Publication Date:October 6, 2008 Shipping:Eligible for Super Saver Shipping Promotion:Save $10.00 when you spend $50.00 or more on Qualifying Items offered by Amazon.com. Enter code BMLSAVES at checkout.Terms and Conditions Availability:Usually ships in 24 hours
Very exciting look at what really happened in Tora Bora.November 20, 2008 This was a very enjoyable read on the first hand accounts of what really happened in the Hindu Kush and the battle of Tora Bora. I especially enjoyed reading about the grit of elite commandos and there no non-sense approach to killing the enemy. Was this a battle a loss? You can decide for yourself, read this book!
ExplosiveNovember 20, 2008 This story is intense! I am so proud of these men and I thank god that they work for the U.S.A. Truely insane!
Kill bin LadenNovember 19, 2008 This was a very readable and interesting book. I thoroughly enjoyed the author's well-written account of events that he participated in. It's a book that is hard to put down due to the intrigue and action from start to finish. I'd highly recommend it for anyone with an interest in what happened in Tora Bora.
How we lost bin Laden at Tora BoraNovember 17, 2008 1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Required reading for anyone looking to understand America's failure to kill bin Laden and take down al Qaeda soon after American military forces hit the ground in Afghanistan. The perspective is that of Delta Force commander "Dalton Fury" (pseudonym), whose men advanced against al Qaeda positions in the Tora Bora range alongside Afghan forces, coordinating American air strikes against al Qaeda positions until bin Laden was allowed to flee into Pakistan.
Fury's book supplants Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander as the authoritative account given that Jawbreaker had much more of its content redacted by the CIA than military intelligence does to Fury's book published a few years later. Fury's book is also superior since it was his men in the mountains with Fury close by providing what little logistical support they were afforded (one story shows that support was so scant he had officers carrying gear and supplies up the mountains on their back).
We continue to hear our political leaders and media pundits laud our military for its prowess while ignoring the elephant in the room, pun intended - the almost complete lack of diplomatic effort and political support for our military that allows us to succeed rather than fail in our military efforts under President Bush. This book is Exhibit C (see below recommendations). Fury and his team and the story of their capabilities and efforts in Afghanistan provides a great look at America's best doing things in the field no other military can do with the possible exception of some elite British forces.
Fury's exciting depiction of their adventure in Afghanistan makes for great reading and significant confidence in our capabilities if provided with a competent commander in chief and war tested generals, rather than a lazy president coupled to sycophantic generals like CENTCOM Commander Gen. Tommie Franks. On the other hand, Fury's book provides several examples of opportunities squandered due to decisions made above Fury's pay scale, some in the White House itself, that defy logic, like the lack of support for Fury's team by our ground military forces rather than Afghan forces whose capabilities are limited and loyalties are suspect.
So while Kill bin Laden is as great a boots-on-the-ground non-fiction thriller that I've ever read; it's coupled with the frustration shared by Fury that our ground force special operations capabilities were never allowed to be cut loose and engage with the enemy in a manner commiserate with our military capability.
For a more chronological review of American efforts on the ground in Afghanistan, I highly recommend first reading First In: An Insider's Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan. "First In" chronicles the first CIA commander and his team's insertion into Afghanistan after 9/11, weeks prior to any significant military insertions that sets the groundwork for Fury and his team's insertion with Afghan forces. It also validates the same frustrations that Fury encounters in terms of getting the support it required to be successful, not a matter of incapability, but instead political will.
First In and Kill bin Laden share two themes: A highly enjoyable and often stunning read about the functional excellence of the people who serve our country in unfriendly territory, and an inability by either commander to communicate the illogical decisions made by the Bush Administration who refused to completely commit to going after and taking down al Qaeda. This brings to mind a third great book that also shares these themes which is every bit as a good a read about our fight in Iraq, House to House: A Soldier's Memoir .
While books that focus on our political leaders or generals when reporting the history of America at war sell better, I believe it's imperative the informed reader consider war at its most elemental level. Without such a perspective, I would argue it's impossible to understand the cost/benefit of blood and treasure expended for any given war and whether our leaders respected the investment of blood made by those that serve our country in its direct engagement of the enemy. All three of these books provide that perspective and make for extremely enjoyable reading as well.
Book ReviewNovember 11, 2008 0 out of 1 found this review helpful
First of all, Amazon delivered the book very quickly, which was much appreciated. The book is interesting in that it is written by someone who was there and hunting Bin Laden and all the information you have to assume is totally factual.
