The Philip B. Petersen Collection Broadcast June 12, 1991

     Much of the intelligence information obtained from Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War came by amateur radio.  Abdul Jabber Marfei, 9K2DZ, was operating from his home throughout the seven-month period of the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait.  Abdul sent first-hand reports to his amateur radio friends in many countries.  In the beginning, the reports were mostly health and welfare inquiries about relatives of Kuwait students who were stranded abroad.  These soon turned into his first-hand reports about the tens of thousands of Iraqis who were looting the city, taking everything that could be moved back to Iraq.

"They have taken everything from the shops.  All the cars in the warehouses are taken...the laboratory equipment in the hospital...we have no weapons to defend our homes and children.  There is no police.  There is no control...it's chaos...everybody is getting panicky...people want to get out of Kuwait but are afraid of the minefields."

     Shortly after the Iraqi army invaded Kuwait, Abdul was expecting them to confiscate his radio equipment.  When they arrived, he was prepared and gave them one of his radio sets that was not working while his regular radio set remained hidden in his home.
     Abdul uses his personal home computer in an international amateur radio network.  Some of the amateurs he has known for years.  At times, they were doubtful about the messages, but after they requested information that only Abdul could answer, they knew it was their friend in Kuwait.  His friends were very concerned about the safety of Abdul and his family and asked him to keep his messages short and to be extremely careful.
     Abdul continued to send these computerized messages almost daily.  Later, the chief operator aboard the USS Kennedy in the Red Sea joined in the network.
     Many of the messages were telling of the horrible atrocities taking place in Kuwait.  All of the messages were turned over to the U. S. State Department who said, "The reports were a good source, very useful, many were sent on to the Department of Defense and the White House."
     Abdul's identity was kept secret.  After the Persian Gulf War, one of his amateur radio friends, John Troost, TG9VT, said, "God bless Abdul Jabber whom I have know for many years and from whom I'd never have expected the immense courage he showed during these six months - a true modern hero."

June 12, 1991

** Broadcasts recordings preserved and presented here by Mr. Robert Buss and Mr. Bernie Ricciardi, Phil's friends and fellow Marconi Chapter 138 QCWA members **

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