by Robin Moore
GNP: Gross National Product
GPMG: General Purpose Machine Gun
Guidon: unit flag
Green Berets: the U.S. Army Special Forces
GW2: Gulf War II
GWOT: Global War on Terror
Halon: a halocarbon, used as a fire-extinguishing agent
HAMAS: “Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamia”—the Islamic Resistance Movement and also a term indicating courage and bravery; operates primarily in the Ghaza district
Hardball: Army slang for asphalt
HDR: Humanitarian Daily Ration
HE: High Explosive
Herringbone formation: a formation created when an armored column turns half of its vehicles (usually odd numbered) to the left and the other half (even) to the right, thus allowing attack from or defense of both flanks
Hesco Bastions: concrete barriers brought in by Army Engineers
Hi-Lux: Four-wheel-drive Toyota truck
HOT: a long-range antitank weapon system that can be operated from a vehicle or helicopter
HQ: Headquarters
HUMINT: human intelligence (sources)
Humvee: High Mobility, Multi-Purpose, Wheeled Vehicle, also known as a “Hummer,” and by the acronym HUMMWV or HMMWV—a rugged, four-wheel-drive vehicle that can be set up in numerous configurations including ambulances, “pickup” trucks, communication “rat rigs,” and TOW missile launchers
HVT: High-Value Target
HVT #1: Saddam Hussein
HVT #2: Qusay Hussein
HVT #3: Uday Hussein
HVT #4: Abid Hamid Mahmud
ID: Infantry Division
IED: Improvised Explosive Device
INF: infantry, sometimes just IF
Infil: infiltrate, infiltration
Irbil: city in Iraq, also spelled Arbil
ISU: Integrated Site Unit
IV: intravenous
IVIS: Image Visualization and Infrared Spectroscopy
IZ: Enemy Territory
Javelin Weapons System: a man-portable, shoulder-fired, antitank missile system with a range of 2500 meters
JDAM: Joint Direct Attack Munitions
JFACC: Joint Forces Air Component Command
JSOC: Joint Special Operations Command
JSOTF: Joint Special Operations Task Force
KAZ: Kurdish Autonomous Zone
KBR: Kellogg, Brown & Root
KDP: Kurdistan Democratic Party
Kevlar: a protective fabric (proprietary of DuPont Corporation)
KIA: Killed in Action
Kiowa: a light scout/gunship helicopter based on the Bell Jet Ranger
Kurds: indigenous people of northern Iraq/Kurdistan, Eastern Turkey, Syria, and western Iran
Levee(s): Soldier(s). In the context of this book, an Iraqi that the U.S. troops pressed into service for his nation’s future; the British used the term during the 1800s
Little Bird: the OH-58 helicopter gunship that usually supports SOF
LOA: Line of Attack
LT: Lieutenant
LTC or LT COL: Lieutenant Colonel
LTG: Lieutenant General
LZ: Landing Zone
M1: Abrams tank
M1A1: Abrams Main Battle Tank
M2HB: M2 Heavy Barrel machine gun
M-4: the shortened, heavy-barrel carbine version of an M16A2 used primarily by SOF and vehicle crews
M-16: the standard issue rifle of the U.S. Army, a lightweight weapon that fires a burst of small-caliber bullets with a controlled dispersion pattern
M-203: the 40mm single-shot grenade launcher mounted under the barrel of an M16A2 assault rifle
M-240B: SAW Squad automatic weapon—a 5.56mm light machine gun
MAC: Military Airlift Command
MAJ: Major
Man-pack: a weapon system small enough to be carried by a person
Mark-19: the M19 40mm belt-fed automatic grenade launcher, which can be fired from a tripod or vehicle mounted
MC-130: the “Combat Talon,” the transport plane used primarily by SOF, a variation of the standard C-130 design
Medevac: medical evacuation
MG: Major General
MH-53J: technologically advanced heavy-lift helicopter used primarily by Special Operations Forces; nickname: “Pave Low III”
MI: Military Intelligence
MIB: Military Intelligence Battalion
MK-19: automatic belt-fed 40mm grenade launcher
MO: modus operandi
Mobility ODA: fast-moving, vehicle-mounted, heavy-weapons QRF/ recon unit used on an ad hoc basis in the U.S. Army Special Forces
MOPP: Mission-Oriented Protective Posture
MOS: Military Occupational Specialty
MP: Military Police
MSG: Master Sergeant
NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NBC: Nuclear, Biological, Chemical; also National Broadcasting Company
NCO: Noncommissioned Officer
NGO: Non-Government Organization
NRO: National Reconnaissance Office
NVGs: Night Vision Goggles
OCS: Officer Candidate School
ODA: Operational Detachment Alpha
ODB: Operational Detachment Bravo
OEF/OIF: Operation ENDURING FREEDOM/Operation IRAQI FREEDOM
OH-58 Little Bird: a two-pilot helicopter, used in two variations: a transport/utility model (MH-6) and an attack model (AH-6)
OP: Observation Post
Operation DESERT SHIELD: the initial stage of liberating Kuwait from the control of Iraqi invaders, begun in August 1990 by President George H. W. Bush
Operation DESERT STORM: the offensive action to liberate Kuwait from the control of Iraqi invaders, begun in January 1991
Operation JOINT ENDEAVOR: U.S. peacekeeping effort in the former Yugoslavia, deployed in 1995
Operation JOINT FORGE: a peacekeeping force in Bosnia–Herzegovina that followed the NATO-led Stabilization Force in 1998
Operation JUST CAUSE: U.S.-led action in Panama, which ultimately ousted Manuel Noriega from power
Operation UPHOLD DEMOCRACY: multinational military operation in Haiti in the early 1990s that restored a democratically elected presidency
Operator: short for Special Operator; a slang term to describe SOF personnel
OPS: Operations
OPSEC: Operational Security
Out of hide: taken from existing resources
Overwatch: a system that detects and precisely locates active enemy firings (snipers, direct fire weapons, mortars) in real-time to support ground forces in complex urban terrain
PAO: Public Affairs Officer
Patriot: missile
Pesh: short for Peshmerga
Peshmerga: indigenous group of Kurdish minorities
Pinkies: British term for Land Rovers
PLDC: Primary Leadership Development Course
PMCS: Preventative Maintenance Checks and Services
POW: Prisoner of War
PPSH-41: a Russian submachine gun
PSAB: Prince Sultan Air Base
PSG: Personal Security Guard
PSYOPS: Psychological Operations
PUK: Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
Q-Beam: a laser beam
QRF: Quick Reaction Force
Raid: a lightning-fast assault
RB-15: (Zodiac) rubber boat
R/C: remote control
Recon: reconnaissance
Republican Guard: the elite Iraqi ground forces, tasked originally with regime protection
RH-53: a Sikorsky helicopter
Road arms: suspension components used on BFVs and M1A1 Abrams tanks
Roland: missile system
RPG: rocket-propelled grenade
RPK: light machine gun
RR: Recoilless Rifle
S-2: battalion or brigade intelligence staff officer
S3: battalion or brigade operations staff officer
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br /> SA-7: AAA missile
SALUTE: Size, Activity, Location, Unit/Uniform, Time, Equipment
SAM: Surface-to-Air Missile
SAS: Special Air Service
SATCOM: Satellite Communications
SAW: Squad Automatic Weapon
Screaming Eagles: moniker of the 101st Airborne Division (AASLT)
SCUD: a long-range, surface-to-surface missile
SCUDNET: system of SCUD missile emplacements
SEAL: (Sea, Air, Land) elite Navy soldier
SF: Special Forces
SFC: Sergeant First Class
SFG: Special Forces Group
SFOD-D: Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta
SGM: Sergeant Major
Shi’ite: a member of the branch of Islam that regards Ali and his descendants as the legitimate successors to Muhammad and rejects the first three caliphs
SIGINT: Signals Intelligence
SMU: Special Missions Unit
SOAR: Special Operations Aviation Regiment
SOCOM: Special Operations Command
SOF: Special Operations Forces
SOG: Special Operations Group
SOP: Standard Operating Procedure
Sortie: a mission flown by a fighter or bomber
SOSB: Special Operations Support Battalion
SOTF: Special Operations Task Force
SPC: Specialist
Special Operations: operations conducted by specially organized, trained, and equipped military and paramilitary forces to achieve military, political, economic, or informational objectives by unconventional military means in hostile, denied, or politically sensitive areas; also called SO
Special Operator: slang for SOF personnel
Spectre: moniker of the AC-130 gunship
SPF: Security Protection Force
Spider hole: a hole in the earth
SPT: Support
SS-30: rocket
SSG: Staff Sergeant
SSM: Surface-to-Surface Missile
SSS: the Iraqi Special Security Service (also called SSO—Special Security Organization, or the Presidential Affairs Department); or Al Amn al-Khas
Supay: the Kurdish word for “unit”; a Kurdish Supay has from a couple hundred to a couple thousand men
SUV: Sport Utility Vehicle
TAC-P: Tactical Air Control Party
TAI: Targeted Area of Interdiction
Talon: moniker of the MC-130 transport plane
Task Force 7: code name for the British task force in Iraq
Task Force 20: code name for the first U.S. task force that hunted Saddam and other high-value targets
Task Force 121: an elite Special Forces group of Army Delta Force members, Navy SEALs, CIA paramilitary operatives, and other personnel; captured Saddam Hussein
Task Force DAGGER: the code name for CJSOTF-W; this code name was resurrected from the war in Afghanistan, where it was last used
Task Force VIKING: the code name for CJSOTF-N
Team Leader: the soldier in charge of an ODA, often a CPT, sometimes an MSG
Team Sergeant: the highest-ranking NCO on an ODA
TF: Task Force
TF 1AD: Task Force First Armored Division
TF SPT: Task Force Support
TIA: Target Interdiction Area
TIP: Target Interdiction Point
TNT: trinitrotoluene, a yellow crystalline compound used mainly as a high explosive
TOC: Tactical Operations Center
Tornado: all-weather, day and night tactical reconnaissance British plane
TOW: Tube launched, Optically tracked, Wire guided
UAE: United Arab Emirates
UN: United Nations
USAF: United States Air Force
USASOC: United States Army Special Operations Command
USMC: United States Marine Corps
USO: United Service Organizations
U.S. SOCOM: United States Special Operations Command
UW: Unconventional Warfare
Vic: vicinity
VMI: Virginia Military Institute
Wadi: a dry riverbed, Arabic
WIA: Wounded in Action
WMD: Weapons of Mass Destruction
Wolverine 1 and Wolverine 2: the two sites given as Saddam’s possible hiding places
XO: Executive Officer
Z: Zulu time (Greenwich Mean Time)
ZSU: a Soviet-bloc anti-aircraft gun, also called “Zeus” (slang term)
ST. MARTIN’S PAPERBACKS TITLES BY ROBIN MOORE
The Green Berets
Outstanding Praise for Robin Moore’s Gripping Real-Life Accounts
HUNTING DOWN SADDAM
“A fast and furious read … When the historians try to put together the real facts of the two wars the U.S. has fought since September 11, 2001, this book will be a valuable contribution to their research.”
—Doris Kearns Goodwin
THE HUNT FOR BIN LADEN
“Robin Moore knows how to give the bad guys what for. He did it with The Green Berets in 1965 and in The French Connection in 1970, and now he’s back again with a cast of inevitable square-jawed, flinty-eyed Special Forces troops overcoming double-dealing warlords and feckless bureaucrats to annihilate evil doers in the godforsaken mountains and valleys of Afghanistan … Fast-paced and immensely entertaining.”
—The Washington Post Book World
“Moore was one of the few non-military individuals given access to America’s secret warriors as they fought Al Qaeda in Afghanistan … Many of the American fighters there had read his most famous book, and some of them—or their fathers—knew of Moore from his days in Vietnam.”
—The Boston Phoenix
“A gripping chronicle.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
HUNTING DOWN SADDAM
Copyright © 2004 by Robin Moore.
Foreword copyright © 2004 by Mark Vargas.
Excerpts from Lieutenant Colonel Steve Russell’s “Commander’s Update” letters from Tikrit, Iraq, here, used by permission of Lieutenant Colonel Steve Russell.
Dana Lewis’s reports and war diaries in “The Screaming Eagles” chapter used by permission of Dana Lewis.
Poem, “The Widow’s Tears,” and “An American Soldier Died Today,” used by permission of Katie Morris.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
ISBN: 0-312-93667-2
EAN: 80312-93667-9
St. Martin’s Press hardcover edition / March 2004
St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / December 2004
St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
eISBN 9781466865341
First eBook edition: January 2014