Q: Remember that deck of cards issued at the beginning of the Iraq war, with all the “most wanted” faces on playing cards? What ever happened to all those people … were they all caught? What’s up with that? A: The set of cards was originally issued in 2003. All four of the “aces” — Saddam, his sons Uday and Qusay, and his personal bodyguard/national security adviser — have been killed or captured. And, as of June 2007, nine of the men named on the cards remain at large. They are represented by two kings and three jacks and four numbered cards.The highest-ranking officials still at large are the King of Clubs (Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri) and the King of Hearts (Hani abd al-Latif al-Tilfah al-Tikriti). Al-Duri was elected Baath Party leader after Saddam’s execution and is believed to be a major organizer of former regime fighters in Iraq. Less is known about al-Tikriti, who had headed the Special Security Organization and was close to Qusay Hussein.The other “face cards” remaining at large are: Tahir Abd al-Jalil al-Habbush (the Jack of Diamonds and former director of the intelligence service); Sayfal al-Din Fulayyih Hasan Taha al-Rawi (the Jack of Clubs and former Republican Guard chief of staff); and Rafi abd al-Latif Tilfah al-Tikriti (the Jack of Hearts and former chief of the directorate of general security).The numbered cards are: Rashid Taan Kazim (former Baath chairman in Anbar); Yahya Abdallah al-Ubaydi (former Baath chairman in Basra); Abd al-Baqi abd al-Karim al-Abdallah al-Sadun (former Baath chairman in Diyala); Rukan Razuki abd al-Ghafar Sulayman al-Majid al-Tikriti (Saddam’s former bodyguard and tribal affairs adviser).
