ENDGAME:

LaHood: Hussein's capture imminent (Pantagraph, December 2, 2003)

U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood held his thumb and forefinger slightly apart and said, "We're this close" to catching Saddam Hussein.

Once that's accomplished, Iraqi resistance will fall apart, said the five-term Republican congressman from Peoria who serves on the House Intelligence Committee.

A member of The Pantagraph editorial board -- not really expecting an answer -- asked LaHood for more details, saying, "Do you know something we don't?"

"Yes I do," replied LaHood.

It certainly wasn't helpful for the Iraqi Governing Council to announce we'd killed or captured his deputy-- Izzat Ibrahim--today, which we were then forced to deny, though likely true. How about waiting until we develop some leads, fellas.

MORE:
U.S. Leads Massive Series of Raids (John Hendren, December 2, 2003, LA Times)

Iraqi security forces backed by more than 2,000 U.S. troops carried out a massive series of raids near the northern city of Kirkuk today as the search for alleged resistance leader Izzat Ibrahim continued despite tantalizing reports that the ex-general had been caught, defense officials said.

Two dozen suspected guerrilla fighters were apprehended in the sweeps that began about 4 a.m. and lasted into nightfall. An unusually large force from the 173rd Airborne Brigade accompanied an undisclosed number of Iraqi police and members of the nation's new civil defense corps on the raids, said Master Sgt. Robert Cargie, a spokesman for Task Force Iron Horse, led by the 4th Infantry Division.

Military officials said the raids were based on intelligence reports suggesting that Fedayeen Saddam paramilitaries loyal to ousted President Saddam Hussein had gathered in Kirkuk. U.S. anti-resistance efforts, which until recently had been focused in the so-called Sunni Triangle near Baghdad, have now expanded northward to Kirkuk and Mosul.

Initial reports from the Iraqi Governing Council said that Ibrahim, one of Hussein's closest aides, had been captured or killed in today's operations. But Task Force Iron Horse officials later said Ibrahim was not among those arrested.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 2, 2003 7:19 PM