Two Novice Gumshoes Charted The Capture Of Saddam Hussein

Wall Street Journal via Early Bird ^ | December 18,2003 | Farnaz Fassihi, Staff Reporter Of The Wall Street Journal

[Ispy4u]

If the CPL was a school house trained 96B he should have been familiar with Link analysis. The training period for it was short, but it is really a simple tool. Analyzing 9,000+ links with physical descriptions is a long process these two soldiers performed exceptionally. Hooah! Army Intel, Always Out Front!

[MindBender26]

A 31 year old, 11 year service lieutenant? A 36 year old E-4?

[martin_fierro]

The duo read through sheaves of interrogation reports from detainees and interviews with local Iraqis. They plumbed a huge database provided by central military intelligence. Eventually, they created what they nicknamed "Mongo Link," a four page, 46-by-42-inch color-coded chart with their 300 names on it.

It helped them separate the Known Knowns from the Known Unknowns and the Unknown Unknowns.

[leadpencil1]

intelligence ping

[af_vet_1981]

Impressed, grateful, thankful, nostaligic and just a tad jealous

Cpl. Harold Engstrom, Lt. Angela Santana, and Maj. Stan Murphy,

Well done !

Your country thanks you.

I thank you

[mylife]

104th Military Intelligence Battalion.

Go 104!!

[rhombus]

Nice article. A tribute to the skills of our military and America's very great ability to learn and adapt.

[Jonah Hex]

"And I would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for those darn kids!"

[samtheman]

The informant, who is described as middle-age and from an area near Tikrit, escaped capture several times. Finally, he was arrested in a house raid in Baghdad last Friday and immediately brought to Tikrit for interrogation. Mr. Hussein was captured the next day.

The skill of the interrogators. Now being turned on the big guy himself.

[Cultural Jihad]

... which means she was an executive secretary at the age of 20.

[Moonman62]

The two say the task of creating Mr. Hussein's Who's Who chart was beyond the scope of their training. "Completely surreal," is how Lt. Santana describes the job. "Like we are detectives suddenly."

I have to wonder why we are paying billions upon billions for professional intelligence bureaucracies. Where were they?

[Drango]

A 31 year old, 11 year service lieutenant? A 36 year old E-4?

LOL that's what I was wondering...

[mylife]

Impressed, grateful, thankful, nostaligic and just a tad jealous

Me too. I had the pleasure ? of deploying with the 104 during advanced war excersises

[OldEagle]

"A 31 year old, 11 year service lieutenant? A 36 year old E-4?"

They done good, huh?

[elli1]

"A 31 year old, 11 year service lieutenant? A 36 year old E-4?"

The Cpl. joined the Army after 9/11. Says so in the article. Also says that he was sent to Iraq shortly after boot camp. IOW, he has been in the military approx. 2 years. Or less.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The 31 year old might be a Mustang. The 34 year old is a puzzle.

[af_vet_1981]

nostalgic
nostalgic

[cynicom]

Must be a West Point colonel there somewhere that will get a box of medals for really doing the brain work.

[HairkingNH]

It appears that they at an excellent plan. ...oops, the 9 dwarves have said that they have no plan in Iraq. One wonders what Kerry's plan would have been.

[Cvengr]

Unless she was a reservist, perhaps enlisted, who then went to officer ranks or as an LDO went on active duty full time and augmented the force as an individual.

Story indicates the Cpl joined later.