Timeline of Saddam Hussein's Capture

NPR ^ | Dec. 14, 2003 | NPR

[FairOpinion]

Dec. 14, 2003 -- Following is a chronology of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's capture by U.S. forces, Saturday, Dec. 13, according to U.S. military officials and NPR reports:

10:50 a.m. Saturday: U.S. military officials receive intelligence that Saddam Hussein may be hiding in one of two locations near the town of Adwar, about 10 miles south of his hometown of Tikrit. About 600 soldiers from the First Brigade Combat Team of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division along with coalition Special Forces units are assigned to kill or capture Saddam.

About 6 p.m. Saturday: Under cover of darkness, the forces quickly begin moving toward the suspected hiding place.

About 8 p.m. Saturday:Coalition forces raid the two sites, but initially fail to find Saddam. Forces cordon the area and begin an intensive search. In the next few minutes, forces find a suspicious location near one of the target sites. Within a walled compound, a "spider hole" is detected, its entrance camouflaged with bricks and dirt.

8:30 p.m. Saturday: Saddam is found hiding at the bottom of the hole, which was about six to eight feet deep and wide enough space for a person to lie down inside. Saddam is captured without resistance.

About 9:15 p.m. Saturday: Saddam is moved to a secure area. During a further search of the hole and surrounding area, two other Iraqis "affiliated" with Saddam are also detained. Forces also find $750,000 in $100 bills. Saddam, under coalition custody, is moved to an undisclosed location.

Saturday Afternoon, Washington D.C., Time: President Bush is notified of the capture, but Saddam's identity had not yet been verified.

Dec. 14, Early Sunday Morning: Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, calls President Bush, confirming Saddam's identity.

About 7 a.m. Sunday: At a Baghdad news conference, Bremer announces: "Ladies and gentlemen, we got him."

12:15 p.m. Sunday: In a speech from the White House, President Bush tells Iraqis: "You will never have to fear the rule of Saddam Hussein ever again."

[Bonaparte]

"8:30 p.m. Saturday: Saddam is found hiding at the bottom of the hole..."

That would be Saturday, 9:30 AM PST.

[Revolting cat!]

Kool! Karl Marx, I tell ya! Something else. As I just watched on local news Saddam being examined for (A) lice, or (B) hidden nuclear devices in his hair (which?) I realized he looked much like the so-called "homeless" I had seen downtown just this afternoon, in other words, a member of a protected class!

[weegee]

I looked at two music related message websites (one local to Houston and the other national/international) and I saw some threads about Saddam's capture (certainly offtopic there). As usual, the liberals try to control all political speech on those boards (there is some dissent from the DNC talking points but most who dare challenge the group think will find themselves in the middle of a pecking party; political correctness still rules the day).

More surprising was that on each board I saw other posters who noted that Saddam's beard made him resemble Karl Marx.

[Revolting cat!]

That pic of Saddam Jim's got posted on the front FR page resembles a pic of Marx I have seen once but cannot locate now on the Net.

[weegee]

It's ironic that when Saddam went into hiding and released videos of himself or one of his impersonators, he looked like the 1970s Groucho Marx (thick glasses and all).