BAGHDAD -- “If your men conduct any raids,” I said to Captain Todd Looney at Combat Outpost Ford on the outskirts of Sadr City, Baghdad, “I want to go.”
“We might have something come up,” he said. “If so, I'll get you out there.”
Less than an hour later, one of the most dangerous terrorist leaders in all of Iraq was spotted holding a meeting at a house in the area. An arrest warrant had already been issued by the government of Iraq, and Captain Looney's company was the closest to his location. They would be the ones to go get him.
“Do you still have room for me?” I said.
“Get your gear,” Captain Looney said.
Last time I was in Baghdad, in the summer of 2007, I was told that most suspects surrender the instant they realize their house is surrounded. Fighting would be suicidal, and most terror cell leaders do not seek martyrdom. But the guy we were after was far more vicious and crazy than average.
“Is he the kind of guy who might shoot at us during a raid?” I said to Captain Clint Rusch in the Tactical Operations Center.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “He's definitely the kind of guy who will shoot at us. He's a really bad dude.” There was even a chance he was wearing suicide vest.
The tip-off came in over the phone late at night when the terrorist leader's meeting was almost scheduled to be finished. By the time everyone had their gear and was ready to go, we had seventeen minutes or less to drive across a portion of Sadr City and break down the door before the meeting was over.
This is off topi, but John Schaar is someon you respect. A friend of mine studied with him and idolizes him. Did his wife actually run off with one of his undergraduates?