LTC Ahmed, the commander of an elite police unit in Salah ad Din province,  was assassinated on by a suicide bomber on Dec. 4th in central Tikrit, Iraq. 

Ahmed was among the first to step forward in 2003 and 2004 to work with Coalition forces in Tikrit. 

From the powerful Jabouri tribe centered North of the city, he quickly gained a reputation for being brash, fearless and willing to whatever it took to eliminate terrorists. 

I met him a few times this past October while embedded with 2-32 Field Artillery, the US Battalion that worked side-by-side with Ahmed. 

And he lives up to the quotes about him. 

"He was controversial, flamboyant, brave, and effective," U.S. Col. Walt Piatt told the Associated Press .  "He single-handedly disrupted numerous enemy plots during the last election - He was the go-to-guy in the province." 

During a Joint Security meeting I sat in on he puffed on double corona cigar and then joked that I should be paying him for the privilege of having a picture with him. 

"Angela Jolie wants her picture with me," he joked. 

We then talked about how after I finished up my work with the Army I should spend a few days embedded with him.  (I have been known to take off my body armor and jump in a pick up truck with an Iraqi officer to go for a drive around town .) 

I took down his cell phone number and told him the serious Inshalla--I'll spend a few days with you on this trip unless Allah prevents it.  I ran out of time on this trip to embed with Ahmed but toyed with extending a few days to embed with him.  If I had, I could have been with him on Dec. 4th. 

As I travelled around the province I inquired with other Iraqi police about Ahmed and his reputation.  From Bayji to Dujayl, he was a legend. 

The reports of him personally killing 250 plus insurgents/terrorists are not puffery.  The number of terrorists killed by men under his command is much higher. 

Ahmed had a lot of enemies.  The conventional wisdom is that Al Qaida killed him.  But the facts are probably murkier. 

Someone or some group didn't just want Ahmed dead--they needed him dead. 

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