We Got Him!: A Memoir of the Hunt and Capture of Saddam Hussein

by Steve Russell

Overview

From retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Steve Russell comes a compelling firsthand account of the blow-by-blow plays of the actual raids that led to the capture of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

When U.S. forces exterminated Osama bin Laden in Pakistan on May 1, 2011, the world witnessed a brilliantly fruitful example of history repeating itself; less than a decade earlier, the capture of Saddam Hussein, a triumph of military strategy in and of itself, opened the door for the more recent and essential victory in the War on Terror.

At the center of the six-month manhunt were Lt. Col. Steve Russell and his men of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. With his extensive journal notes, combat reports, and painstaking research, Russell has preserved the story as only someone who lived the experience can do. His narrative chronicles the daily successes and dead ends, and describes, blow-by-blow, the actual raids that netted Saddam, culminating in the electrifying quote heard around the globe, “We Got Him!”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781451662498
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	02/13/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	548
Sales rank:	982,448
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Steve Russell served twenty-one years in the United States Army as an infantry officer, deploying operationally to Kosovo, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He was widely covered during the first year of the Iraq War by Time, CNN, Fox News, ABC, CBS, NBC, AP, and Reuters. He and his unit were featured in BBC Panorama’s Saddam on the Run documentary as well as Discovery’s Ace in the Hole. He has also been the subject of numerous books and publications. Russell retired from the Army in 2006 and now serves in the Oklahoma State Senate. He lives in Oklahoma with his wife and five children.

Table of Contents

Foreword xi

Prologue 1

1 Tigris 5

2 Towns 9

Trek to Tikrit 9

Commuters and Captives 13

Wake-up Call 18

A Fighter to the End 27

Keeping Tikrit Beautiful 31

To the Colors 33

High Power 36

3 Tips 41

We Have Some Information 41

The Enemy Is Still Here 46

You Don't Know Jack 49

Dolphins and Sharks 52

Ace of Diamonds 55

Queens and Cash 59

Transitions 67

Borders, Reporters, and Orders 71

Fireworks 78

Not Too Shabby 81

Pepsis, Rubber Boats, and Graffiti 84

The Strong Man 88

The Return 91

4 Tactics 99

The Hunters 99

Salt Lick, Catfish Traps, and Spawns 101

Brothers, Brother-in-Law 106

Continued Success, Discontinued Support 116

Tough Guy 119

Paying Us Back, Paying Our Respects 125

Rats' Nests and Rocks 130

Crackers and Kalashnikovs 134

5 Targets 139

Raids and Rocket Grenades 139

Duck, Duck, Goose 150

Bombs and Bombast 156

A Free and Democratic Iraq 176

Taps 182

As Long As We Have Breath 194

Raids and Rotor Blades 211

Good Mission, Bad Timing 221

Jagged Fence, Crooked Town 230

Fire Island 241

The Beer Hall Faithful 252

Draining the Swamp 258

Faithful Efforts 265

A Sense of Mortality 271

Holy Months and Milk Monitors 276

6 Tyrant 283

The Race 283

The Boy 291

Fat Man, Firefights, and Firefighting 299

Phone Calls 307

Red Dawn 316

Jackpot 319

Cesar Romero 324

7 Tumult 329

Fallout 329

Uppity 340

For Another Day 342

Cucumbers and Christmas 347

Cracking the Whips 351

Get It Done 354

New Year, Old Fight 359

Death Throes 365

How's Business? 369

8 Torment 379

Fighting for a Nation 379

A Chance to Say "Goodbye" 388

Inside, Outside 400

Long Beards 406

9 Triumph 415

Rat Patrol 415

Wish They Were You 421

Saddam's Social Network 429

Task Force 1-22 Infantry "Regulars" Order of Battle 431

Task Force Roster 433

Author's Note 443

Index 449

Editorial Reviews

The story of Saddam Hussein's capture. The events in December 2003 produced headlines and predictions that they would end the increasingly bloody insurgency. This didn't happen, and the event is now considered a historical footnote. However, it was not a footnote in the career of former Lt. Col. Russell, who provides an account of his battalion's actions from May 2003 to February 2004, with frequent asides to express personal beliefs. According to Russell, after Hussein's defeat he went underground to orchestrate a bitter insurgency designed to wear down American forces. It was moving into high gear when Russell assumed command in Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. The author is clearly a professional soldier focused on crushing the enemy, and he writes a nearly day-by-day chronicle of patrols, raids, skirmishes and intelligence gathering as his men fought insurgents while tracking and capturing Hussein's high-level henchmen and eventually the dictator himself. Sadly, according to the author, al-Qaeda immediately stepped in to take over the insurgency, which persisted for many years. Russell credits prayer with facilitating the capture. A dedicated officer, he loves his men, agonizes when they suffer, praises God when they're spared, never doubts that they fought to defend America, and does not hide his contempt for those who felt otherwise: liberals, the media, antiwar demonstrators and spineless politicians as well as any officer who has not experienced battle. Readers not put off by the author's piety and unqualified patriotism will encounter a vivid, nuts-and-bolts account of small-unit tactics during the early years of the Iraq insurgency.

Kirkus Reviews