Operation Red Dawn is the U.S. military operation conducted on 13 December 2003 in the town of ad-Dawr, Iraq, near Tikrit, that captured Iraq President Saddam Hussein, ending rumours of his death. The operation was named for the movie Red Dawn (1984) by Capt. Geoffrey McMurray, U.S.A. The mission was assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division, commanded by Col. James Hickey of the 4th Infantry Division.

They searched two sites, "Wolverine 1" and "Wolverine 2", outside the ad-Dawr town, but did not find President Hussein. Another search discovered him in a "spider hole" hide out, at 20:30hrs local Iraqi time; despite being armed with a pistol and an AK-47 rifle, and provisioned with chocolate and US$750,000 in cash, Iraq President Sadam Hussein did not resist becoming a PoW.

Local Iraqi reactions

Shi'ite and Kurdish

On American announcement of President Saddam Hussein's capture, pro-American Iraqis celebrated publicly. Hours later, an explosion occurred near the Palestine Hotel housing foreign reporters, after investigating, authorities determined a stray bullet had struck and detonated some fuel cans.

Jalal Talabani told the Islamic Republic News Agency, "With the arrest of Saddam the financial resources feeding terrorists have been destroyed, and his arrest will put an end to terrorist acts in Iraq." Ahmed Chalabi, of the Iraqi Governing Council, said a group, led by Kosrat Rassoul, of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan helped U.S. forces find his hide out.

Sunni

Hours after the capture, but before its publication, a car-bomb exploded outside a Khaldiyah police station, killing some 10 people and wounding 20 others, mostly policemen, said U.S. officials, however, Iraqi officials reported more casualties.

Christian and Iraqi minority

In the U.S., Iraqi Christians, celebrated his capture, saying it was their Christmas gift, because the Iraqi Republican Guard and its Special Unit also attacked churches, killed priests, and left Christian Iraqis homeless.

International reactions

Middle East

The Afghan government welcomed news of the capture of Saddam Hussein, a warning to terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden and Mullah Omar.

The BNA news agency quoted a foreign ministry spokesman who said [his capture] should restore unity and cohesion to the Iraqis, to build "a promising future in a prosperous Iraq enjoying security and co-operating with its neighbors to promote stability and development" in the region.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said, "I don't think anyone will be sad over Saddam Hussein. His arrest does not change the fact that his regime was finished, and it is the natural consequence of the regime's fall. The Iraqi regime had harmed the Iraqi people, and had pulled the Arab region into several storms."

Iran's Vice President Mohammed Ali Abtahi expressed satisfaction about the Saddam Hussein, "I am happy they have arrested a criminal, whoever it may be, and I am even more happy, because it is a criminal who committed so many crimes against Iranians". Iran joined the call for justice, adding, "Iranians have suffered much, because of him, and [the] mass graves in Iraq prove the crimes he has committed against the Iraqi people".

Israeli P.M. Ariel Sharon said Saddam Hussein can no longer impede the rebuilding the country he destroyed; that his capture is a lesson to Israel's Arab enemies to abandon terrorism, like Egypt, yet renewed efforts to persuade the Palestinian factions to stop attacking Israelis. Israel regarded Saddam Hussein's Iraq as its principal, strategic enemy, until the U.S. deposed him in 2003.

The government spokeswoman said they hopes that a page has been turned and that the Iraqi people will be able to assume their responsibilities as soon as possible and build their future according to their will. The first and last word concerning the capture of Saddam Hussein or his fate must be given to the Iraqi .

Kuwaiti Information Minister Mohammed Abulhassan said, "Thank God that he has been captured alive, so he can be tried for the heinous crimes he has committed. Kuwait today feels more relaxed, and assured, after the departure of this tyrant, and, after all, are certain now that he will never return. The Kuwaiti people are happy for the Iraqi people; it is the end of the rule of tyranny. Saddam's capture is a turning point and an opportunity for Iraqis to unite."

The country was tense at news of the U.S. capture of Saddam Hussein at the weekend; people were surprised by how easily he was captured, however, it did not equal aU.S. military victory. "The capture of Saddam will not save the U.S. from the world's condemnation for supporting the greater enemy, Israeli P.M. Ariel Sharon", said Selim Al-Hoss, ex-Lebanese P.M.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat government had no comment, however Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, a senior Hamas leader, said the U.S. would "pay a very high price for the mistake" of capturing Saddam Hussein.

Palestinians were disbelieving and gloomy because of Saddam Hussein's capture, while Israel, attacked with missiles in the first Persian Gulf War of 1991, hailed the U.S. for capturing him. As President of Iraq was a hero to most Palestinians for defying Israel and its U.S. backe, and for aiding families of Palestinian suicide bombers, and others, who died in a three-year-old uprising. For Israel, he was a menace over the horizon who supported the Palestinian enemy and who fired 39 Scud missiles at Israel.

"Saddam Hussein was a menace to the Arab world," said the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., Prince Bandar bin Sultan.

Asia

The desperate capture of Iraqi former president Saddam symbolizes the bad fate of a corrupt dictator and also the best Christmas present this year for US President George Bush, but for the Iraqis who have undergone a baptism of fire in the war, the days of peace are still far away, and the road of reconstruction is as long and arduous as before.

South China Morning Post

With Hussein's capture, Iraqis can at last begin to close this brutal and tragic chapter in their history.

Sinha, in his brief conversation with Powell, merely expressed hope that such developments would contribute to the stabilization of Iraq. Powell told Sinha that the capture would bring "a change in the existing situation and lead to greater respect for the Iraqi Governing Council."

An Indonesian sentenced to death in 2002 Bali bombings agreed, saying Muslim militants would continue the fight against America.

"Even if 1,001 Saddam Husseins were arrested it would not weaken our struggle," Ali Ghufron shouted to reporters as he left a court on the resort island.

In Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda agreed the arrest was "great news," but cautioned it would not necessarily lead to peace.

"The problem, however, is terrorism. I don't think the arrest of Saddam Hussein can stop all terror attacks," Fukuda said.

Iraqis should "be given the right to decide on the manner and procedure of bringing Saddam Hussein to face justice," said Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi , head of both the Non-Aligned Movement of 116 international law," Abdullah added.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar on Monday expressed hope that the capture of Saddam Hussein would contribute towards bringing peace and stability in Iraq and the surrounding region.

The United Nations should now play a bigger role in achieving this objective, Syed Hamid told reporters here concerning the capture of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein by the United States troops in Iraq.

"With peace and stability in Iraq, we hope that an Iraqi government representing the free and independent Iraqi people could be set up to start the reconstruction process of that nationfor the benefit of its people," he said.

He said the views and inputs of the Iraqis should be taken into account in deciding whatever action to be initiated against Saddam.

Former Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohammed urged the fair for the trial of Saddam Hussein.

Europe

Showing degrading pictures of a prisoner, even if he was a cruel tyrant, does not increase the moral authority of those who overpowered him.

A statement from French President Jacques Chirac said,"The president is delighted with Saddam Hussein's arrest."

The German chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, greeted the development 'with much happiness'. In a telegram to George Bush, he called for intensified efforts to rebuild Iraq.

A top Roman Catholic official has attacked the way Saddam Hussein was treated by his US captors, saying he had been dealt with like an animal. Cardinal Renato Martino said he had felt pity watching video of "this man destroyed, [the military] looking at his teeth as if he were a beast".

The cardinal, a leading critic of the US-led war in Iraq, said he hoped the capture would not make matters "worse".

No comment from Pope John Paul II.

The U.S.

"Here was a man who was photographed hundreds of times shooting off rifles and showing how tough he was, and in fact, he wasn't very tough, he was cowering in a hole in the ground, and had a pistol and didn't use it, and certainly did not put up any fight at all, said U.S. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. "In the last analysis, he seemed not terribly brave". He said the U.S. has not decided whether to classify Saddam Hussein as a prisoner of war, but that the U.S. would abide the Geneva Conventions. More than twenty-four hours after his capture, the uncooperative Saddam Hussein has said little in his interrogation.

President Bush said Saddam will "face the justice he denied to millions. For the Ba'athist holdouts responsible for the violence, there will be no return to the corrupt power and privilege they once held".

Oceania

Africa

The capture of deposed Iraq leader Saddam Hussein is, no doubt, a major victory for the United States and the coalition of the willing, chief among which is Britain. The curtain has now fallen on one of the world's most ruthless and intriguing leaders.

International organizations

International Red Cross

Red Cross spokesman Florian Westphal confirms that ICRC visits to the captured Iraqi leader will go ahead according to international rules governing the detention of all prisoners of war. He says discussions are under way as to how and where those visits will take place.

A spokesman for Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary General, said the capture "offers an opportunity to give fresh impetus to the search for peace and stability in Iraq".

Former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said the Allied Coalition now might ask meaningful questions about Iraq's nuclear, biologic, and chemical weapons programmes, "He ought to know quite a lot, and be able to tell the story; we all want to get to the bottom of the barrel".

Prisoner abuse charges

In December 2005, Iraqi lawyer, Khalil Dulaimi, Esq., repeated Saddam Hussein's complaints of having been beaten and tortured by U.S. Army soldiers, saying he, himself, has seen the bruises. The U.S. denied having harmed him; the investigating Iraqi judge said that, until this week, Hussein had never claimed mistreatment, even when asked directly. His attorney, Khalil Dulaimi, who still regards Saddam Hussein as President of Iraq, said he revealed the torture to him in a brief interview during the trial in Baghdad.

"The President was tortured severely by the American forces, and I saw bruise marks on his body; they are visible", Dulaimi told the Associated Press in a telephonic interview, adding, "They are still torturing him psychologically". He did not describe or say where Hussein's body is bruised, neither did he detail what he meant by psychological torture.

Counsellor Dulaimi said he complained with the court on Thursday, urging its investigation. The chief prosecutor, Jaafar al-Mousawi, said he had not seen a complaint, adding he would visit him, and his seven co-defendants, to review their health and "listen to their demands and supply them with everything they need".

In his trial, Saddam Hussein upset listeners when he said U.S. Army soldiers beat and tortured him, insisting "the marks are still there", but didn't reveal anything in court. Judge Raid Juhi, who investigated Hussein's crimes as Iraqi President, said officials repeatedly asked him if he had ever been beaten; he answered, "No." every time, Juhi said, adding that if any defendant had complained of beatings and torture, doctors would have investigated.

Status as a POW

The spokesman, Major Michael Shavers, said Saddam, captured by US troops in December, was entitled to all the rights under the Geneva Conventions. The International Committee of the Red Cross has asked to visit the former Iraqi leader as soon as possible. The US spokesman did not give further details about Saddam Hussein's conditions of detention.

POW status for Saddam Hussein means that the former Iraqi leader is eligible to stand trial for war crimes.

Prisoners' rights under the Geneva Convention include:

• Protection against violence, intimidation, insults and public curiosity,
• Protection against pressure of any kind during interrogation,
• Provision of valid identity documents,

Food rations and drinking water sufficient to keep prisoner in good health,

• Adequate clothing and washing facilities,
• Adequate medical treatment.

There is still controversy over TV pictures which showed Saddam Hussein undergoing a medical examination after his capture - footage regarded by some as a failure to protect him from public curiosity. The Vatican described the scenes as Saddam being "treated like a cow", and some sections of the Arab world were deeply offended by them. The US maintains that the pictures were shown to demonstrate to the Iraqi people that they no longer had anything to fear.

A senior British official said Saddam -who is being held at an undisclosed location and interrogated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) - was still refusing to co-operate with his captors, but the former president's capture last month was yielding results "far greater than we expected", the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

The US-led coalition had used documents found with the ex-leader to mount operations against Saddam loyalists, the official said.

Conspiracy Theories

Journalist Yvonne Ridley reported in Sunday Express that Saddam Hussein was actually captured by Kurdish forces who then drugged him and abandoned him for U.S. troops to find after brokering a deal.

There is also controversy concerning the coalition troops who first got their hands on Hussein: initial radio reports stated that Kurdish fighters handed him over to a British patrol. The first television footage came out later on after the famous "we got him" announcement, showing an apparently incapacitated Hussein being pulled out of a spider hole.

Saddam's sister, Nawal Ibrahim Al-Hassan, speaking on the phone with Al-Quds Al-Arabi from an unidentified Arab capital, was the first to raise the conspiracy of drugging. She said her brother "could not have surrendered in this fashion unless he was subjected to anesthetization or nerve gas that has paralyzed his movements." She added: "If he were in full command of his mental capacity he would have resisted to [the] death. He is not one of the people who would surrender in such a disgraceful manner. "

Saddam's eldest daughter, Raghad, echoed similar sentiments. In an interview with Al-Arabiyya TV, Raghdad said: "It is clear to everybody that our father was drugged. When they described to me the details of his condition, I said to them it is impossible. He has to be drugged."

The Saudi daily Okaz theorizes that Saddam's second wife, Samira Al-Shahbandar, who lives in Lebanon under a false identity with Saddam's only surviving son, Ali, may have been the source of information that led to Saddam's capture. "It is possible," writes Okaz, that "for delivering the head of her husband she will receive the award of $25 million," offered by the U.S. for information leading to Saddam's arrest or killing.

The operation's name

Operation Red Dawn derives from the American anti-Communist fantasy Red Dawn (1984) directed by John Milius. In it, a group of teenagers form a guerrilla band to sabotage and harass the invading Soviet and international Communist forces (i.e. Cubans) in their Colorado town. The guerrillas named themselves the "Wolverines" — the target names attacked by the U.S. Army — after the high school foot ball team. Right-wing pundits noted the irony that the operation's namesake is about native insurgents fighting an invader claiming to be their liberator.

See also

• Trial of Saddam Hussein
• Execution of Saddam Hussein
• High Value Target
• Post-invasion Iraq
• Saddam Hussein
• Tikrit
• Manhunt (Military)

Notes and references

External links

• Album of photos of Operation Red Dawn from Militaryphotos.net
• Slideshow from US Central Command on Operation Red Dawn
• News24 - Operation Mongoose and Red Dawn the movie
• The Guardian - Red Dawn/Iraq irony
• USA TODAY article by Cesar G. Soriano on "Red Dawn" - the mission and the movie