In his new book, "SSN up", the sequel to "Blackhawk down", Mark Bowden will tell the story of the USS Cedar Rapids, an improved 688 class submarine sent on a dangerous mission in 2003 by George W. Bush himself.
When he heard that Saddam had a Luxury Yacht, he ordered it sunk by US submarines.
Donald Rumsfeld fired any objecting admiral and replaced them with people who issued orders to Cmdr. Bernard Parker Dinsdale and his crew to drive up the Tigris and sink Saddam and his Yacht.
This daring raid almost succeeded, unfortunately, a village boy alarmed local guard about a "whale coming up the river". Nethertheless, Dinsdale and his crew suceeded to sink Saddam's Yacht and the pier and one of Saddams palaces plus a collection of sports cars with a single well placed Mk. 48 ADCAP torpedo.
Unfortunately, Saddam himself was not amused and opened up with his gold plated AK-47, doing little damage but placing the Cedar Rapids in a dangerous position.
Saddam then turned to heavier guns, and fired his diamond adorned platinum RPG-7 at the Cedar Rapid's hull, holing it and causing it to sink in shallow water and forcing Dinsdale and his valiant crew to abandon ship and surrender.
The submarine was salvaged by the Iraquis and paraded through Bagdad on serveral flatbed trailers.
News of the capture of the submarine and its crew was relayed to the international press by the iraqui information minister the next day, but unfortunately, nobody believed him.
The vessel's nuclear reactor and tomahawk cruise missiles were safely hidden away during the last days of Saddam's regime until after the war the CIA tried to use them as evidence for Saddam's WMD program.
Unfortunately, the newl US appointed iraqui government sold the reactor to the iranians and the cruise missiles have not been accounted for since last month and are believed to have been stolen by local rebels.
Portions of the hull of the Cedar Rapids have reportedly been used to build a new luxury yacht for the new president of Iraq.
Navy officials and the Pentagon have blamed the loss of the USS Cedar Rapids on the Clinton administration, because it failed to provide the 688(I) class with wheels for land travel and 120mm tank turrets for just such a situation.
Cmdr Dinsdale was awarded the congressional medal of honour in a secret ceremony by president Bush himself shortly after his "mission accomplished" speech.
Thereafter, president Bush ordered Dinsdale and serveral of his officers on a new mission: to train the submarine arm of the afghan navy.
