An American soldier stands watch in front of the house in Mosul where Odai and Qusai Hussein were reported killed. U.S. officials said they hoped the deaths would contribute to a reduction in violence in Iraq. (Photo by Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times / July 22, 2003)
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WASHINGTON - American forces killed Saddam Hussein's widely feared sons Odai and Qusai during a six-hour firefight yesterday at a hideout in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, the U.S. military command announced in Baghdad.
Acting on a tip supplied by an informant, soldiers from the Army's 101st Airborne Division and Special Forces troops surrounded a large pillared house where the pair were barricaded behind bulletproof windows, resisting capture.
In a "fierce gunbattle," the troops stormed the villa and recovered four bodies - two belonging to Hussein's sons and two others that remain unidentified, said Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the U.S. Army commander in Iraq.
"We are certain that Odai and Qusai were killed today," Sanchez said at a news conference.
The killing of the two brothers marked a triumph for the U.S.-led military occupation of postwar Iraq, which has endured a series of setbacks since major combat was declared over on May 1.
U.S. forces have been losing a soldier a day to guerrilla attacks as they struggle to restore order and basic services to ordinary Iraqis and search - so far without result - for weapons of mass destruction.
While the whereabouts of Hussein remains unknown, yesterday's gunbattle eliminated two of the three most-wanted figures in Iraq, men who wielded power and terror second only to that of the former Iraqi president.
Qusai Hussein, 37, widely viewed as Hussein's most trusted aide and heir apparent, headed a vast security apparatus that included not only his father's bodyguards but a gulag of prisons and torture chambers.
His elder brother Odai, 39, leader of the Fedayeen Saddam irregular forces, was known as an unstable sadist who would brutally punish athletes who failed to win international competitions. Exiles claim he also ordered guards to kidnap women off the street so he could rape them.
A U.S. official in Washington said yesterday's killings would help erase doubts among Iraqis over whether Hussein's regime had been permanently destroyed and make them more willing to cooperate with U.S. occupation forces.
Celebratory gunfire was reported in Baghdad as news circulated that the brothers had been killed.
"For the majority of people, especially in the [mainly Shiite] south and [mainly Kurdish] north, this is a time of joy," said Khalil Hassan, an Iraqi exile in Washington.
Pentagon officials privately said the deaths would be a psychological blow to the midlevel Baathist fighters who officials describe as the main component of the guerrilla attacks.
'Not coming back'
Asked whether it would have an impact on the continuing violence, Sanchez replied, "I believe very firmly that this will, in fact, have an effect. This will prove to the Iraqi people that at least these two members of the regime will not be coming back into power, which is what we stated over and over again."
There was no immediate comment from President Bush, but the White House, in a statement, said, "Over the period of many years, these two individuals were responsible for countless atrocities committed against the Iraqi people and they can no longer cast a shadow of hate on Iraq."
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, in a statement of his own, said, "I was pleased to learn that these two brutal members of Saddam's regime are no longer a threat."
Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota praised the operation, calling it "a big win for the people of Iraq, our troops and the world."
But John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, "We cannot ignore the fact that as long as Saddam Hussein is alive, or perceived to be alive, we have not won this war."
The six-hour operation in Mosul coincided with a U.N. Security Council meeting yesterday at which an Iraqi governing group assembled by L. Paul Bremer III, the top U.S. civilian in Iraq, won a key endorsement from Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Acting on a tip supplied by an informant, soldiers from the Army's 101st Airborne Division and Special Forces troops surrounded a large pillared house where the pair were barricaded behind bulletproof windows, resisting capture.
In a "fierce gunbattle," the troops stormed the villa and recovered four bodies - two belonging to Hussein's sons and two others that remain unidentified, said Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the U.S. Army commander in Iraq.
"We are certain that Odai and Qusai were killed today," Sanchez said at a news conference.
The killing of the two brothers marked a triumph for the U.S.-led military occupation of postwar Iraq, which has endured a series of setbacks since major combat was declared over on May 1.
U.S. forces have been losing a soldier a day to guerrilla attacks as they struggle to restore order and basic services to ordinary Iraqis and search - so far without result - for weapons of mass destruction.
While the whereabouts of Hussein remains unknown, yesterday's gunbattle eliminated two of the three most-wanted figures in Iraq, men who wielded power and terror second only to that of the former Iraqi president.
Qusai Hussein, 37, widely viewed as Hussein's most trusted aide and heir apparent, headed a vast security apparatus that included not only his father's bodyguards but a gulag of prisons and torture chambers.
His elder brother Odai, 39, leader of the Fedayeen Saddam irregular forces, was known as an unstable sadist who would brutally punish athletes who failed to win international competitions. Exiles claim he also ordered guards to kidnap women off the street so he could rape them.
A U.S. official in Washington said yesterday's killings would help erase doubts among Iraqis over whether Hussein's regime had been permanently destroyed and make them more willing to cooperate with U.S. occupation forces.
Celebratory gunfire was reported in Baghdad as news circulated that the brothers had been killed.
"For the majority of people, especially in the [mainly Shiite] south and [mainly Kurdish] north, this is a time of joy," said Khalil Hassan, an Iraqi exile in Washington.
Pentagon officials privately said the deaths would be a psychological blow to the midlevel Baathist fighters who officials describe as the main component of the guerrilla attacks.
There was no immediate comment from President Bush, but the White House, in a statement, said, "Over the period of many years, these two individuals were responsible for countless atrocities committed against the Iraqi people and they can no longer cast a shadow of hate on Iraq."
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, in a statement of his own, said, "I was pleased to learn that these two brutal members of Saddam's regime are no longer a threat."
Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota praised the operation, calling it "a big win for the people of Iraq, our troops and the world."
But John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, "We cannot ignore the fact that as long as Saddam Hussein is alive, or perceived to be alive, we have not won this war."
The six-hour operation in Mosul coincided with a U.N. Security Council meeting yesterday at which an Iraqi governing group assembled by L. Paul Bremer III, the top U.S. civilian in Iraq, won a key endorsement from Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
