U.S. Special Forces arrested former President George W. Bush Saturday morning at his Crawford, Texas, ranch following a blistering firefight with Secret Service agents and private security contractors assigned to protect him.
On Friday evening, a Special Forces “Alpha Detachment” stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, received from U.S. Army Special Operations Command orders to infiltrate the ranch and arrest the 43rd president. SF were told to expect resistance because recent intelligence on the ranch showed that Bush had surrounded himself with armed private security contractors in addition to the trio of Secret Service agents that routinely patrolled the grounds.
Transportation to the ranch was provided by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, nicknamed Night Stalkers, a group of highly skilled chopper pilots that conduct transport, attack, assault, and reconnaissance missions, at night, at low altitude, and on short notice. The choppers had to make 3 refueling stops to reach their destination.
Under cover of darkness early Saturday morning, the choppers descended into a clearing near the southeast corner of Bush’s 1,600-acre ranch, far from the staff trailers and the main house where they hoped to find Bush sleeping. After offloading SF, the choppers ascended into the night to await a call for exfiltration.
A military source familiar with the mission told Real Raw News that Special Operations Command had obtained detailed satellite imagery of the property as well as locations of trail cams that live-streamed to a communications bunker 100 yards from the main building.
“Intelligence estimated that Bush had 20 security contractors and 3 Secret Service on the property. The plan was to exploit blind spots in the surveillance cameras, ingress to the main building, subdue Bush’s personal guards, and drag him to the exfil point without alerting the larger security force. But something went horribly wrong,” our source said.
Special Forces had approached to within 200 yards of the main house when all hell broke loose.
Two open-top ATVs, each with a driver and 3 security personnel, sped out of the darkness and toward the encroaching SF unit, the headlights momentarily illuminating the soldiers as they separated into groups and dove for cover. Bush’s security unleashed a hailstorm of suppressive fire, wounding one soldier and killing another. While one SF group engaged the enemy, the other dashed toward the main house, hoping to capture Bush before he could be evacuated on his own private helicopter, which sat parked near the main structure.
“The battle turned in our favor quickly. SF took cover behind a rock wall and with the aid of NVGs shot out the tires on both vehicles and then killed or grievously wounded Bush’s security. But they knew there was still at least a dozen patrolling the property and they would’ve been alerted and on their way. Time was of the essence,” our source said.
The second SF unit reached the main house just as 2 Secret Service agents emerged and began steering Bush, still in his pajamas, to an armored limousine parked alongside dense shrubbery. SF instructed them to halt and throw up their hands, but the agents wheeled around and drew weapons, only to be killed a second later.
Somewhere on the property a deafening klaxon blared like an air raid siren.
“They gagged and bagged Bush, then regrouped. They couldn’t make the exfil point, not with one KIA and a teammate with a sucking chest wound. They radioed for pickup where they stood. A pilot told them that enemy forces were mobilizing near the staff trailers, and they had only minutes to get out of there. The birds weren’t armed for combat; otherwise, they could’ve hosed down those trailers,” our source said.
The choppers touched down only long enough to retrieve SF and their package, avoiding further conflict.
Our source said that JAG and the Office of Military Commissions had long sought Bush’s arrest. He did not say why it waited so long or why it felt such an impetus to grab Bush Saturday morning. Bush, he said, has been charged with treason and is being held to account for the deaths of thousands of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and for his role in masterminding 9/11, in addition to other crimes.
“He will face a military tribunal,” our source said.
[MWN] Several of these criminals have already been executed, but it is good to see other news sources confirming these actions.