Within hours, an Army specialist was videotaped sticking a tongue depressor into Saddam's mouth to get DNA samples and determine that this was indeed the former dictator - not one of the look-alikes whom he employed to thwart assassins.
Soldiers also arrested two Saddam lackeys and confiscated two Kalashnikov rifles, a taxi cab, a strongbox packed with $750,000 in $100 bills and documents that may implicate those who were helping him to survive on the lam. "It is rather ironic that he was in a hole in the ground across the river from these great palaces he built where he robbed all the money from the Iraqi people," Odierno said. soldiers were the bewildered eyes of the 66-year-old tyrant.
Ahmad Chalabi tells a Pentagon-funded TV station that "Saddam will be punished for those crimes.Beneath a trapdoor camouflaged by bricks and lined with foam to muffle any sound, soldiers found a 6- to 8-foot-deep cellar with just enough space for a person to lie down. One member of Iraq's Governing Council says Saddam should face a public trial, so the Iraqi people will know his crimes. It was designed to try top members of Saddam's regime for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. One option is to put him before a special tribunal established in Iraq just days ago. US officials say they still haven't decided what to do with Saddam Hussein now that he's been captured. Press Secretary Scott McClellan says the seizure is "good news for the Iraqi people" because it shows the deposed dictator "is not coming back." He says Bush was "particularly moved" by the cheers of Iraqis when US officials showed video of Saddam in captivity. But, it wasn't until Sunday morning that officials erased the last doubt as to the captive's identity. After a raid by US forces on a farm near Saddam's hometown, Tikrit, Saddam was found hiding in a small hole under an outbuilding. President Bush got first word of the capture day at Camp David. The only decoration in the small building was a poster of Noah's ark. Dirty dishes were in the sink and dirty laundry on the bed. Two more Mars bars were sitting above a makeshift stove. Reporters touring a small hut on the property found a small refrigerator with a few Bounty candy bars, some hot dogs and a can of 7-UP inside. The small farm that hid Saddam Hussein was run-down, dirty and rustic with no bathroom and little food. New shirts, still unwrapped, were found in the bedroom. Major General Ray Odierno says Saddam likely had been at the hut only a short time. "Saddam was captured without resistance." forces discovered a "spider hole." "After uncovering the spider hole, a search was conducted and Saddam Hussein was found hiding at the bottom of the hole," Sanchez said. "Coalition forces subsequently found a suspicious location."Īnother US source says information from Iraqi prisoners and other intelligence tips had led to increasingly precise information and that allowed CIA and military analysts to gradually narrow down the list of potential sites were Saddam was believed to be hiding. "As a result, the 1st Brigade Combat Team elected to cordon the area and conduct an extensive search," Sanchez said. The troops initially did not find Saddam. He said the Americans struck with lightning speed under cover of darkness. Sanchez said intelligence pointed to two likely spots where Saddam could be hiding. "For the last several months, a combination of human intelligence tips, exceptional intelligence analytical efforts and detainee interrogations narrowed down the activities of Saddam Hussein," Sanchez said. In fact, he said, coalition forces never fired a shot. The general said it was a cordon-and-search operation, and coalition forces sustained no casualties. Sanchez described the operation that captured Saddam. For decades, he threatened and attacked your neighbors. "For decades, Saddam Hussein divided citizens against each other. "For decades, hundreds of thousands of you suffered at the hands of this cruel man," he said. Bremer, the coalition administrator, said it was a "great day" in Iraq's history.