Sure, the headline feels like a MadLib someone did while under the influence, but Mark Hoppus has a wild story about how he may have helped the United States with capturing Saddam Hussein.
He shared this story in his new memoir, , but he also touched on it in a recent interview with . In the clip below, Hoppus begins by cheekily saying, “I did, I saved the world from Saddam Hussein.”
Hoppus continues, “We were performing for the troops in the Middle East, and we were on an aircraft carrier, and we performed in the aircraft hangar of an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf while we were at war. And I was sitting down with an admiral of the fleet after dinner before we were going on stage, and I said, ‘Hey, before I go on stage, I have an idea of how we can capture Saddam Hussein.’”
The admiral laughed at the Blink-182 singer/bassist, which is understandable, but then Hoppus told him his idea. Suddenly, things weren’t so funny.
Hoppus says, “I said, ‘So I have this idea, you kind of know where he’s at’ … And [Hussein] used to release these video tapes to his followers, and he would, like, put a flag up behind him, and he’d look into the camera, and he’d say, you know, ‘Rise up against the American dogs.’ or whatever it was that he would say. And then, he’d release the tapes. I said, ‘Okay, if you have an idea where you think he might be, why don’t you fly drones or aircraft in grid patterns blasting as loud as you can, timecode above the range of human hearing, but within the dynamic range that will get captured on a video cassette. And then when he releases his videos, you can take the audio portion and extract the timecode and triangulate where he might be.’”
Again, the admiral initially laughing at Hoppus is totally understandable, but we would’ve given anything to be a fly on the wall for this interaction.
Hoppus continues, “The admiral kind of looks at me like … the hell? And he says, ‘You know what? I’m actually meeting at the Pentagon with the Joint Chiefs of Staff next week, and I might bring up your idea.’ And then, four months later, they had captured Saddam Hussein. So, it must have been me.”
Whether or not Hoppus has helped in other military matters is currently unknown. What is known is that Blink-182 has a , which have been dubbed the “Missionary Impossible” tour. The tour kicks off on August 28 in Hollywood, Fla. and wraps on October 4 in Palm Desert, Calif. Full tour details can be found at .
Blink-182 – “Missionary Impossible” 2025 Tour
Aug 28 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live*
Aug 29 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre*
Sep 1 – Charleston, SC – Credit One Stadium*
Sep 3 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek*
Sep 4 – Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach*
Sep 6 – Bethel, NY – Bethel Woods Center for the Arts*
Sep 7 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Broadview Stage at SPAC*
Sep 9 – Gilford, NH – BankNH Pavilion*
Sep 11 – Buffalo, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater*
Sep 13 – Pittsburgh, PA – Four Chord Music Festival^
Sep 14 – Ashbury Park, NJ – Sea Hear Now^
Sep 16 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center*
Sep 17 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center*
Sep 21 – Atlanta, GA – Shaky Knees^
Sep 22 – Huntsville, AL – The Orion Amphitheater*
Sep 24 – Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP*
Sep 26 – St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater*
Sep 27 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center*
Oct 2 – Sacramento, CA – Aftershock Festival^
Oct 4 – Palm Desert, CA – Acrisure Arena*
*With Support from Alkaline Trio
^Festival Performance
