Eric Maddox in the Media

The key to the Iraq War’s biggest triumph wasn’t firepower or technology or ‘enhanced’ interrogation. It was more personal than that.

Eric Maddox is famously known as the man whose investigatory techniques were most responsible for the 2003 capture of Saddam Hussein in war-torn Iraq. But he is much more than that. Let’s dig beneath the surface to discover the core of this warrior’s incomparable life-force.

A U.S. Veteran that helped with the capture of Saddam Hussein shares insight into the process of tracking down the warlord. Eric Maddox contributed greatly to the interrogation process that led to the capture of Saddam Hussein.

“The prisoners weren’t opening up,” Maddox said. “I told myself, ‘If I am going to get these prisoners to open up, I’ve got to find a way to connect with them, to communicate with them.’”

“You’re Muhammad Ibrahim,” I said numbly, without even considering my words. “I’ve been waiting to meet you.”

He said something in Arabic. The guard outside the cell door translated for me. “He says that you are the interrogator in the blue shirt.”

Iraq’s government had just been overturned when a U.S. Army staff sergeant stepped into an interrogation room. He faced a prisoner in Iraq. The year was 2003; it was December, five years ago. And as the interrogator recounts it, he began the conversation this way.

Maddox’s highly anticipated visit lived up to its billing as guests raved about the presentation and greatly enjoyed the one-on-one time they were able to spend with Eric up close and personal with his book signing and photo session.

While all the intelligence specialists said there was no way Saddam was in his hometown of Tikrit, Eric’s own personal information gathering system and analysis directed him to focus on the region.

Hosted by former U.S. Congressman Mike Rogers, also the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, each episode features a newly declassified mission told first-hand by the agents who lived it, providing viewers with unprecedented access to the riveting and secret world of espionage.

“Mission: Black List #1” was released Dec. 13, 2008, to coincide with the fifth anniversary of Saddam Hussein”s capture. Prior to this, the real story of the manhunt, and the personnel involved had not been revealed to the public. In the book, Staff Sergeant Eric Maddox pulls back the curtain to reveal a detailed, day-by-day account of the five-month, comprehensive search for Saddam. 

“As a military interrogator in the Iraqi backwater of Tikrit, Maddox was forced to develop his own methods of getting information from the locals after the techniques he’d learned in the army failed miserably.

But by going against what the military had taught him, Maddox secured the ultimate success and got the information that led U.S. troops to capture Hussein in December 2003.”

“In May 2013, Maddox keynoted a Young President’s Organization (YPO) event at the Charles F. Knight Executive Education & Conference Center (an event attended by the dean). He recounted the five-month period in 2003 when he – as part of the Joint Special Operations Task Force – conducted more than 300 interrogations in Iraq, zeroing in on Hussein’s inner circle. Just hours before he left the country, Maddox pinpointed Hussein’s location in Takrit. The official announcement shocked the world: “Ladies and gentlemen, we got him!”