Troops often play cards to pass the time, and seeing the names, faces and titles of the wanted Iraqis during their games will help soldiers and Marines in case they run into the wanted individuals in the field, Brooks said. The card backs feature camouflage reminiscent of that seen on the Desert Camouflage Uniform.Īccording to US NavyLieutenant commander Jim Brooks, a spokesman for the Defense Intelligence Agency, such playing cards have been used as far back as the US Civil War and again in World War II-Army Air Corps decks printed with the silhouettes of German and Japanese fighter aircraft fetch hundreds of dollars today-and in the Korean War.
This strict correspondence to the order of the most-wanted list was not carried through the entire deck, but sometime later in 2003, the list itself was renumbered to conform (almost) to the deck of cards. The ace of spades is Saddam Husayn, the aces of clubs and hearts are his sons Qusay and Uday respectively, and the ace of diamonds is Saddam's presidential secretary Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti. The highest-ranking cards, starting with the aces and kings, were used for the people at the top of the most-wanted list. Each card contains the wanted person's address and, if available, the job performed by that individual.
