"anti-peace sign. More recently, in 2003 a deck of most-wanted Iraqi playing cards was issued to US Soldiers during Operation Iraqi Freedom, each card had the picture of a wanted Iraqi official on it. Saddam Hussein got the nickname ""Ace of Spades"" as that card bore his image. Various idioms involving the ace of spades include ""black as the ace of spades"" (which can refer either to color or to race), or alternatively a lack of cleanliness in a person and the French expression ""fagoté comme l'as de pique""—that is, ""(badly) dressed like the ace of spades."" Ace of spades"
"Most-wanted Iraqi playing cards During the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition, the U.S. military developed a set of playing cards to help troops identify the most-wanted members of President Saddam Hussein's government, mostly high-ranking members of the Iraqi Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party or members of the Revolutionary Command Council. The cards were officially named the ""personality identification playing cards"". As of 2018, all but 6 of the 52 most wanted have been captured. Each card contains the wanted person's address and, if available, the job performed by that individual. The highest-ranking cards,"
"result of a multi-intelligence agency collaboration which included the Defense Intelligence Agency, Central Command, and representatives from all US Service Branch Intelligence entities. The ""Most Wanted"" names were then assigned to their respective cards by five US Army soldiers, 2LT Hans Mumm, SSG Shawn Mahoney, SGT Andrei Salter, SGT Scott Boehmler, and SPC Joseph Barrios, who were assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency. The pictures used on the cards came from a number of intelligence agencies, but most were derived from ""open sources"". The deck of cards was first announced publicly in Iraq on 11 April 2003, in a press"
"greatly enjoyed it, his opponent, Ian Hislop, admitted he'd never seen ""Play Your Cards Right"" and appeared mystified by the game's rules and etiquette (when at one point Merton and the crowd shouted the traditional cry of ""lower, lower,"" to predict the next card in the hidden sequence, Hislop commented, ""I'm not sure this programme could get much lower!"") Most-wanted Iraqi playing cards During the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition, the U.S. military developed a set of playing cards to help troops identify the most-wanted members of President Saddam Hussein's government, mostly high-ranking members of the"
"a good way to capitalize on the time soldiers spend waiting for orders. They were devised following the success of the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards (officially called ""personality identification playing cards"") that were used in the 2003 invasion of Iraq to help members of the U.S. military identify wanted personnel from the Baathist regime. Approximately 40,000 sets of the cards were issued to U.S. forces. In the archaeology deck, each suit has a theme: diamonds for artifacts, spades for digs, hearts for ""winning hearts and minds,"" and clubs for heritage preservation. The set also contained other cards such as the"
"Lieutenant commander Jim Brooks, a spokesman for the Defense Intelligence Agency, such playing cards have been used as far back as the US Civil War and again in World War II—Army Air Corps decks printed with the silhouettes of German and Japanese fighter aircraft fetch hundreds of dollars today—and in the Korean War. Troops often play cards to pass the time, and seeing the names, faces and titles of the wanted Iraqis during their games will help soldiers and Marines in case they run into the wanted individuals in the field, Brooks said. The list of ""Most Wanted"" was the"
"during which he is believed to have managed clandestine accounts for the Iraqi president's overseas fortune. This task was then taken over by a network of foreign brokers, since Hussein had decided that no one in Iraq could be trusted with this task. U.S. officials characterized al-Tikriti as a member of what they called ""Saddam's Dirty Dozen"", responsible for torture and mass murder in Iraq. U.S. forces captured him on 17 April 2003. Al-Tikriti was the five of clubs in the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards. Al-Tikriti was among the leadership figures who U.S. forces targeted during the Iraq War. In"
"Iraqi military leaders to defect. The extent of the defections and their effect on the war are unclear. U.S.-led Coalition troops promptly began searching for the key members of Saddam Hussein's government. These individuals were identified by a variety of means, most famously through sets of most-wanted Iraqi playing cards. Later during the military occupation period after the invasion, on 22 July 2003 during a raid by the U.S. 101st Airborne Division and men from Task Force 20, Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay, and one of his grandsons were killed in a massive fire-fight. Saddam Hussein himself was captured"
"the Iraq Survey Group Final Report: Iraqi Special Security Organization The Iraqi Special Security Organization (SSO) () was the most powerful Iraqi security agency under President Saddam Hussein and was responsible for personal security of high-ranking government officials and presidential facilities. Its director, Hani Abd Al-Latif Tilfah Al-Tikriti was the seventh most wanted Iraqi government individual by the United States. He was the highest-ranking unpictured person in the U.S. Army most-wanted Iraqi playing cards (the king of hearts). He was captured in June 2004. SSO was officially dissolved on May 23, 2003 per Order Number 2 of the Coalition Provisional"
"April 2003. Following the fall of Baghdad, al-Douri went into hiding. U.S. officials claimed that he was involved in the subsequent Iraqi insurgency against U.S. forces, directing and funding attacks, as well as brokering an alliance between Ba'athist insurgents and militant Islamists. In November 2003, the U.S.-led coalition issued a US$10 million bounty for any information leading to al-Douri's apprehension by authorities in response to coordinating attacks against coalition forces. Al-Douri was made the King of Clubs in the famous most-wanted Iraqi playing cards, making him among the top 8 ""most wanted"" figures in Saddam Hussein's regime. At the time"
"Iraqi Special Security Organization The Iraqi Special Security Organization (SSO) () was the most powerful Iraqi security agency under President Saddam Hussein and was responsible for personal security of high-ranking government officials and presidential facilities. Its director, Hani Abd Al-Latif Tilfah Al-Tikriti was the seventh most wanted Iraqi government individual by the United States. He was the highest-ranking unpictured person in the U.S. Army most-wanted Iraqi playing cards (the king of hearts). He was captured in June 2004. SSO was officially dissolved on May 23, 2003 per Order Number 2 of the Coalition Provisional Authority under Paul Bremer. According to"
"titles, the other Iraqi military ranks. There are no cards for most-wanted No. 45 (was #26), Nayif Shindakh Thamir, No. 53 (was #34 – Killed in 2003 or probably still fugitive) Husayn al-Awadi, or No. 54 (was #35) Khamis Sirhan al-Muhammad, captured on 11 January 2004. Al-Muhammad was held for six years before being released on 30 July 2010. He has since fled to Syria where most of the other 6 uncaptured members of the deck of cards are reported to be hiding. The 13 June 2003 edition of the BBC One satirical news quiz, ""Have I Got News for"
"Amir Hamudi Hasan al-Sadi Amir Hamudi Hasan al-Saadi or Amer al-Saadi (born April 5, 1938), ""the organizational genius behind the Iraqi superweapons program,"" was Saddam Hussein's liaison with the UN inspectors in the runup to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Like the defector Hussein Kamel al-Majid, he insisted Iraq had destroyed its prohibited weapons. While he was dismissed by the US as a liar, he was vindicated by the subsequent failure to uncover weapons of mass destruction by the Iraqi Survey Group. He was #32 on the most-wanted list, and Seven of Diamonds in the card deck. He turned himself"
"a number of insurgent attacks against the occupation forces. It is commonly regarded as being the northern angle of the ""Sunni Triangle"" within which the insurgency was at its most intense. In June 2003, Abid Hamid Mahmud, Saddam Hussein's Presidential Secretary and the Ace of Diamonds on the most wanted 'Deck of Cards,' was captured in a joint raid by special operations forces and the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment of 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division. After the fall of Baghdad, Saddam Hussein was in and around Tikrit. He was hidden by relatives and supporters for about six months. During"
"security matters. He was reappointed to his position of Governor of Basra in September 2002. Tawfiq was number 44 on the list of 55 most wanted members of Saddam Hussein's administration drawn up by the Coalition during the invasion of Iraq. He was represented by the eight of clubs. The Coalition took control of Baghdad in early April 2003 following the Battle of Baghdad. On 29 April 2003, Tawfiq, accompanied by his father, drove themselves to an office of the Iraqi National Congress in Baghdad, where they were met by both American and INC officials and surrendered. His surrender brought"
"2003 invasion of Iraq. On October 15, 2004, the U.S. State Department added Zarqawi and the Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad group to its ""list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations"" and ordered a freeze on any assets that the group might have in the United States. By May 2005, Zarqawi was the most wanted man in Jordan and Iraq, having claimed scores of attacks in Iraq against Iraqis and foreigners, and being blamed for perhaps even more. The U.S. government then offered a $25m reward for information leading to his capture, the same amount offered for the capture of bin Laden before March"
"the Central Bank of Iraq, in April, 1987 he was humiliated in a public meeting and severely dismissed due to refusing the transfer a large sum of money at the demand of one of the President's uncles. President Saddam Hussein forced him back into the position of Finance Minister in 1995. In July 1999 he was given the honorary title of Deputy Prime Minister. After the United States-led Invasion of Iraq in 2003, he was listed as number 45 (8 of Diamonds) on the Iraqi most-wanted playing cards. He was peacefully detained from his house in Baghdad on April 19,"
"that Marouf was taken into custody on Friday, May 2, 2003. He had been captured with two other Saddam deputies Abdel Tawab Mullah Huweish, director of the Office of Military Industrialization and a deputy prime minister in charge of arms procurement, and Mizban Khadr Hadi commander of one of four military regions Saddam established on the eve of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Marouf was #24 (initially #42) on the U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis. He was represented by the nine of diamonds in the Most-wanted Iraqi playing cards. He died on 7 August 2009 in Amman, Jordan. He was"
"Hossam Mohammed Amin Hassan Mohammed Amin was an Iraqi general under Saddam Hussein's government. He said in 2002 that Iraq would submit a list of chemical, biological and nuclear programs to UNMOVIC, but that the report would not disclose any banned weapons, ""because, really, we have no weapons of mass destruction."" He participated as an Iraqi member delegation in the discussions conducted between Iraq and the United Nations and the IAEA for the period 1991-2003. He was number 49 on the US list of 55 most wanted Iraqis during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He was the 13th on the"
"in question during the weeks following the fall of Baghdad and the conclusion of the major fighting of the war. Various sightings of Saddam were reported in the weeks following the war, but none was authenticated. At various times Saddam released audio tapes promoting popular resistance to his ousting. Saddam was placed at the top of the ""U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis"". In July 2003, his sons Uday and Qusay and 14-year-old grandson Mustapha were killed in a three-hour gunfight with U.S. forces. On 13 December 2003, in Operation Red Dawn, Saddam Hussein was captured by American forces after being"
"overseeing the Iraqi Special Security Organization. He was designated ""ace of diamonds"" in the US administrations most-wanted Iraqi playing cards and fourth on the most-wanted list after Saddam and his sons Uday and Qusay. He was captured in a joint raid by members of B squadron Delta Force and G Squadron SAS and the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment of 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, in Tikrit on June 16, 2003. At the time it was recognized as the ""greatest success"" since the end of major hostilities, and a sign that Saddam Hussein might soon be found. On April 29,"
"was also marked by a set of three, along with a souvenir sheet. The last of the Faisal definitives had only partly appeared before the revolution of 1958, and both issued and unissued types were overprinted. General Qassim's period was noted by the usual round of commemoratives, many featuring him as benevolent leader. Later presidents also appeared, though less frequently. Saddam Hussein, as vice-president, makes a first appearance in a souvenir sheet of 1976, and by the mid-1980s appeared on a great many Iraqi stamps. The 2003 invasion of Iraq brought the stamp program to a sudden halt, the last"
"Ibrahim Sabawi Ibrahim Ibrahim Sabawi Ibrahim () (October 25, 1983 - May 20, 2015, Baghdad) was Saddam Hussein's half-nephew and an ISIL guerrilla. Ibrahim's father was Sabawi Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti, Saddam's half-brother, the 'Six of Diamonds' in the U.S. 'Most Wanted' playing card deck due to his leading Iraqi secret intelligence. Sabawi Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti and at least two sons (Ibrahim Sabawi Ibrahim and his older brother, Ayman Sabawi Ibrahim) were captured by Iraqi and coalition forces near Saddam's hometown of Tikrit in February, 2005. Ibrahim Sabawi Ibrahim escaped from a prison near Mosul the following year while serving sentences"
"Another attempt at provoking the war was mentioned in a leaked memo from a meeting between George W. Bush and Tony Blair on 31 January 2003 at which Bush allegedly told Blair that ""The US was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours. If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach."" On 17 March 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush gave Saddam Hussein 48 hours to leave the country, along with his sons Uday and Qusay, or face war. On the night of 17 March 2003, the majority of B"
"of President Bush, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer declined the offer. Taha Yassin Ramadan Taha Yasin Ramadan al-Jizrawi (; 1938 – 20 March 2007) was an Iraqi Kurd, who served as one of the three Vice Presidents of Iraq from March 1991 to the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003. Following the fall of Saddam's government, Taha Yasin Ramadan was placed on the U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis and depicted as the ""Ten of Diamonds"" in the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards. He was captured on August 19, 2003, in Mosul, by fighters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan"
"wanted Iraqi cards, which featured US government officials. Liberty Playing Card Company Liberty Playing Card Company is a Texas-based company which produces custom-made playing cards. Liberty was started in 1970 in Chicago. In the late-1970s it moved down to Arlington, Texas. In late-1980s all of the playing card assets of Western Playing Card Co. (Western Publishing) brands such as Guild, Colortone, Invincible, Imperial, Boulevard, Western, Whitman etc. were acquired. Usually, they make regular playing cards except that the backs have business logos on them. In 2003, they produced the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards for the United States government. They also"
"result from a failure to disarm on Iraq's part. ""Continued at:"" 2003 invasion of Iraq. Preparations for 2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq began on March 20. On March 18, US President George W. Bush had set a deadline for the ruler of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, and his two sons, Uday and Qusay, to leave the country or face military action. By the time of the ultimatum, political and military preparations for the invasion were well advanced. Plans for securing Iraqi cities following the invasion, infrastructure reconstruction, and transitioning the country into a post-war government – plans"
"town of ad-Dawr, but did not find Hussein. A continued search between the two sites found Hussein hiding in a ""spider hole"" at 20:30 hrs local Iraqi time. Hussein did not resist capture. Hussein disappeared from public view soon after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The American military labelled him ""High Value Target Number One"" (HVT1) and began one of the largest manhunts in history. Between July and December 2003, JSOC's Task Force 121 carried out twelve unsuccessful raids to find Saddam Hussein, together with 600 other operations against targets, including 300 interrogations. On December 1, 2003, a former driver"
"some 48,000 boxes of documents, audiotapes and videotapes that were captured by the U.S. military during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Many of these documents seem to make clear that Saddam's regime had given up on seeking a WMD capability by the mid-1990s. Associated Press reported, ""Repeatedly in the transcripts, Saddam and his lieutenants remind each other that Iraq destroyed its chemical and biological weapons in the early 1990s, and shut down those programs and the nuclear-bomb program, which had never produced a weapon."" At one 1996 presidential meeting, top weapons program official Amer Mohammed Rashid, describes his conversation with"
"individuals from the infamous ""Deck of Cards,"" and almost a dozen of the top 200 most wanted, including ""Baghdad Bob"" and the Chairman of Atomic Energy. While under his command, the 422d Civil Affairs Battalion was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for Operation Iraqi Freedom. R. Alan King R. Alan King (Born May 8, 1963) is an American soldier and award-winning author. He is a retired colonel, US Army. He was awarded two Bronze Star Medals with Valor device and under his command, the 422 Civil Affairs Battion received the Presidential Unit Citation during ""Operation Iraqi Freedom."" Born on May"
"Interrogation of Saddam Hussein The Interrogation of Saddam Hussein began shortly after his December 2003 capture, while the deposed President of Iraq was held at the United States Camp Cropper detention facility at Baghdad International Airport. Beginning in February 2004, the interrogation program, codenamed Operation Desert Spider, was controlled by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents. Standard FBI FD-302 forms filed at the time were declassified and released in 2009 under a U.S. Freedom of Information Act request filed by the National Security Archive. Saddam, identified as ""High Value Detainee #1"" in the documents, was the subject of 20 ""formal"
"uprisings in Iraq. Due to his close links to Saddam Hussein, Hadi was elevated in March 2003 to command the central Euphrates region; one of Iraq's four military regions, as part of an attempt by Saddam Hussein to delegate command and strengthen Iraqi defenses against the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Hadi was no. 23 on the Iraqi playing cards. Hadi was reported to have had been arrested by US Forces in Baghdad on 1 May 2003. CENTCOM later claimed that Hadi was arrested on 8 July 2003 after turning himself in to Coalition forces in Baghdad. Mizban Khadr al-Hadi Mizban"
"most-wanted man in Iraq, shown as the King of Spades in the deck of most-wanted Iraqi playing cards. In 2006 he was charged with genocide and crimes against humanity for his part in the Anfal campaign and was transferred to the Iraq Special Tribunal for trial. He received four death sentences for his role in killing Shia Muslims in 1991 and 1999, the genocide of the Kurds in the 1980s, and ordering the gassing of Kurds at Halabja. The trial began on 21 August 2006, in acrimonious circumstances when al-Majid refused to enter a plea. He subsequently had a not"