Suddam's sons may now be history
 

Reports from Iraq . Both of Suddams killed in a firefight in Mosul. Reports are 90-95% sure it was them

4 bodies found. It is supposed to be the last confirmed known location of the two sons.

DNA testing ongoing as I write this. We shall know soon.

Hopefully, those two maggot offspring of his are dead.
That would raise the stakes a little. Then again, what would be left for him to lose?

Re: Suddam's sons may now be history
 

Any casualties on our side? I really f'ing hope not. This daily killing of American soldiers is very distressing. :mad: :mad:

Sean,
USAToday says "No American Casulties suffered in the raid."

Sweet. Thanks, Nick. My kids (not to mention my wife and I) get very worried with every report. We have friends and family in harm's way. :(

I want to say "Great" but I was under the impression we were trying to find "Weapons of Mass destruction" or find Saddam" or "Find Osama Bin Ladin"? What is the point anymore. Assasinate family members of those we cannot find. I dont get it. San Clemente is Vacant from all of the Marines that usually live and work here.Most of them being over there. Some of the first troops to die over there were stationed in my town. That hits home More and more U.S. troops die every day in this "War". although our commander and chief cannot seem to back up reason #1 or #2 or even #3 for us ever being there in the first place. I hate being political on a boating forum, but if we are all going to jump up and down because Saddams kids are dead, maybe we should hold someone accountable for our guys getting killed over there every day.

Copied from CNN.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A U.S. official said Tuesday that the military is "reasonably certain" that Saddam Hussein's two sons have been killed in what was characterized as an intense firefight with American troops.

Uday, 39, and Qusay, 37 -- key members of Saddam's regime -- are thought to be among four people killed during a dramatic four-hour battle in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Officials haven't confirmed their deaths, but one U.S. official told CNN: "We are reasonably certain they could have met their maker."

Intelligence reports indicated Uday and Qusay, who have $15 million bounties each on their heads, were in the Mosul area, and the official added: "We didn't just stumble across them." (Map)

A special military task force formed to hunt for Saddam and his top supporters led the raid, supported by extensive armor and air cover, officials said.

Two-hundred members of the 101st Airborne Division also joined the assault, and no one was captured, a U.S. official told CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr.

The military went in and engaged in a "big firefight," the official said. (Gallery: The firefight scene)

The two bodies have a "strong resemblance" to Saddam's sons, but identifying the bodies will take more than a week, a senior U.S. official said. The bodies will be flown to the United States for DNA testing at the U.S. Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, the official said.

The charred bodies were recovered in the home of a wealthy contractor after the gun battle, Miral Fahmy, a Reuters correspondent in Mosul, told CNN. One U.S. soldier was wounded, she added.

Military sources in Baghdad said the bodies were those of high-ranking allies of Saddam.

A senior Pentagon official said one of the other two bodies appeared to be that of a teenage boy. U.S. officials noted that Qusay has a teenage son. The other body recovered appeared to be that of a bodyguard.

A U.S. official said Saddam was not among them.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld briefed President Bush about the Mosul operation after it was over, a senior defense official said.

"Part of the reason he discussed this operation in particular was because he knew it would get a lot of attention, and that first reports are often wrong," the official said.

The initial White House reaction was cautious, although one official said confirmation that the two sons were killed would "brighten" spirits after recent criticism that the Bush administration exaggerated the former Iraqi regime's threat.

Both in deck of cards
Saddam and his sons have been fugitives since their government collapsed after a U.S.-led invasion in March. (Profiles: Qusay Hussein, Uday Hussein)

Mosul is a Kurd-controlled city about 110 miles (176 kilometers) from both Syria and Iran. Should the bodies prove to be Saddam's sons, intelligence officials said they are looking at the possibility that Uday and Qusay were attempting to find a way out of Iraq.

U.S. officials have said they need to capture the former ruling family to break resistance to U.S. forces and encourage cooperation by Iraqis fearful that Saddam could return to power.

Retired Army Brig. Gen. David Grange said that the deaths of Uday and Qusay would deal a psychological blow to Saddam loyalists attacking U.S. troops.

The hunt for Saddam in Iraq is led by a U.S. Special Operations team -- code-named Task Force 20 -- with support from the CIA. The task force, which also took part in the rescue of Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, includes covert special forces from the various U.S. military services. (Lynch homecoming)

Qusay and Uday are the second- and third-most wanted Iraqi leaders, and both are in the playing card deck of most-wanted Iraqis issued to U.S. troops in Iraq. Uday is the ace of hearts and Qusay the ace of clubs. (Flash interactive: Iraq's most-wanted)

Qusay has been the son widely perceived as most likely to succeed Saddam.

With Iraq preparing its defenses in the run-up to the war, Qusay was put in charge of four key areas, including Baghdad and Tikrit -- his family's tribal home.

When the war began, he was in charge of the country's intelligence network, the 80,000-strong Republican Guard and 15,000-member Special Republican Guard, which was responsible for protecting Saddam and his family.

Uday has a reputation for violence that included torturing Iraqi athletes who did not meet expectations. He ran the dreaded Saddam Fedayeen security force.

He was also in charge of the nation's Olympic committee, edited a leading newspaper, Babel, and was head of Youth TV, the country's most popular channel.

Just before the war, Uday warned that Iraqi troops would make the mothers of U.S. soldiers "weep blood instead of tears."

What do they plan on doing with the 30 million dollars in reward money? I somehow doubt they will divide it up to the poor guys that were involved in the ambush.

You make excellent points. However, Saddam's son's were part of his totalitarian government and responsible for some of the worst atrocities. The world is better off with out them.

Do we still need to find Saddam? Yes. Do we still need to find Osama? You betcha'. Do we still need to find WMD? We'd frickin' better. Our country's credibility depends on it.

P.S. This thread should probably be moved to the CE folder. I won't post on this thread again until it does. Don't want to interfere with boat talk.:D

I don't think its a matter of going after some leaders "kids". Those two were as ruthless as the "daddy" ever was. Your damn right i'm jumping up and down....this will bring the boys back earlier and deaths down(hopefully). you have to cut the head off the monster to really kill it!