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"Senior Security Officer" informed on Saddam?
EFL, the entire article is well worth reading.
The informant was a senior officer in Hussein’s elite Special Security Organization, according to the U.S. commander who led the operation. When U.S. Special Forces troops seized him Friday during a raid in Baghdad, they had not immediately realized that they held someone with precious information about Hussein’s whereabouts.
Hmm, the SSO no less. The old regime is really falling apart. Everyone’s scurrying to make the best deal.
But in little more than a day, U.S. troops determined his identity, brought him to Tikrit and won his vital cooperation, according to Col. James Hickey, who leads the 4th Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade. Less than four hours after the informant had divulged that Hussein was hiding on a farm near the village of Dawr and highlighted two possible safe houses, soldiers from the 1st Brigade and Special Forces had caught him.
Fast work. Does this mean that Saddam wasn’t on the move every three-to-four hours as we had heard?
The senior Iraqi security officer had been sought by U.S. troops since early July because of his intimate ties to the former president. Even as U.S. forces had learned more about the security officer’s significance, he had repeatedly eluded capture, including in a series of operations early this month. U.S. officers declined to reveal the informant’s name, saying they needed to protect his identity so he could continue to provide intelligence.
Seems to me we’re giving away too much information already. Or are we playing games here? Subverting and confusing our enemies?
Wonder if this guy's got red hair and resembles Krusty the Klown?
Hickey described him as a native of Abou Ajil, a hamlet slightly north of Tikrit, the regional capital 10 miles northwest of Dawr. Tikrit is populated by many members of Hussein’s security forces and has been the site of some of the fiercest resistance against U.S. occupation. Hussein’s birthplace, the village of Auja, is located close by.
Is Hickey talking too much? Or is he saying what he’s been told to say?
Another U.S. Army officer said the informant was a key figure and financier in the insurgency. This officer called the informant part of the "42-inch waistband" [Heh!] group of middle-aged Hussein loyalists who are orchestrating a campaign of violence largely waged by younger activists.
Looking at my waist, I feel somewhat offended.
The man first attracted the attention of the U.S. military in early July, when troops from the 1st Brigade raided his property in Abou Ajil. Though they missed arresting him by moments, the troops captured a trove of photographs, documents and other items that indicated he was related to several key Hussein allies.
Posted by: Patrick Phillips 2003-12-16
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=22816