[Pikamax]

Meek as a lamb

Weak ... Saddam after capture

By MICHAEL LEA

COWARDLY tyrant Saddam Hussein meekly surrendered to US soldiers without a single shot being fired, it emerged last night.

The brutal former dictator had vowed to fight to the death — but offered no resistance at all as 600 troops closed in on his hiding hole.

A top British intelligence source said last night: “Any suggestion that Saddam was defiant when he was arrested is nonsense.

“He came like a lamb, an absolutely weak and pathetic man.”

Saddam was found cowering in the makeshift bunker after being betrayed by one of his closest aides.

The aide’s tip-off about Saddam’s whereabouts led US commanders to launch Operation Red Dawn under cover of darkness on Saturday night.

Two likely locations were identified outside the town of Ad Dawr, near Tikrit, and named as Wolverine 1 and Wolverine 2.

The First Brigade combat team from the 4th Infantry Division was then given its mission — to kill or capture Saddam.

Backed by artillery, aircraft and special forces, the soldiers swept towards the suspect sites. After initial searches yielded nothing, soldiers cordoned off the areas and began to step up the hunt.

Booty ... suitcase containing $750,000
was found when Saddam surrendered

Incredibly, the troops were about to leave empty-handed when a local pointed them to an area inside a walled farmyard and told them they would find something important there.

Then came the breakthrough as forces near Wolverine 2 uncovered Saddam’s hideout.

Moments later the world got the news it had been waiting for: Saddam had been captured.

Details of the historic operation were revealed later by US military chiefs.

Major General Raymond Odierno said the location of Saddam’s hiding place had been revealed by a source close to him within the past few days.

He said up to ten people from families who had worked for Saddam had recently been taken in and questioned.

Major General Odierno added: “We realised the people we had to get to were the mid-level individuals, the bodyguards and other people closely associated with him and his family.

“We knew it was always family and tribal ties, so we tried to work closely with those. As we captured more and more of these people we got more and more information.

Captured ... Saddam's hideout
Click picture to enlarge

“We finally got the ultimate information from one of these people.”

Saddam was “bewildered” and “very disorientated” when captured, said Major General Odierno.

He added: “He didn’t say anything at all. He had a pistol on him. There was no resistance of any kind.”

Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, the US commander in Iraq, said the raid followed months of intelligence-gathering from sources including Iraqi detainees.

The area had been searched several times before, but Saddam was nowhere to be found as he fled from hideout to hideout in a bid to evade capture.

The region around Saddam’s home city of Tikrit was the obvious place for him to hide after he bought the loyalty of its residents.

Saddam showered the region with favours, wealth and privileges during his rule, and it became the backbone of his power base.

Loyalists from the area held key positions in his regime. Others were promoted to top positions in Saddam’s military, and many of his elite Republican Guard troops were recruited from the town.

After his downfall, Tikrit — about 100 miles north of Baghdad — became a hotbed of resistance to the US-led occupation.

Hero ... American troop

But Saddam became an isolated figure with just a handful of bodyguards for protection.

He cut links with his family and close aides as he hid from US forces, but he was finally betrayed and captured eight months after being toppled.

The fugitive ex-leader had a £16million price on his head, but it was not known last night whether the reward had been claimed.

Operation Red Dawn may have got its name from a 1984 action movie starring Patrick Swayze.

The film, a box office flop, featured a group of students who become guerilla fighters called Wolverines after their town is invaded by communist troops.

• SADDAM’S capture proves that information is an army’s most powerful weapon, SAS hero Andy McNab said last night.

  He said that allied forces would have been given thousands of reports on Saddam — but these would only make sense when all the information was pieced together.

  Military chiefs would have had numerous operations planned in advance for taking Saddam, and they would have been ready for any outcome.

  The operation would have been carried out with precision planning after senior officers had studied satellite photos of the area.

  Special forces would have checked out the target buildings and sent back photos and video together with detailed information before the main force was ordered into action.

  With helicopters waiting in support, ground troops would have cordoned off the area before any of the targets knew what was happening.

  The two assault groups would then have attacked simultaneously as soon as the cordon was in place.

  SUN reporting team: Nick Parker and Bob Graham in Iraq, Antonella Lazzeri, Paul Thompson, Trevor Kavanagh,
  Michael Lea, David Wooding, Kathryn Lister, Ian King,
  James Tapper, John Scott, Andy Wilks and Gary O’Shea.
  Pictures: TERRY RICHARDS in Iraq

  

[jwalsh07]

[bulldogs]

I love that Red Dawn operational name.

[Snuffington]

Hypothetically... If a guy wanted to send a box or two of cigars to these guys, how would one go about it?

[Jerr]

WHO - HA!

Great News!

All I wanted for Christmas was --- Saddam of Tikret...Saddam of Tikret...Saddam of Tikret!

All I wanted for Christmas was --- Saddam of Tikret...Saddam of Tikret...Saddam of Tikret!


A new dawn is abreaking...Thank goodness for Operation Red Dawn and all of our soliders and true allies.

[cricket]

"Heroes world has to thank; THE 600 men of the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division"

They surely have earned special honor; but I really want to thank all of these soldiers who, wherever they have been working; all contributed to making this day possible.

Incredible duty; many sacrifices made.

[Jerr]

WHO - HA!

Great News!

All I wanted for Christmas was --- Saddam of Tikret...Saddam of Tikret...Saddam of Tikret!

All I wanted for Christmas was --- Saddam of Tikret...Saddam of Tikret...Saddam of Tikret!


A new dawn is abreaking...Thank goodness for Operation Red Dawn and all of our soliders and true allies.

[Drudge's minion]

Good job Ivy Division!

---

TIKRIT, IRAQ: US soldier from 1-22 Battalion of the 4th Infantry Division flashes the V-sign for victory at the 4ID headquarters, in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, 180 kms (110 miles) north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, 14 December 2003. Ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been captured alive and in good health by coalition forces after a manhunt of more than eight months, US civil administrator Paul Bremer said. AFP PHOTO/Mauricio LIMA (Photo credit should read MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images) Copyright: 2003 AFP

---

TIKRIT, IRAQ: US soldier from 1-22 Battalion of the 4th Infantry Division smile at the 4ID headquarters, in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, 180 kms (110 miles) north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, 14 December 2003. Ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has been captured alive and in good health by coalition forces after a manhunt of more than eight months, US civil administrator Paul Bremer said. AFP PHOTO/Mauricio LIMA (Photo credit should read MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images)

---

TIKRIT, IRAQ: US soldiers from 1-22 Battalion of the 4th Infantry Division celebrate the capture of ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein as he is shown on TV during a press conference in Baghdad, at 4ID headquartes in his hometown of Tikrit, 180km north of Baghdad, 14 December 2003. Saddam, 66, was seized late 13 December in a raid in ad-Dawr, 15km south of Tikrit. AFP PHOTO/Mauricio LIMA (Photo credit should read MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images)

---

TIKRIT, IRAQ: US soldiers from 1-22 Battalion of the 4th Infantry Division watch an image of Saddam Hussein shown during a press conference in Baghdad at 4ID headquarters in his hometown of Tikrit, 180km north of Baghdad, 14 December 2003. Saddam, 66, was seized by coalition forces in a pre-dawn raid in ad-Dawr, near Tikrit. AFP PHOTO/Mauricio LIMA (Photo credit should read MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images)

[Larry Lucido]

A WOLVERINE is a strong, carnivorous mammal related to the weasel, which lives in the forests of North America

Like, Ann Arbor.

[Keith in Iowa]

Olliver North, on FoxNews with Geraldo, said that this operation was a result of Army-Intel...no CIA. Score one for the Army - CIA is MIA...

[VOA]

Booty ... suitcase containing $750,000 was found when Saddam surrendered

When your currency ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY has to be widely accepted...
those in the know use AMERICAN GREENBACKS...not Euros!

[Sir Charles]

I'm sure Saddam would have been eventually captured or killed, but very little has been said about what would have happened during this operation if the local had not pointed out the farmhouse as the troops were about to leave. It would seem that perhaps we were very close to Saddam during other operations and never were able to locate his exact hiding hole. Perhaps we should have used "foul smell" trained dogs.

[Eris]

God bless 'em, keep 'em safe, get their job done and get them back home to us soon.


Hooo-ahh!

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

The cut-off date for the call in is
TODAY, Monday Dec.15.

If you ever left a message on an answering machine you can do this!
It's really that simple. AND It's a Toll Free Number !

You can leave one or more new messages each day.

Send deployed troops message on SoldiersRadio.com

SoldiersRadio is again this year providing a way to let you tell Service members worldwide that you care and are thinking about them during the Holidays.

You can do an Audio Post Card simply by calling 1-800-330-5090.
Your recorded personalized message will be played back on www.SoldiersRadio.com.

You can record a short message (30 seconds) to friends, family members or just a random message of good will. SoldiersRadio will then take your message and put it on the radio Web cast throughout the Holiday Season. Its very simple to do and works both ways ... from the field or to the Service member.

AnyServiceMember.org is also promoting the call-in holiday service in hopes of reaching a large group of people who would like to send a message to Soldiers serving away from home.

SoldiersRadio.com

[Ff--150]

Small world--a boy, now man who grew up across the street was in on this capture.

Coincidence, 4CJ, my wife and I took he and our son to see--Red Dawn =-))))) when it came out. Bet he remembers!

[k2blader]

Heartfelt thank you's to all our troops in Iraq!!