Warrior King:
The Triumph and Betrayal of anAmerican Commander in Iraq
by Lt. Col. (Ret.) Nathan Sassaman
The Fadhil cousins, Marwan and Zaydoon, lived in the war-torn city of Samarra. The imposed 11pm curfew was fast approaching - perhaps it had already come. No one that night could remember exactly. A few hundred yards from their home, their car was pulled over by American military security forces. The U.S. soldiers gave the car a thorough search and determined the two men were not insurgents. No sooner had they been waved on they were flagged down again. From there everything is murky. Instead of bringing the men to the base, the soldiers took them to a bridge over the TigrisRiver. Now, the stories conflict, but one thing is sure: both Fadhil cousins were pushed into the water. As the soldiers left they thought that was the end of it. Some later said they saw not one but both men exit the river - alive.
Weeks later a body - reportedly Zaydoon Fadhil - was discovered. The result of death: an apparent drowning. An examination by military experts questioned whether the body had been in the water that long. They viewed the body briefly on video tape and to the experts it showed no signs consistent with water exposure for a great length of time. If it was Fadhil, did he drown that night in early January in the TigrisRiver? Or did he die, by some other means, in some other location? The only thing anyone could agree on was that the body viewed was dead.
West Point graduate, Army football star, and courageous warrior who had proven himself on the battlefield time and again, Lt.Col (Ret.) Nathan Sassaman was one of the most celebrated officers in the United States military. Commanding over 800 soldiers in the heart of the insurgency-infested Sunni Triangle in Iraq, his unit's job was to seek out and eliminate terrorists and loyalists to Saddam Hussein, while simultaneously rebuilding the region's infrastructure and introducing democratic principles to a broken and demoralized people. Sassaman's tactics were highly aggressive, his methods innovative, and his success in Iraq nearly unparalleled. In a startling and controversial memoir of combat and betrayal,
Warrior King: The Triumph and Betrayal of an American Commander in Iraq, Sassaman recounts the heroic efforts in Iraq of he and his troops, and the one fateful decision that came back to haunt so many.
Sassaman was well aware of the internal conflict in the hierarchy of the military leadership spearheading the war in Iraq. He had dealt over and again with General Raymond Odierno instructing him on one approach in the fighting, and an exact opposite one from a different chain of command, his immediate supervisor, Col. Frederick Rudesheim. He was naturally cautious regarding dealing with the brass. Thus when the events of the night of January 3, 2004, came to light - events Sassaman knew nothing about originally - he became distraught and feared for his men while continuing to gather all the facts he could. From what he knew he made the one decision that would alter his life forever: he said to those soldiers in his command that were there to tell any military officials investigating about every aspect of this event, but leave out the part about the Iraqis hitting the water.
During the subsequent investigation, he knew he had crossed a line when he instructed the members of his battalion not to talk about throwing the Iraqis in the river. As Sassaman says in
Warrior King ,
"As a result of this information, I made a poor hasty decision to have everyone involved just talk about dropping the Iraqis off on the road...I have made hundreds of decisions out herein combat. In all cases I know I made the right call - but in this instance, I did not. I do not excuse the behavior of those involved in having the Iraqis jump into the water - it was an act of stupidity, but no one drowned. I also do not excuse my decision. I should have conducted a formal commander's inquiry...I wish I could have a're-do' on this part. So I take full responsibility for what has happened since the incident." Sassaman now faced an Article 15 non-judicial proceeding. While it seemingly exonerated him from criminal liability it essentially meant the end of his career. Others were not so lucky: Staff Sgt. Tracy Perkins spent six months in military prison and Lt. Jack Saville spent 45 days in military prison for their roles. Capt. Matthew Cunningham received a letter of reprimand.
Sassaman is the highest ranking military officer to serve in Iraq and write his story on the war. As Battalion Commander, he was in the unique position of being both in the thick of battle with his troops and in the war room with Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and General Rudescheim. His book is a potent mix of the brutality of war and incompetence of our leaders. He was definitely in the hierarchy's crosshairs. Was he too successful? Sassaman may have created political enemies within the military by making his peers look incompetent. His methods were based on his ferocious demand to take the fight to the enemy, and absolute support of his men. It was his loyalty to them that caused him to cover up the alleged drowning of Zaydoon Fadhil. That was all the ammunition his enemies needed to his end his career.
BOOK SIGNING -- Lt. Col. Sassaman will be discussing & signing his book, Warrior King, on Tuesday, June 3 at 7pm, Borders-Southgate, 2120 Southgate Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80906, (719) 632-6611.