Intel ops

Intelligence Planning and Methods Employed: Operation Red Dawn - The Capture of Saddam Hussein

The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance of network analysis and socio-cultural understanding within the military intelligence community and how it was used to capture Saddam Hussein during Operation Red Dawn.  It examines how the military intelligence community, in particular Task Force 121 and 4th Infantry Division, utilized socio-cultural information and complexity theory to map a network of people leading to capture of Saddam Hussein (Ryan 2008, 47).

Therefore this paper seeks to answer the question:  How did the Military Intelligence Community use social network analysis in finding Saddam Hussein during Operation Red Dawn?  At first, a literature review was conducted with the intent to discover information answering the abovementioned research question.  The reviewed literature helped to initially define the problem set, introduce a dilemma in military intelligence analysis at the time, discuss how the problem was addressed through socio-cultural network analysis, and discuss how the change in methods led to the capture of one of the most wanted men in the world during Operation Red Dawn. Finally this report concludes with an analysis section and a conclusion.