Secret Green Beret Mission Before the Iraq War

Before the Iraq War officially began, a different fight was already underway. U.S. Army Special Forces teams were operating in Northern Iraq, linking up with Kurdish fighters and preparing to open a second front against Saddam Hussein.

They were building relationships, planning in uncertainty, and moving toward a mission that would shape the early phase of the war.

In this episode, retired Lieutenant Colonel Mark Grdovic walks through that experience from the inside.

From training for an unknown mission, to infiltrating Iraq, to fighting alongside Kurdish Peshmerga forces against Al-Qaeda affiliates in the mountains, this conversation captures what unconventional warfare actually looks like on the ground.