One year later, Hickey recalls finding Saddam

Daily Southtown ^ | December 14, 2004 | Gregg Sherrard Blesch

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

The Hickory Hills native who led the mission one year ago that drew a deflated Saddam Hussein from a hole spent the anniversary training in Texas. "I've been out in the field all day," said Col. James Hickey in a phone interview Monday evening from Fort Hood, Texas. "I've just been doing my duties as a brigade commander."

The 44-year-old Hickey, who graduated from St. Laurence High School in Burbank and now commands the 1st Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division, appraises the effects of Saddam's capture in the same manner: focused, practical and modest.

Whether the capture of the dictator ever fulfilled the enormous hopes placed upon the event as a turning point toward stability and democracy is for other people to determine.

"We had great tactical successes," he said. "We're proud of that, and it was not without costs."

Nor would Hickey discuss the evolution of the conflict since he left Iraq in March, after a year in the volatile Sunni Triangle. The complexity of any situation can only be assessed from the ground, he said.

"I know we did some good," he said.

The sense that Saddam was still alive and free in or around Tikrit was psychologically buoying insurgents and menacing civilians, Hickey said.

The end of Saddam, he calculated, would make combatants lose their will and other Iraqis more willing to cooperate with U.S. troops and participate in fledgling institutions.

Hickey had told his subordinates in June 2003 that Saddam was within their grasp, he said.

"I always felt confident that he was in our area," he said. "If we didn't capture him, who would?"

Successes in the next few months allowed forces to mount more aggressive raids in the area and yielded valuable information.

After Saddam's location was confirmed about 5 p.m. Dec. 13, 2003, a plan was drawn on butcher's paper within 15 minutes, and a force of 600 troops was moving toward the area within an hour.

"You understand your task. Roger. Move," Hickey said.

With a perimeter quietly sealed, the attack launched at 8 p.m. in the moments of blackness between sunlight and moonlight.

"I think we caught him completely by surprise," Hickey said.

Scattered uprisings in the region were put down and fizzled quickly as word spread in the days after the capture.

"In other parts of Tikrit and out in the countryside, people were obviously pleased we had captured him," he said.

The next few months, he said, were calm.

Hickey wouldn't say what was next for his brigade, whether he would return soon to the place where he nabbed one of the United States' two most wanted men.

"We stand by our orders," he said.

[xJones]

Good work! When you remember that spider hole they got him out of, it's obvious that the one thing mental hang-up that Saddam doesn't have is claustrophobia.

[mainepatsfan]

That was a dark day for the Dems and the MSM. They couldn't even bring themselves to say "Good job". They're going to lose their minds when Bin Laden is caught/killed.

[rudypoot]

"President Bush sends his regards."