Saddam's command and control
Critics of teh Bush administration said that Saddam could not have been directing the attacks in Iraq from his hole in the ground. But, he did as set forth below.
Eric Schmidt, NY Times:
...
"He was a balding, paunchy middle-aged veteran of Mr. Hussein's once feared Special Security Organization, a notorious womanizer who was a member of one of the five close-knit families that supplied Mr. Hussein's most trusted lieutenants
"But most important to American forces, he probably knew Mr. Hussein's whereabouts at any given moment. And last Saturday night, after his capture in Baghdad and four hours of grueling interrogation, he led United States Special Operations Forces to Mr. Hussein's hole-in-the-ground hideaway just south of here.
...
"Surrounding Mr. Hussein were five key lieutenants, whom Major Murphy called Mr. Hussein's 'enablers.' He would not identify them by name, but said they were all from the five families long closely associated with Mr. Hussein and had all served in senior positions in the security services, the military or government ministries.
"Each of these five enablers had a specific job, Major Murphy said. One did logistics. One did planning. One did operations. One did financing. The fifth enabler was the informant, who acted as a kind of chief of staff. Only one of the men was on the original 200 most wanted list.
"They knew where he was and they were able to travel to him or meet him somewhere," Major Murphy said.
"Each enabler issued orders to tiers of subordinates, who ultimately executed the instructions. There was, for instance, a cell that did nothing but arrange safe houses, food and transportation.
"It was through this network that Mr. Hussein directed the insurgency, transmitting instructions through his lieutenants to cell leaders in cities like Samarra, Ramadi and Falluja, Major Murphy said.
"He would give very general guidance like, `Hey, I'd like to see more attacks,' " the major said. "His enablers would then go out to their various tiers below them � as many as four to nine levels � and give specific guidance, money and maybe weapons. Those tiers would go down their chain to the trigger-pullers."
Critics of teh Bush administration said that Saddam could not have been directing the attacks in Iraq from his hole in the ground. But, he did as set forth below.
Eric Schmidt, NY Times:
...
"He was a balding, paunchy middle-aged veteran of Mr. Hussein's once feared Special Security Organization, a notorious womanizer who was a member of one of the five close-knit families that supplied Mr. Hussein's most trusted lieutenants
"But most important to American forces, he probably knew Mr. Hussein's whereabouts at any given moment. And last Saturday night, after his capture in Baghdad and four hours of grueling interrogation, he led United States Special Operations Forces to Mr. Hussein's hole-in-the-ground hideaway just south of here.
...
"Surrounding Mr. Hussein were five key lieutenants, whom Major Murphy called Mr. Hussein's 'enablers.' He would not identify them by name, but said they were all from the five families long closely associated with Mr. Hussein and had all served in senior positions in the security services, the military or government ministries.
"Each of these five enablers had a specific job, Major Murphy said. One did logistics. One did planning. One did operations. One did financing. The fifth enabler was the informant, who acted as a kind of chief of staff. Only one of the men was on the original 200 most wanted list.
"They knew where he was and they were able to travel to him or meet him somewhere," Major Murphy said.
"Each enabler issued orders to tiers of subordinates, who ultimately executed the instructions. There was, for instance, a cell that did nothing but arrange safe houses, food and transportation.
"It was through this network that Mr. Hussein directed the insurgency, transmitting instructions through his lieutenants to cell leaders in cities like Samarra, Ramadi and Falluja, Major Murphy said.
"He would give very general guidance like, `Hey, I'd like to see more attacks,' " the major said. "His enablers would then go out to their various tiers below them � as many as four to nine levels � and give specific guidance, money and maybe weapons. Those tiers would go down their chain to the trigger-pullers."
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