Takedown: The 3rd Infantry Division's Twenty-One Day Assault on Baghdad

by Jim Lacey

Over time the impression has grown that the 2003 invasion of Iraq met with little resistance and that, with few exceptions, the Iraqi army simply melted away. As this book clearly shows, nothing could be further from the truth. In its drive to capture Baghdad, the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division was in nearly constant combat for twenty-one days. While Americans were watching Saddam's statue being torn down on TV, a brigade of the 3rd ID was on the verge of being overrun by Iraqi Republican Guard units trying to escape north. Told to hold two bridges in his sector, a brigade commander had to blow up one of them because he did not have the combat power to hold it. The company commander holding the other bridge was so hard pressed that he called on the artillery to fire their final protective fires a command made only when a unit is in mortal danger and one that had not been given since Vietnam. Every one of the division's armored vehicles was hit by rockets some taking more than a dozen hits and the fighting was so fierce at times that entire battalions ran out of ammunition. Nevertheless, when the fighting was finally over, the 3rd ID had destroyed two Iraqi Regular Army divisions and three divisions of the much vaunted Republican Guard. Takedown tells the little-known story of what happened to the 3rd ID during its struggle to win Baghdad, a campaign that some call one of the most vicious in American military history. To offer this firsthand account, Jim Lacey, a former Time magazine reporter embedded with the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, draws on extensive interviews that he conducted with the American soldiers involved as well as access to personal papers and war memoirs. This story is also enriched through his extensive use of interview transcripts of senior Iraqi army officers along with their personal written recollections. From the Kuwaiti border to the streets of Baghdad, these dramatic eyewitness descriptions of what went on give readers an accurate look at the brutal engagements in which the division fought for its life. In making use of such a wealth of primary source material, Lacey has succeeded in writing a fast paced narrative of the conflict, backed up by verifiable facts, that shows how modern wars are really fought.

Genres: Military Fiction, War, Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published March 3, 2007

About the author

Jim Lacey is an analyst at the Institute for Defense Analyses and a professor of conflict and global issues at Johns Hopkins University. Lacey was an embedded journalist with Time magazine during the invasion of Iraq, where he traveled with the 101st Airborne Division. His opinion columns have been published in The Weekly Standard, The National Review, and The New York Post. Lacey is the author of Takedown, Fresh from the Fight, and Occupation of Iraq. He lives in Alexandria, VA.

Reviews

[Chad Manske · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim Lacey’s “Takedown: The 3rd Infantry Division's Twenty-One Day Assault on Baghdad” stands as one of the most riveting military accounts of the Iraq War, delving deeply into the untold story behind Operation Iraqi Freedom’s decisive thrust toward the capital. Lacey, drawing expertly on a trove of primary sources and first-hand accounts, crafts a fast-paced, fact-rich narrative that explodes myths and delivers a nuanced view of modern mechanized warfare. The result is more than a campaign chronicle—it’s an intimate, frontline exploration of the chaos, leadership, and swift adaptability that defined the U.S. Army’s assault in 2003. What sets “Takedown” apart is its granular focus on the operational and tactical brilliance of the 3rd Infantry Division, whose “Thunder Runs” into Baghdad became iconic symbols of 21st-century urban warfare. Lacey skillfully dissects how division commanders balanced overwhelming force, rapid maneuver, and measured restraint to penetrate and collapse Saddam Hussein’s defenses while limiting civilian harm—a feat as morally fraught as it was strategically daring. The book’s vivid, moment-by-moment retelling places readers in armored columns hurtling down Highway 8, braving ambushes and improvising as the situation devolved from orderly campaign plans to street-by-street uncertainty. Lacey’s own experience as an embedded journalist and infantry officer infuses every page with authenticity and analytical clarity. He patiently parses command decisions, battlefield friction, and the interplay between doctrine and on-the-fly adaptation, challenging simplistic views of technological superiority or preordained victory. The author’s respect for the soldiers—when leadership inspired, when NCOs innovated under fire, and when battalions endured the psychological intensity of urban battle—elevates “Takedown” from reportage to history with real emotional weight. Ultimately, “Takedown” is not just essential for military historians but for anyone interested in the complexities and realities of contemporary war. Jim Lacey’s account captures the speed, brutality, and intelligence required to mount—and survive—a campaign that shaped the modern Middle East.

[Spencer Willardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good overview of the broad combat operations that the 3rd Infantry Division undertook from March 20 to early April when they entered and stayed in Baghdad.

For me this was an interesting personal read. After 18 years I am able to read about those days in a more detached manner. I was a young and inexperienced E-5 (Sergeant) from the Utah National Guard who had been attached to the 3rd idea two weeks before the invasion began. I started off with the division rear headquarters and by the time the division was ready to shoot the Karbala gap and make a push to Baghdad through the Republican Guard Medina Division I had been assigned with my translator to the A Co 3/7 Infantry. I had a front seat (or in my case the back of Bradley) view of the deciding last 10 days of the war. It was the last place I ever really expected to be.

If you are interested in the military operations and the way we won the battle, then read this book. The book acknowledges the main problem with the war, however, by noting that 3rd ID had no plan for the victory. They were there to destroy the military and gain ground. The political planning and post-conflict plan was not in place when we won the (fleeting) victory.

[Phillip Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, just descriptive action to not make it a dry text book read.

[Lon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fast paced read of the 3rd ID going for Baghdad. Story is to the point but covers all the combat and lets the reading know that no cake walk but was constant battle all the way. Look forward to more from the author.