Operation Telic and the Liberation of Iraq

Operation Telic and the Liberation of Iraq is an anecdote-packed daily diary recounting the author’s experiences as a reserve officer and media handler with 7 Armoured (the Desert Rats) and 19 Mechanized Brigade during Operation TELIC in Iraq in 2003.

A journalist in uniform, Abbott provides an insider-outsider account of British Army media ops in southern Iraq during the immediate post-conflict phase.

With a sharp eye for detail, Abbott provides a behind-the-scenes account of the highs and lows of serving two ‘masters’ – his demanding military commanders on one hand and a voracious press on the other.

One of his first missions is dealing with a barrage of media questions following the brutal murder of six Royal Military Police by a crazed mob in Majar-al-Kabir.

Abbott recalls the adrenalin-filled atmosphere when the British Army garrison at Basra Palace is surrounded by a crowd firing mortars and unleashing hundreds of rounds from their AK-47s. It’s only after a tense stand-to that the nervous troops discover that they are not under attack: the crowd is celebrating the demise of Saddam Hussein’s sons.

There are plenty of lighter and un-woke moments, too, as Abbott tells stories that fortunately didn’t make the news at the time.

The author admits how criminal thoughts might just have crossed his mind over the $30 million flown in by the US government each week and stored feet from his camp-bed.

Above all this is a vivid account of a controversial operation that cost many lives and severely tarnished the reputation of British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Unconvinced of the merits of military action before arriving in theatre, Abbott ends his tour in a positive mindset despite the failure to locate WMD.

His diary is more SOS than SAS, with little of the derring-do of an Andy McNab adventure. Yet it's just as un-put-downable. More in the tradition of Leslie Thomas' Virgin Soldiers than Bravo Two Zero, it’s an honest, authentic and often funny read which has the potential to appeal beyond a niche audience. There has been no account of the British in Iraq quite like this.