On March 17, 2003, the British Parliament was preparing to authorize the U.K.'s participation in the Second Gulf War, which would eventually lead to the downfall of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. However, according to The Mail on Sunday newspaper, 24 hours before lawmakers cast their votes, commandos from Britain's elite SAS unit were already "involved in fierce fighting" behind enemy lines as part of Operation Row. Sixty soldiers from the hallowed commando unit were flown in six Chinook CH-47 helicopters to their area of operations some 120 kilometers (75 miles) inside Iraq. The soldiers touched down near the city of al-Qaim in the country's north-west. The mission's objective: to prevent the launch of Scud missiles armed with chemical warheads toward Israel. An officer from the unit told The Mail on Sunday, "It was a location where missiles had been fired at Israel in the past and a site of strategic importance for WMD material. D Squadron comprised 60 men." A day later, an additional 60 SAS soldiers from B Squadron arrived in Land Rovers. That same evening back in London, parliament approved Britain's participation in the war in a vote of 412 in favor to 149 against. Not everything went according to plan for the commandos, however. According to the report, in the early hours of March 19, soldiers from B Squadron patrolling near a water-treatment plant a possible base for chemical weapons were spotted by Iraqi forces. In the ensuing firefight, several of the SAS soldiers were wounded, according to the report.
