--- title: Revisiting a Tikrit Ambush | TIME description: Retired Army Lt. Col. Steve Russell returns to the scene of an ambush in Tikrit, where he killed four insurgents in a gun fight canonical: https://time.com/video/jZ4lATFs/ og:title: Revisiting a Tikrit Ambush og:description: Retired Army Lt. Col. Steve Russell returns to the scene of an ambush in Tikrit, where he killed four insurgents in a gun fight og:url: https://time.com/video/jZ4lATFs/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/jZ4lATFs/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Revisiting a Tikrit Ambush twitter:description: Retired Army Lt. Col. Steve Russell returns to the scene of an ambush in Tikrit, where he killed four insurgents in a gun fight twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/jZ4lATFs/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Revisiting a Tikrit Ambush > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Revisiting a Tikrit Ambush [Watch (HLS stream): Revisiting a Tikrit Ambush](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jZ4lATFs.m3u8) (3:16)  _Published 2008-12-14. Retired Army Lt. Col. Steve Russell returns to the scene of an ambush in Tikrit, where he killed four insurgents in a gun fight_ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:04 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [White House Says Flynn Was Ambushed in FBI Interview](/video/4k90npe6/) ### White House Says Flynn Was Ambushed in FBI Interview [Two NYPD Officers Ambushed, Killed In Brooklyn](/video/fDowJmzZ/) ### Two NYPD Officers Ambushed, Killed In Brooklyn [Iraq: Tikrit Falls to Islamist Militant Group](/video/Ja43HCOR/) ### Iraq: Tikrit Falls to Islamist Militant Group --- ## Transcript >> Yeah. That will work. Right here in this intersection is great. >> Steve Russell was the U. S. Army commander- in- charge of Tikrit in 2003. >> Yeah. This is it right here. >> He was recently elected to the Oklahoma State Senate and returns to Tikrit to research his book on the Hunt for Saddam. Five years ago, he fought face- to- face against the remnants of Saddam's Fedayeen. >> What had happened was we came down from the-- from the Birthday Palace where there was an ambush on our soldiers and we came down 60th Street. Pulled very quickly around this corner. And then, as we fishtailed around and came through here, the enemy we saw in-- on the same street as they fishtailed around. And we met them head- on in an engagement right down here. >> During the hunt for Saddam, Russell's men spent months here hunting him down. They arrested dozens of Saddam's top henchmen and fought bloody battles throughout the town. One of those firefights happened on this street. >> This is it, right here. Right here. >> On the night of July 23rd, 2003, Lieutenant Colonel Russell was out on patrol when insurgents ambushed one of his units. >> The came and they fishtailed around the corner, and as we come around this side, I told my driver pull for us and cut them off. And as we did, we met literally right here, head- on, where he smashed the vehicle. >> One of the insurgents was the brother- in- law of Saddam's son, Qusay. Lieutenant Colonel Russell shot and kill him. >> I looked out on the street. And basically, we cut him down. I killed him, all four of them. Right here in this spot. Right in front of this man's house. It's-- there's a piece of me on this street. It's hard to describe. It was the most personal combat that I ever had. It was right here. Engagements, all of it, was about five to ten feet. Very, very personal. I can still see their faces. And you know, there's a part of me on this street. It's really strange to be back here. >> Five years later, Tikrit is a different place. Security is controlled by Iraqi police. There are no U. S. troops in the town. Neighborhoods that were battlegrounds are now open for business. >> Look at all the shops. None of these shops were here. None of them. Well, here we are, back in Tikrit. The markets are very busy, very bustling-- probably three to five times as much business activity as what we had seen before. The people are pretty much calm, not much tension, a lot of families out. A very different feel to the city than when we were here during that time. >> For TIME. com, I'm Brian Bennett. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Revisiting a Tikrit Ambush","description":"Retired Army Lt. Col. 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