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Hunt for Saddam heats up
03/08/2003 19:58 - (SA)
Iraq - The three scout teams from the Hornet reconnaisance platoon stare out across the moonlit lunar-like landscape of northern Iraq, part of a broad mission to gain forward intelligence in the massive manhunt for Saddam Hussein and his loyalists.
Their objective this night is to scope out a cluster of houses in a village outside Saddam's hometown of Tikrit where his loyalists may be plotting attacks on US forces.
Less likely but far more intriguingly, Saddam himself may be there seeking refuge.
"Get better eyes on a target"
"If you can get better eyes on a target without comprising op-sec (operational security), then do it," whispers 24-year-old platoon leader Lieutnant Gary Powell.
"Roger that," comes eagle scout's reply.
As the noose shrinks around the fugitive dictator, realisation is growing that the scouts from Hornet platoon, part of the US Army's 229 Engineer Batallion, will play a key role in finally tracking down Saddam.
Digital division
The 229 is part of the Fouth Infantry Division, nicknamed the digitial division for its experiments with hi-tech positioning and tracking equipment.
Such developments, particularly a terrestrial-based computer guidance platform, which provides Humvees with pinpoint positional awareness, allow them to travel in the stealth of darkness virtually under the nose of the enemy.
"They are trained in covert reconnaissance and they go out and develop these targets ahead of the raids," said platoon commander Major Ron Zimmerman before an AFP correspondent joined the platoon for an overnight scouting mission.
"We paint a picture for the follow-on forces of exactly what they will come across," said Sergeant Timothy Hixson.
That picture, originally a "strip map" drawn by the scouts on a pad of paper gets fleshed out over a series of reconnaissance missions. In this case a few automobiles show up at the houses outside Tikrit past curfew.
Eagle scout, using night-vision goggles and other special optics, get a bead on the homes' visitors, information that is relayed back to Powell and other officers who will determine if the houses get raided.
Just missed Saddam
"This one is a go, we're pretty sure about that," Powell said from the pitch blackness of his Humvee, his radio chirping to life with details from his scouts.
With US authorities saying they were confident they missed Saddam last week by a matter of hours when they raided three farms east of Tikrit, the scouting missions have taken on a new urgency and will perhaps take a starring role in the hunt for Iraq's most wanted man.
Powell not optimistic
Powell, however, is not optimistic that US forces will track down the toppled leader, who has continued to taunt American soldiers with audiotapes attributed to him regularly popping up on Arab satellite television stations.
"But if it gets me home faster, I'll believe it," said Powell.
Hours later the three scout teams return, appearing as dark silhouettes against an Iraqi backdrop, pile into their Humvees and drive home.
- AFP
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