Task Force 20

jegs2 · Post by **jegs2** » 2003-08-07 01:39am

Task Force 20 conducts lightning strike:

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Scurrying down ropes from helicopters and scaling walls on ladders, U.S. commandos raided three houses in an upscale neighborhood Monday morning.
"Where's Saddam?" the soldiers yelled, according to residents who said they cowered in their bedrooms as the Americans blew out their front doors with explosives. "We know he's in here."
Their search for the deposed Iraqi leader turned up empty, but it had all the earmarks of the elite Special Operations Task Force 20.
For the first time, the U.S. military acknowledged Monday that the highly secretive task force is one of the units spearheading the hunt for Saddam Hussein.
The Pentagon has been reluctant to confirm Task Force 20's existence. But its presence surfaced recently in the raid that killed Saddam's two sons in northern Iraq and the storming of a sheik's house on July 27 in Baghdad that left up to five Iraqis dead, military sources said.
On Monday, a spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division announced that four key Hussein regime figures were detained in the past week by Task Force 20 near Saddam's hometown of Tikrit. Two of them were described as "very close associates" of Saddam, Maj. Josslyn Aberle said.
Task Force 20's trademark is lightning-fast assaults, and members have at their disposal anything the military can muster, experts said. In recent months, the unit has turned its attention from hunting for weapons of mass destruction to hunting down Saddam and his top loyalists.
A military spokesman in Baghdad would not confirm or deny Monday's raid in the Mansour neighborhood, a few blocks away from where Task Force 20 struck the sheik's house.
From residents' description of Monday morning's assault, it appeared certain that Task Force 20 was at work. Only hours after the raid, other U.S. soldiers spoke to family members and offered compensation for damaged property.
"They told us that we had been visited by the best army unit in the world that is out to find Saddam," said Yaser Mohammed Ghany, sweeping up shattered window glass and splinters from broken door frames.
The commandos told residents they were acting on a tip that Saddam was staying at one of the three houses.
"They were clearly not your usual soldiers," Ghany said.
Military experts say Task Force 20 is based at Baghdad International Airport and has perhaps 1,500 soldiers and its own logistical, communications and intelligence capabilities. The task force is a combination of Special Operations units, including the Army's Delta Force and Rangers and Navy SEALs, military experts said.
Task Force 20 was formed before the start of the Iraq war and infiltrated the western desert to locate Iraqi Scud missiles and key military units for destruction by U.S. aircraft and other forces, said Patrick Garrett, associate analyst at GlobalSecurity.org in Virginia.
After major combat operations ended, the unit unsuccessfully scoured Iraq for chemical and biological weapons, analysts said.
Now, sources said, Task Force 20 mobilizes in minutes on informants' tips and other intelligence about Saddam's possible whereabouts.
As they seal off the target area, a second unit then enters the house or building to search for the targets. Other task force members follow up and gather intelligence information at the site, analysts say.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-08-07 01:41am

If Task Force 20 was supposed to be a secret till now, it wasn't a very well-kept one.

That said, I'm sure these boys kick ass.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-08-07 01:47am

To be honest, I've never heard of a Task Force 20.

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2003-08-07 02:10am

I'm suprised that they are reporting any thing more than the fact that Task Force 20 is there.

Rubberanvil · Post by **Rubberanvil** » 2003-08-07 05:36am

Howedar wrote:To be honest, I've never heard of a Task Force 20.

I heard of them about two-three months ago as the media reported them as a group made up just to find and capture Saddam and the remaining top aides.

Post by **Vympel** » 2003-08-07 07:12am

Why is it called Task Force 20? Sounds like someone's been playing too much Playstation.

Oberleutnant · Post by **Oberleutnant** » 2003-08-07 07:18am

Vympel wrote:Why is it called Task Force 20? Sounds like someone's been playing too much Playstation.

I was wondering the same thing. It's like something out from a cheap Steven Seagal movie.

Is there more information about these guys somewhere in the net? A quick Google search didn't help much.

Companion Cube · Post by **Companion Cube** » 2003-08-07 08:15am

This reminds me of the game Force 21 that came out a year or two ago. Weird coincidence.

Post by **Vympel** » 2003-08-07 08:20am

3rd Impact wrote:This reminds me of the game Force 21 that came out a year or two ago. Weird coincidence.

That game really sucked ass.

Post by **Coyote** » 2003-08-07 06:22pm

Things to consider-- a secret doesn't get let out usually until the military is ready. Before then, rumors abound and many are allowed to perpetuate, indeed, many may even be planted, to confuse observers.

And a hokey or dull sounding name might well also be chosen to mislead, confuse, or make peole shake their heads and say "yeah, right". The same thing happened when that silly-ass movie "Delta Force" (with the lightning-painted motorcycles with rocket launchers on the handlebars) came out 20 years ago, about the same time the actual force itself was rumored to exist...

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-08-07 06:26pm

Vympel wrote:Why is it called Task Force 20? Sounds like someone's been playing too much Playstation.

Designating units as task force such and such in the field seems to be common in the US Army.

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2003-08-07 07:06pm

What? Are there no PJs or Combat Controllers in this group?