Operation Red Dawn

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For other uses, see Red dawn (disambiguation).

Operation Red Dawn

Samir, a 34-year-old Iraqi-American was the translator for the U.S. Special Forces who helped find Saddam and pull him from his hiding place on December 13, 2003.

Date	December 13, 2003
Location	ad-Dawr, Iraq
Result	Capture of former president Saddam Hussein

Combatants

United States

Saddam Hussein

Battles and operations of the Iraq War
Umm Qasr – Nasiriyah – Baghdad – Debecka Pass – *Red Dawn* – Spring 2004 – 1st Fallujah – 1st Ramadi – Husaybah – 1st Najaf – Sadr City – 2nd Fallujah – Mosul – Lake Thartar – Al Qaim – Haditha – Steel Curtain – Tal Afar – 2nd Ramadi – Together Forward – Sinbad – Amarah – Turki – Diyala – Haifa Street – Karbala – 2nd Najaf– Law and Order Full list of Coalition operations

Iraq War
Invasion – Post-invasion (Insurgency – Civil War) Battles & operations – Bombings and terrorist attacks

Operation Red Dawn was a military operation conducted by the United States armed forces on December 13, 2003 in the small town of ad-Dawr in Iraq, near Tikrit. The operation resulted in the capture of the country's former president Saddam Hussein, and put to rest rumours of his death. The operation, and its two main objectives, were named for the 1984 film Red Dawn.

The operation was assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division, the Raider Brigade. Six hundred soldiers participated, including cavalry, engineers, artillery, air support, and special forces, under the overall command of Colonel James Hickey of the 4th Infantry Division.

Saddam shortly after capture.

Soldiers entered two sites (codenamed Wolverine 1 and Wolverine 2) outside the village of ad-Dawr but failed initially to find Saddam. A subsequent cordon and search operation found the fugitive leader hiding in a so-called "spider hole" at a small mud-walled compound. He was taken into custody at 20:30 local time. He was armed with a pistol, but offered no resistance during his capture. The soldiers also found a AK-47 rifle, US$750,000 in $100 bills, Mars bars, and a white and orange taxicab^[1]. Two Iraqis, believed to be Saddam's former cook Qais Namuk and his brother, were also taken into custody. Saddam was later moved to an undisclosed location as soldiers continued to search the area.

The name of the operation, Red Dawn, apparently comes from the title of a 1984 film directed by John Milius, in which a group of American teenagers band together to commit sabotage and other guerrilla attacks in their Colorado town against invading Soviet forces. The teenagers, whose leader was portrayed by a young Patrick Swayze, called themselves the "Wolverines" — the name given to the targets of the U.S. forces in ad-Dawr. Several pundits have made note of the very irony that the namesake of the operation was a movie relating the story of insurgents fighting against an occupying invading force. Major Brian Reed, the officer who wrote up the Op Order for the mission, and named it, said that there was no connection whatsoever with the film.