It is kind of odd that (if you remember) the first strike against Iraq was a missile strike
based on covert information where Saddam and his henchmen were. It came out that the missile strike "just missed him" and he escaped without harm.
And, if you remember it wasn't an elite unit (like a SEAL team, ForceRecon, or Green Berets) that captured Saddam. It was a tactical team from the 4th ID. (DISCLAIMER: I'm not saying that soldiers in the 4th ID aren't "elite", but just that is wasn't a SEAL team or some other recognized "elite" unit, per se).
Certainly, they had some intelligence information, but it wasn't as if it it was the aforementioned SEAL team that had to battle their way into a palace to snatch Saddam, actions which are often times the result of CIA-fed information.
One might be forgiven for thinking that the intelligence that was used in the initial strike was flawed, whereas the hard-working soldiers of the 4th ID didn't rely on CIA intelligence but on-the-ground intelligence that, in the end, had them nabbing Saddam.
Perhaps that's no coincidence?
It is kind of odd that (if you remember) the first strike against Iraq was a missile strike based on covert information where Saddam and his henchmen were. It came out that the missile strike "just missed him" and he escaped without harm.
I also remember how that miscalculated strike, recommended to the President by George Tenet, let the air out of "shock and awe". It also gave Hussein an opportunity to demand global attention in a taped address where he denounced the U.S.
Tenet addressing Cheney in the Oval Office just prior to the strike
Note how Tenet is the only one in the Oval Office not wearing his coat. Like Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Vice President Cheney honor the Oval Office and do not remove their coat while working there. Tenet's posture toward the Vice President does not look very respectful to me.
Wow! you're the second guy to deliver this perspective. I bet this is why we can't find Bin Laden, this is why WMD was missing, why Saddam was so hard to find.
What about Saddam's sons? Does anyone remember how the military aquired that intell in finding them??