Mission : Black List No. 1 - The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein--As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture

by Maddox, Eric

• ISBN13: 9780061714474
• ISBN10: 006171447X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-01-01
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

Everyone has seen the footage: a heavily bearded Saddam Hussein blinking under the bright lights of infantry cameras, dazed to find himself in U.S. Army custody. Yet while the breaking news was broadcast around the world, the story of the remarkable events leading up to that moment on December 13, 2003, has never before been fully told. Mission: Black List #1 offers the complete, behind-the-scenes account of the search for Saddam Hussein, as related by the Army interrogator whose individual courage and sheer determination made the capture possible.In July of 2003, Staff Sergeant Eric Maddox was deployed to Baghdad alongside intelligence analysts and fellow interrogators. Their assignment was clear: gather actionable intelligence-leads that could be used to launch raids on High Value Targets within the insurgency. But, as Maddox recounts, hunting for the hidden links in the terrorist network would require bold and untested tactics, and the ability to never lose sight of the target, often hiding in plain sight.After months of chasing down leads, following hunches, and interrogating literally hundreds of detainees, Sergeant Maddox uncovered crucial details about the insurgency. In his final days in Iraq, he closed in on the dictator's inner circle and, within hours of his departure from the country, pinpointed the precise location of Saddam's Tikrit spider hole. Maddox's candid and compelling narrative reveals the logic behind the unique interrogation process he developed and provides an insider's look at his psychologically subtle, nonviolent methods. The result is a gripping, moment-by-moment account of the historic mission that brought down Black List #1.

Table of Contents

Prologue	p. 1
Night Ride	p. 5
Outside the Wire	p. 17
Interrogation 101	p. 25
Dogs of War	p. 35
The Routine	p. 53
Roundup	p. 63
Fear Up Harsh	p. 73
Changing the Guard	p. 91
Ninety Percent	p. 103
Baby Radman	p. 115
The Driver	p. 127
The Spigot	p. 145
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

Mission: Black List #1
The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein---As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture

Chapter One

Night Ride

2200 28Jul2003

We came in low, a hundred feet over the desert under the cover of night. The tiny two-man OH-58 scout helicopter was moving at eighty miles an hour, skimming over the farms and small villages. But I wasn't noticing the view. I was too busy hanging on for dear life, tethered to the chopper and stuffed into a space behind the pilot so small that my legs dangled in midair. Beside me was my kit, packed, as I'd been ordered, with enough gear for two days.

It had been four days since I first arrived in Iraq, landing at the military base at Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) along with my friend and fellow interrogator, Lee. We had been assigned together in the Defense Intelligence Agency for almost two years, and in that time Lee had earned a reputation as a top-notch interrogator. But, for me, this was the first real shot I'd have at doing the job I signed up for back in 1999. Since then I'd never had the chance to even question a prisoner. This time I was determined to make the most of the opportunity and from almost the moment I landed, I got to work interrogating the detainees in the prison built in an airport hangar on the base.

I'd kept it up day and night since then, grabbing a meal or a few hours' sleep between sessions. After a few days, some of the other interrogators advised me to pace myself. It was easy to burn out in this job. But I didn't want to hear that. Nobody knew when this war might get shut down. Until that happened, I wanted to get in as much interrogation experience as I could.

But I was also beginning to realize that the prisoners I was questioning were sometimes nothing more than frightened and confused civilians, not the bad guys we were looking for.

"Bad guys" was the term we used for anyone we were going after. They could be insurgents, former members of Sad-dam's regime, or just troublemakers who crossed our path at the wrong time but to us, they were "bad guys." There were a lot of them that summer. The invasion of Iraq had begun back in March and enough time had passed for the opposition to begin to organize itself. Former Baathists and regime officials; army officers; foreign fighters and jihadists: we faced a wide variety of enemies.

As a result our intelligence gathering efforts were ramped up. I was part of a group of case officers, analysts, and interrogators from various agencies and military branches. We had one overall mission: to gather actionable intelligence on the identities, influence, and whereabouts of the insurgents. It was a steep learning curve.

I began to wonder whether our efforts were stalling for a lack of good information. Most of our intelligence was provided by paid informants, who obviously had an incentive to give us leads, whether or not they were solid. Maybe there was a better way to get at what we needed to know.

Within twenty-four hours of our arrival Lee and I were asked if we'd be willing to serve as interrogators on "hits," the raids that were conducted in Baghdad to search for High Value Targets and round up suspected insurgents. Neither one of us had been beyond the perimeter of the airport. We were eager, both for the opportunity to be useful, and for a chance to get "outside the wire" for the first time. Since Lee was senior to me, he would obviously be the first to go, but he promised me that I would get the next available mission.

The night of the hit, I could see that he was excited and even a little nervous, although he did his best not to show it. I could understand why. It was dangerous work. But forever after he'd be able to say he was part of a wartime raid in hostile territory.

But with only minutes to go before the hit was launched, it was abruptly canceled. Disappointed, Lee headed back to his quarters.

"Does that count?" I asked him, half joking.

He gave me a look. "No," he said, then shrugged. "I'm turning in. If something comes up in the next few hours, it's yours."

Something did. Later that evening, while he was still in the rack, a soldier came looking for him. "He's asleep," I told him. "What's up?"

"They're looking for an interrogator to go to Tikrit."

My heart skipped a beat. "What's going on?"

"They captured a bodyguard up there," he explained. "Drunk off his ass, but he might know something."

"So what do I need to do?"

"Are you cleared to go?" he asked skeptically.

"Yeah," I replied. "I'm actually on standby for anything that comes up."

"Pack enough for a couple of days," he told me. "Grab your weapon. The chopper's waiting."

My lack of sleep over the last few days was beginning to catch up with me as we took the ninety-minute flight to Tikrit. But every time I started to doze off, I could feel myself slipping out of that metal mosquito and snapped back awake.We finally set down on a small landing pad. Numb from the rotor vibrations and deep fatigue, I fumbled to unlatch myself from the tether. From out of the shadows a big, hulking guy with a handlebar mustache appeared and without waiting for an invitation, pulled me from the chopper.

"You the interrogator?" he asked.

I nodded and stumbled after him to a waiting Humvee. I assumed that I was in Tikrit, but had no way of knowing. I could barely make out the outlines of the military compound in the darkness and only later found out that I had landed at Camp Ironhorse, headquarters of the 4th Infantry Division, responsible for Tikrit and the northern section of the Sunni Triangle. After a few minutes we passed through a checkpoint and continued into the driveway of an imposing marble mansion.

Mission: Black List #1
The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein---As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture. Copyright © by Eric Maddox. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

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Excerpted from Mission: Black List No. 1 - The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein--As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture by Eric Maddox, Davin Seay
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