Soaked together through the desert, I
made a makeshift compass.

I knew it was going to be in some way
important, but I didn't really

at the time how important that compass
was going to be.

As we were driving north, our only
concern was that military would stop us,

if they did, what would be the outcome?

But we were getting more and more
hopeful. This was starting to look easy.

We were beginning to feel that this was
going to be a piece of cake.

And then we hit our first problem.

In the distance, we could see this much
larger checkpoint.

All the soldiers had their Kalashnikovs
on their shoulders.

There was even officers present.

And it was our first moment of concern.

We pulled up.

And the senior officer started asking us
questions in very basic English as to

where we were going.

I don't understand.

Where do you go?

We're going to Hatra.

He started barking and shouting.

All of a sudden there was a commotion
around the back of the vehicle.

An Iraqi soldier jumped in with an AK
-47.

We were getting very nervous at this
stage.

All of a sudden, we were waved on
through the checkpoint, not knowing what

happening.

Now we were in the middle of Iraq,
heading out on a reconnaissance mission,

something we clearly shouldn't have been
doing, with an Iraqi soldier planted in

the back of the car.

It was just surreal. It was completely
out of this world.

When we started discussing in Gaelic
language, what was the reason for him

there?

Who's this guy?

What do you think this fellow's in here
for?

We discussed turning around at this
stage, but we knew we couldn't. So we

carry on.

But we didn't know what to do when we
got to Hatfield with this soldier in the

back.

We were now in very much of a limbo
situation, armed soldier in the back not

knowing what he was doing there.

We were driving along and then the guy
just started roaring and shouting.

We had no idea what he wanted us to do
now, so we stopped the vehicle.

All of a sudden he ran around to the
side of our vehicle.

It turned out he was simply just riding
a lift with us into Hatra.

There was a great sense of relief
amongst Tom and I.

We could now make this evaluation that
we set out to do.

At the edge of Hatraq was this vast,
inhospitable desert.

We knew there was nothing there between
us and Syria for at least 150 miles.

We knew there were going to be vast
challenges in getting across it.

But I also understood that we were only
going out 15 kilometres and then we

would report back to the rest of the
team.

I think that's it.

Yep. Let's go.

The first five kilometers or so went
entirely to plan.

The surface was pretty flat and my
roughly made compass was giving us the

way we should be heading.

Then we came across our first problem in
that desert.

We came upon these vast dunes and
craters, which we couldn't drive

I knew this was going to be a concern,
but I was still convinced that we could

get around them without getting lost.

Keep left, keep left, I know, I know, I
know.

After 15 kilometers, we had achieved
exactly what we set out to do.

We knew that we were going to be pushed
left and right by these wadis and

riverbeds, but it looked like there was
a way out to the Syrian border.

So I said to John... Our time started
heading back.

We've done what we set out to do.

John's response was just very, very,
very strange. Look, we're going to take

a little bit further.

Check it out a little bit more.

But we said that 15 kilometers is a cut
-off point, John.

We're going to go a little bit further,
Tom, all right?

We kept on going, and I was starting to
wonder, why is John asking us to go a

little bit more and a little bit more? I
knew we had accomplished what we set

out to do.

I felt I wasn't having my proper say in
this.

I think I understood better than he did
the implications.

I was watching the fuel gauge very, very
closely.

We were approaching the point of no
return.

I said to John, we have to go back.

John, we have to head back. We're about
to go past the point of no return. Our

lives are on the line. No, Tom.

I'm going to keep going.

I felt complete indignation and I was
getting angry at the same time.

John, we can't keep going. There were so
many reasons why we shouldn't continue.

If we make an actual reception, we're in
the middle of nowhere.

We're doing fine.

We've one bottle of water between the
two of us. I'm going to keep going.

we're not prepared at all. Let's just
keep going. For God's sake, John!

In the end, I had to play what I thought
was the trump card and I said, our

responsibilities are back.

with the people on site.

They're expecting us to come back with
news as to whether we can go or not.

I wasn't going back.

I was going to continue until the last
drop was gone out of that tank and then

was in Syria.

My responsibility is to my wife and
children back home.

Above all, they are number one priority
to help with the consequences.

I'm going to keep going.

I wanted more than anything to get home
to see my family.

At the expense of Tom.

And the other guys that I've left
behind.

Just consume me.

I was not happy about this, but there
was no chance of going back anymore. We

couldn't have made it back.

This point of no return had been
exceeded.

I resigned myself to it.

and I decided to get it to where we were
meant to be going.

But it was a very scary time.

There was absolutely nothing in that
desert to indicate whether we were on

right track or not.

And at one stage, we were doing such
large sweeps left and right that I was

fiercely doubting whether we were going
around in circles or not.

We had less than a quarter tank left.

So we turned off the air conditioning to
reduce the amount of fuel consumption.

Even though the outside temperature had
reached nearly 50 degrees Celsius.

We had about half a bottle of water left
and I knew either fuel running out or

water running out or a combination of
both was very, very likely to kill us

here.

That particular moment was grim.

I knew I had made the wrong decision.

And I became incredibly worried.

It seemed like all our hopes were
shattered.

All of a sudden, we saw a telegraph
pole.

I don't think I fully believed it.

It meant someone was out there. Look
over there. I see it. I see it. I see

Excuse me.

Suddenly, we saw in front of us a tarmac
road.

I was elated. I can't describe to you
the feeling.

I felt vindicated that I had pushed on.

I honestly believed that we had made it
to Syria.

Then we had to make a decision whether
to go right or left.

We're driving down the road and there
was a great sense of achievement between

Tom and myself.

I was really convinced that we had made
it.

Completely convinced.

And then suddenly we saw Iraqi flags.

We were devastated, absolutely crushed.

We felt obviously all of that was for
absolutely nothing.

Suddenly we noticed military vehicles
were coming at us at great speed.

We realised we were in a highly
sensitive militarised area.

We wanted to turn around quickly and
drive away from them. They had already

us.

It's at that moment that the nightmare
really started.

John, what the hell is that?

The Iraqi military vehicles were coming
at us at speed through the desert.

It was abundantly clear that we were in
a very, very serious situation.

The movement of Westerners in the
country wasn't prohibited.

We knew this would take a lot of getting
out of.

The military vehicles pulled up around
us.

Lots of soldiers surrounded us, pointing
their AK -47s at us.

They were all very excited and
clamouring and shouting.

There was a huge amount of uncertainty
there. Were they going to just discharge

weapons in overexcitement?

A few moments later, a captain came up
to the front of the Iraqi group.

We don't understand.

Oh,

you speak English?

Yes.

What are you doing here?

We told him that we'd been in Hatra
looking at some archaeological ruins and

had got lost in the desert.

Lost? Yes.

Hatra is here.

We are here.

A long way, no?

He obviously didn't believe us.

This guy was too intelligent not to know
what was happening.

We knew our number was up then.

We had no idea where we were going or
where we were to be taken.

After an hour's driving, we came to a
large military installation.

We were brought into this dining hall
area.

The whole table was laid out for dinner.

Then Tom and I had to sit there and have
dinner with him.

People were looking very, very strangely
at us and started talking and laughing.

Something was seriously wrong.

Suddenly everything took a very, very
serious turn for the worse.

There was a complete air of coldness
about them.

It felt like the temperature of that air
dropped by 10 degrees.

I recognize them as Makarabat, the Iraqi
secret police.

The Iraqi people were terrified of these
people because of their ruthlessness.

They torture people.

They kill people.

They are the most terrifying people in
the world.

They moved us very quickly out of that
room. There was no delay in anything

did. A complete knot in our stomachs
developed.

The

anxiety

was beginning to escalate because we
were now in an entirely different

situation.

We pulled up outside a plush hotel in
the middle of Baghdad.

I had no idea why I was arriving there.

They brought us into the lobby where
quite a substantial amount of

other Western expats were.

Again, very surreal, very bizarre.

Didn't really know what were we doing
there.

In secret, we were able to speak with a
few of the Westerners.

Shh.

What are they using this place for?

It's a training center.

I don't think we could believe it.

We had attempted to find ways out of
Iraq, and we were now going to be put

in that firing line that we tried to
avoid.

That was a pretty frightening prospect.

We were whisked upstairs pretty quickly.

This was a very, very heavily guarded
area.

We were brought down to the very end
room and they closed the door behind us.

I was angry towards John for getting us
into this situation.

I had a degree of anger in there, I had
a degree of resentment, but for the

moment neither of those two emotions
were going to help me in my current

situation.

I thought that maybe there was a way out
of this.

In the en -suite, there was a phone.

This was absolutely fantastic because we
knew as electrical engineers, once the

dial tone was there, we could make the
call.

The phone had no dial plate on the front
of it, but you could overcome this by

tapping the top of the telephone.

I tried tapping the Irish Embassy
number.

I could hear the phone attempting to
make the connection.

I was completely surprised to hear that
the phone was picked up by the embassy

staff.

It was a very hurried conversation.

I didn't want to hold that line open.

I urged the ambassador to come as
quickly as possible.

The minute we got dispatched to some
vital installation, it would have been

very, very hard to track us down again.

I stayed on about a minute and a half
maximum.

The police guys came in. We didn't know
what was happening.

Had they detected that I'd been on the
phone, was I in for some serious trouble

as a result?

Were we being taken to a vital
installation?

We just didn't know.

The first thing I saw was that the First
Consul was there.

It must be time.

It was a fantastic feeling.

It was a flood of relief.

It gave us renewed hope that very, very
soon our ordeal was going to end.

Boy, are we glad to see you.

We blurted out our story. We went into
the desert to explore a little bit and

got lost.

And some of those guys picked us up and
brought us here.

We asked them to intervene to stop us
being sent out to vital installations.

I have a very young family.

I need to get over here.

But there was no optimism in what he was
saying.

You're in a foreign country, you're
caught in an area where you shouldn't

been. We're doing everything that we
can.

What does that mean? I don't understand.

Mr. Lynch, we're doing the best we can.

It was very obvious it wasn't within his
power to do anything.

We were not going to be released, there
was no negotiation, and we were back to

the same situation.

He gave us a few important things, some
money, passport, and we were taken out

of that room.

Suddenly there was an order backed out
by one of the senior policemen.

The men were being taken by military.

They were to be used as human shields.

And it left the wives and the children
crying and screaming.

They had no idea if they were ever going
to see their men again.

We knew for sure we were going to get on
one of those buses.

That's why we were there.

It really seemed that I would never...

See my family again.

All of a sudden, we were pushed out the
door and moved down the corridor very,

very fast.

We felt that we were being moved onto
strategic locations as human shields.

It was unbearable.

The secret police brought us out the
back door of the hotel and we were

quickly into the back of an awaiting
vehicle.

And to my horror, I could see that the
Irish diplomatic car was being held up

the security gate.

It became clear that that was the reason
for our urgent departure.

They clearly didn't want the two of us
to meet up again.

That tenuous link with the outside world
was now being taken from us yet again.

And it just heightened the sense of
danger, the fact that they clearly could

accept the embassy knowing where we were
going.

We were moved to a very, very bleak
building within the city of Baghdad.

We had no idea what were we doing there.

We were pushed into a place which was as
far as you can possibly imagine from

the hotel we had just come from.

Suddenly we were encased in a sea of
bodies, all shouting, screaming.

Trying to figure out who we were, what
we were.

It was a frightening, frightening
experience.

We were quickly guided to one of these
dugouts in the side of the wall.

I realised that we were now in a prison
-type environment and it looked like we

were going to be dealt with as part of
the criminal system.

Why else would we be there?

We didn't know what the charges were
going to be.

We had no idea of what penalty was being
sought.

It was a pretty frightening situation to
comprehend.

Later that night, there was a blast of
automatic gunfire.

We were sure that it was a firing squad.

We asked ourselves, were we next?

We knew the system had managed to
successfully remove us from any kind of

contact with the outside world.

It would be easy to do away with us.

It was at this time that John rapidly
went downward.

He just lost it. He retreated into
himself.

I felt we wouldn't make it.

I had almost run into it all.

The more that John's head dropped and
the more he lost the sense of purpose,

more I put myself to look for some
solution, some route out.

So I started to explore all the various
different dens and cubbyholes within

that compound.

One of them was a small toilet area with
one slit window up high.

So I decided to see if it did indeed
represent a way of escape out from where

were.

I knew it wasn't going to be easy.

I knew it was going to be a long shot,
but I thought that we were doomed in

there.

So I decided to go for it.

I started widening it.

Using my fingers, I made some little bit
of an impact on it, but not enough.

So I managed to pry the brick out of the
surface of that slit.

That brick then became a tool, so I was
able to make much more progress.

Suddenly I heard footsteps coming.

I was in a very dangerous situation.

If I was found doing what I was doing, I
would be next in the firing line.

I had to make believe as if I was using
the toilet facilities.

The reality was that as much as I wanted
to get out of that place, it just

wasn't going to work.

But I didn't resign myself at all after
that.

One option had failed.

I'd wait and see what the next option
might be.

We were fully expecting to wait in that
detention centre and that that was to be

our fate.

But after five days, the guard came for
us.

For one moment, I felt that just maybe
we were actually being released.

Just maybe I would get to see my family
again.

But they were waiting for us with two
more cabaret.

Here we were again, back in the arms of
the secret police.

I was absolutely certain our situation
was going to get worse.

But they brought us to an infamous
prison in the centre of Baghdad called

When I realized this is where we were, I
almost had a heart attack.

It was a notorious interrogation center
where the secret police were not

governed by any law. They were the law.

If they decided they were going to
torture you, they tortured you.

If they were going to kill you, they
killed you, and nobody said a word to

We were led into the depth of this
prison, down long corridors.

The atmosphere was getting thicker and
more dense.

We heard screams of pain.

Finally, they came to the end of a
corridor.

They brought the boat in and closed the
door behind us.

Why are we here? What have we done?

He gets to say we were incredibly
scared.

Later that night, we heard this
incredible commotion.

Screams and shouts and dragging of
people around the corridor outside.

We shot up. We tried to look out.

There was a very small little opening in
the door.

we could actually see it a little bit up
the corridor.

It just heightened our sense of fear as
if it wasn't high enough already.

Emotionally to hear another human being
being tortured, it is mind -blowing.

We had to consider that we were next.

Why else would we be there?

We were seriously concerned for our
lives.

Never in my life will I forget it.

I can still hear the screams, like
they're just happening outside the door

now.

The next morning, they open the door to
leave us out down to the toilet area.

There was a long, long corridor that we
had to walk down.

I noticed from the corner of my eye
something hanging.

I looked away because I didn't
understand what it was, and then I was

look back.

I stood transfixed.

There were two Iraqis hanging by their
arms.

Their whole chests were completely open
in circular lines where obviously

somebody had whipped them.

It was a dreadful, dreadful sight.

Almost completely freaked.

He really was so, so afraid, so scared.
He was quite uncontrollable.

I felt complete abhorrence that anyone
could do this to someone else.

A serious desire overcame me to get the
people who did this and to tear their

eyes out.

It was the most overwhelming and
draining series of emotions I've ever

Finally, they moved us.

We were brought onto the prison boat.

As we sped out the front gate.

Suddenly, a mean -looking car came into
the back, shouting and roaring loudly at

the top of his voice.

He stamped down the centre of the bus.

He blocked off all the ventilation
hatches in the roof.

Now, effectively, we were in a steel
coffin with no

air getting in.

The internal air temperature started
rising and rising and rising.

Temperatures were probably around 50
degrees.

It was becoming extremely hard to take
each breath.

I believe there was a very, very strong
chance that people were going to

suffocate in here.

I was getting very angry.

Here was another sadistic Iraqi causing
direct hurt and injury to someone.

I noticed that he was carrying a pistol
very clearly on his right hip.

And I was so angry and so furious, I
wanted to jump up and grab the gun.

But was I going to be able to get that
gun from his holster?

Would I manage to cock it in time?

And even if I managed to cock it in
time, was I going to be able to do what

you're supposed to do with a load of
pistols?

That was to pull the trigger.

I decided not to go ahead with it.

And I felt guilty with myself for
several hours for not going ahead with

Finally, we arrived at a police base.

We were taken off to a small room, and
there, sitting in the room, was the

Consul.

We were thrilled to see him, but we were
also incredibly intrigued as to why had

contact been re -established.

The reason that he was there was to
inform us that we were going to trial.

The charge was being in an area
prohibited by military law.

This charge was an allegation that we
had been spying, and that carried with

an 18 -year sentence.

I'm afraid there's very little the
embassy can do at this point to

It was a shocking moment to realize that
after all we'd been through, it comes

down to a court case.

And we knew in our heart and soul that
we were going to be found guilty.

We knew that in itself was a death
sentence.

Finally, we were given a definite day
for the trial, and we now knew that it

going to be in three days' time.

They were three of the longest days in
my entire life.

I knew that where I was was a direct
result of decisions that were imposed

me by John.

So I had to work at keeping the resent
and the blame out of the equation.

There was enough other emotions.

In my life at that point, there just
wasn't room for those ones as well.

After the trial, we sat in our cell.

Nobody was letting us know whether we
were guilty or not guilty.

It was a pretty bad time, mentally, for
both of us.

Finally, one of the guards came and
called for John and I.

He indicated, take your bags.

We were completely deflated. We thought
we were being moved somewhere for 18

years.

We asked him several times which
particular prison it was.

No,

no, no, which prison?

And he said, you are free.

You are free.

Free, free, free.

I don't think we could believe it. It
was just immense.

Somebody was at last telling us we're
finally free.

We were taken out and there standing in
front of us was the SUV that we'd used

to get across the desert.

The first consul was waiting there for
us.

Hey bro, are we free?

He said, you were found not guilty and
you're being released.

As we left, it was an overpowering
feeling.

Tom and I were shouting and roaring
inside the vehicle.

Just... incredibly relieved to have
gotten ourselves out of that situation.

To his eternal credit, Tom never in any
way blamed me for the situation

that we found ourselves in.

Could have and should have, but he kept
his counsel.

His decision to carry on caused me
extreme hardship. However, it doesn't

me any bitterness.

It doesn't cause me any resentment.

What happened, happened, and we both got
through it.

My family were waiting for me in Dublin.
It was fantastic.

It was just wonderful.

All that madness was finally behind me,
you know.

I managed to get home.

But I was glad to be back, back reunited
with my loved ones.