Andy McNab prison services, anti-drug forces and Western backed guerrilla movements as well as on conventional special operations. In Northern Ireland, he spent two years working as an undercover operator with 14 Intelligence Company, going on to become an instructor. During the Gulf War, McNab commanded Bravo Two Zero, an eight-man SAS patrol that was given the task of destroying underground communication links between Baghdad and north-west Iraq and with tracking Scud missile movements in the region. The patrol was dropped into Iraq on 22 January 1991, but was soon compromised, following which it attempted an escape on foot towards Syria, the
Italian support for Iraq during the Iran–Iraq war interned in Italy until the end of that war in 1988. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein then tried to renegotiate the price of these ships, claiming he should receive a discount due the delay in delivery of the ships. Negotiations and court proceedings were still ongoing when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 and a new arms embargo against Iraq was placed by the United Nations, again blocking the sale. Although these four frigates and the six corvettes were ultimately seized by Italy under the United Nations embargo during the 1991 Gulf War, these purchases signaled Iraq's intention to upgrade its naval