Chapter 25
0600, 27 October 2004
Laith Hadeed’s House
Ar Ramadi, Iraq
Early in the morning, Saif and Abdul picked up Haitham and Ahmed at the hotel and drove them to Laith Hadeed’s house in Ramadi. Haitham and Ahmed wore their new clothes: western-style black pants, silk shirts, and sandals. When they arrived at Laith Hadeed’s house, they were each handed a shovel and told where to dig in the backyard. With the numerous rocks in the hard desert soil, it took an hour to dig down two feet. They found nothing.
Saif went inside and came back with Laith. “You all are idiots,” Laith said. “Can’t you see that is hard dirt? You dig only where it is soft. That’s where something has been buried.”
Laith took the shovel and started sticking it in the ground near the hole Haitham had dug and quic
