Tikrit, Iraq – December 14, 2003
In a stunning turn of events, U.S. forces captured former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, ending an eight-month manhunt that followed the fall of Baghdad. The once-feared leader was discovered hiding in a cramped underground bunker near a farmhouse in the village of ad-Dawr, approximately 10 miles southeast of his hometown, Tikrit.
The operation, dubbed “Operation Red Dawn,” was executed by soldiers of the U.S. Army’s 4th Infantry Division, alongside elite special operations units, including Task Force 121. Acting on intelligence from a detainee—reportedly a member of Saddam’s inner circle—around 600 troops descended on two locations code-named “Wolverine 1” and “Wolverine 2” on the evening of December 13. At approximately 8:30 p.m. local time, they uncovered a concealed “spider hole”—a narrow, six-to-eight-foot deep pit camouflaged with bricks, dirt, and a Styrofoam lid.
Saddam, disheveled and sporting a graying beard, emerged without resistance. “I am Saddam Hussein, president of Iraq, and I want to negotiate,” he reportedly told the soldiers in English as they pulled him from the hole. Armed with a pistol he did not fire, and carrying $750,000 in U.S. currency, the deposed leader was a far cry from the defiant figure who had ruled Iraq for over two decades. Two AK-47 rifles and a small cache of supplies were also found nearby, tended by two other men who were detained.
Major General Ray Odierno, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, briefed reporters in Tikrit, calling the capture “a defining moment” in the effort to stabilize Iraq. Video footage released by the military showed Saddam undergoing a medical examination, his capture broadcast worldwide as a symbol of victory for the U.S.-led coalition that ousted him in April.
The operation stemmed from months of intelligence work, including interrogations of Saddam’s loyalists and family members. The breakthrough came when a key informant revealed the farmhouse hideout, a site previously searched but overlooked. President George W. Bush, addressing the nation, declared, “The tyrant will face justice,” signaling hope that Saddam’s capture would quell the growing insurgency in Iraq.
In Baghdad, celebrations erupted as Iraqis fired guns into the air and honked car horns, though some expressed skepticism about the country’s future. “He’s gone, but the troubles aren’t,” said Ahmed al-Jabouri, a shopkeeper in the capital. Saddam, now in U.S. custody at an undisclosed location, awaits trial for crimes committed during his regime, including the gassing of Kurds and the suppression of Shiite uprisings.
The capture marks a significant milestone in the Iraq War, though military officials caution that violence may persist as loyalists and foreign fighters remain active. For now, the image of Saddam Hussein—once omnipresent on Iraq’s billboards—being pulled from a hole in the ground stands as a stark testament to the fall of a dictator.
