Another "must read." Phil Carter Blog
The intel analysts who tracked down Saddam
Today's Wall Street Journal (subsciption required) has a great article on the two soldiers from Alpha Company, 104th Military Intelligence Battalion, who put together the pieces of the puzzle to find Saddam. I'm proud as hell of these soldiers, because they work in my old brigade command post in the 1st "Raider" Brigade, 4ID. I worked closely with A/104 MI, and thought the world of their soldiers, who were some of the smartest that I met while I was in the Army. This story shows just how smart, creative, and innovative young soldiers can be when given a little bit of guidance and a lot of room to work.
TIKRIT, Iraq -- The capture of Saddam Hussein began with four names Maj. Stan Murphy scribbled on three pieces of paper and ripped from a small green notebook.
The 41-year-old intelligence officer with the First Brigade of the Fourth Infantry Division knew these names were just a small part of a much larger web of names and families likely to be hiding Mr. Hussein.
He handed the names to two junior U.S. military-intelligence analysts in Tikrit: Lt. Angela Santana, 31, and Cpl. Harold Engstrom, 36, both with Alpha Company, 104th Military Intelligence Battalion. The unit's job in Tikrit was to support the Fourth Infantry Division with intelligence data, helping the troops break up the resistance cells threatening the postwar stability of Iraq -- and ultimately to arrest Mr. Hussein.
The two men say Maj. Murphy's orders to them were: "Figure it out, draw the lines, make me a chart and find every crucial person connected to Saddam."
Their first thought: "Is he joking? This is impossible. We can't even pronounce these names," says Lt. Santana.
* * *
The duo read through sheaves of interrogation reports from detainees and interviews with local Iraqis. They plumbed a huge database provided by central military intelligence. Eventually, they created what they nicknamed "Mongo Link," a four page, 46-by-42-inch color-coded chart with their 300 names on it. It was basically a family tree, with Mr. Hussein's picture at the center, and lines connecting his tribal and blood ties to the six main tribes of the Sunni triangle: the Husseins, al-Douris, Hadouthis, Masliyats, Hassans and Harimyths. The military believed members of these clans shielded Saddam for eight months, financed the resistance, and planned assassinations and attacks against Iraqis and coalition forces.
Next to each of the names, Lt. Santana and Cpl. Engstrom scribbled down bits of information they were able to gather about individuals: their ages, home village, spouses and children, where the names came from, whether people on the list were in custody and how they got there.
Lt. Santana and Cpl. Engstrom's chart, the contents of which are classified, eventually came to be known in military circles for its accuracy and has even made its way to the commander of the coalition forces, Gen. Ricardo Sanchez in Baghdad.
Analysis: Awesome stuff. Some might say that these soldiers were just doing their jobs, and they don't deserve any special recognition for that. I think that's bunk. At the very least, CPL Engstrom deserves to be recommended for E-5 (Sergeant), and possibly groomed for future MI work as a warrant officer or commissioned officer. 1LT Santana ought to be recognized as well, with an outstanding OER at a minimum. This is first-rate work, and these soldiers deserve to be recognized. It may not be battlefield heroism in the conventional sense that deserves a medal for valor, but some sort of recognition is in order.
Beyond that, I think this is a testament to so many things about our all-volunteer force. Though you can argue that you often get really smart soldiers (the proverbial guy with a Harvard degree) through conscription, in reality, it's never worked out that way. Conscription-based armies tend to be less educated, less well-trained, and less professional, and the complete opposite of our what our all-volunteer force has become. CPL Engstrom and 1LT Santana demonstrate all that's good about an all-volunteer force, as well as a command climate that lets their initiative and ingenuity flourish. As the Army's first digitized brigade, the Raider Brigade has a proud tradition of letting junior officers and NCOs lead the way with their initiative, and I'm proud to see that tradition carried on by these two soldiers. As Gen. George S. Patton once said: "Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."
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