Chemical security

16 years ago, the US invaded Iraq — CIA agents already on the ground knew it would be a disaster

While the CIA did find some modest chemical and biological weapons factories, they belonged to Ansar al-Islam (AAS), the Al Qaeda-linked insurgent group operating in Kurdistan, which had no ties to Hussein. Once it became clear AAS was a serious threat, and that a contingent of Al Qaeda fighters had snuck into the country after the US invaded Afghanistan, Faddis and his team developed a plan to destroy both groups in August of 2002.

But when they requested SOCOM assets, they were turned down cold, marking, Faddis says, the second missed opportunity to take out Al Qaeda (the first being in the mountains of Tora Bora, Afghanistan, the year before).

As time went on, they increasingly concentrated their efforts on picking up sources — men with information about the regime who were eager to share it with US intelligence. Since no Americans were officially operating in Iraq at the time, such operations involved a fair amount of risk. Crews was fond of comparing his job to that of a rodeo clown.

"The Agency guys were the ones riding the bull," he said, and the commandos "were the ones running in front making sure they didn't get hurt. We were the trigger pullers on the ground."