On December 13, 2003 — 600 U.S. soldiers closed in on a rundown farm near Tikrit, Iraq.
They had been hunting the most wanted man in the world for nine months. Twelve unsuccessful raids. Hundreds of interrogations. Thousands of intelligence leads.
Then a tip from someone in Saddam's own inner circle changed everything.
When soldiers pulled the cover off the spider hole, a shaggy, bearded man raised his hands and said: "I am Saddam Hussein. I am the President of Iraq and I am willing to negotiate."
A soldier reportedly responded: "President Bush sends his regards."
The man who had ruled Iraq with an iron fist for 24 years — who had ordered chemical weapons attacks on his own people, launched wars that killed over a million, and lived across multiple lavish palaces — was found in a hole in the ground. Six to eight feet deep. Barely large enough to lie down. With him: a pistol, an AK-47, and $750,000 in cash.
He did not resist. Not a single shot was fired.
The announcement to the world came from Ambassador Bremer, who walked to a podium in Baghdad and said three words: "We got him." The room erupted.
The operation had a name: Operation Red Dawn — named after the 1984 American film.
Saddam Hussein was executed on December 30, 2006. He was hanged at dawn.
From the most feared dictator in the Middle East to a hole in the ground with a pistol and candy bars in a broken refrigerator nearby. One of the most dramatic falls from power in modern history — and it ended without a single gunshot.
Source: Some Amazing Facts
