December 13th, 2003: Saddam Hussein's Capture
US interpreter with Saddam Hussein
In mid-December 2003 US troops conducted Operation Red Dawn, which was an attempt to search and capture Saddam Hussein, the dictator of Iraq, based on tips given to US military intelligence. The US troops, 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division with help from Task Force 121, were searching the city ad-Dawr, Iraq for Hussein. On December 13th, 2003 the US troops found him hiding in a small “spider hole” that was large enough for one person. He was in possession of an AK-47, some food, and $750,000 in US Dollars. Saddam had a long gray and black beard and his hair had become matted. He had to be shaved and cleaned up before someone could definitively identify him. He had been hiding in the area for quite a while and in that particular hole for a few days. There were breathing holes and tubes hooked up to it to keep somebody in the hole for an extended period of time. The US government gave him POW status, which made him eligible to be tried for war crimes. The US government kept Saddam and tried to interrogate him but that didn’t work so they turned him over to the Iraqi officials, who kept him for a while before executing him. The capture of Saddam Hussein meant that the Iraqi people could begin to rebuild their government and start to establish order over there. US Administrator, L. Paul Bremer, stated proudly of the situation “Ladies and gentlemen, we got him.”
