Operation Red Dawn was an American military operation conducted on 13 December 2003 in the town of ad-Dawr, Iraq, near Tikrit, that led to the capture of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. The operation was named after the 1984 film Red Dawn. The mission was assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division, commanded by Major. Gen Raymond Odierno and led by Col. James Hickey of the 4th Infantry Division, with joint operations Task Force 121 - an elite and covert joint special operations team.
They searched two sites, "Wolverine 1" and "Wolverine 2," outside the town of ad-Dawr, but did not find Saddam Hussein. A continued search between the two sites discovered him in a "spider hole" hide out at 20:30hrs local Iraqi time. Despite being armed with a pistol and an AK-47 assault rifle, and provisioned with USD$750,000 in cash, Saddam did not resist capture.
Read more about Operation Red Dawn: Background, The Operation, Prisoner Abuse Charges, POW Status
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