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Kill Bin Laden: A Delta Force Commander's Account of the Hunt for the World's Most Wanted Man | 
 enlarge | Author: Dalton Fury
Creator: Col.(r) David Hunt
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
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Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 150
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.3
ISBN: 0312384394
Dewey Decimal Number: 958.1047
EAN: 9780312384395
ASIN: 0312384394
Publication Date: October 6, 2008
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Product Description
The mission was to kill the most wanted man in the world--an operation of such magnitude that it couldn’t be handled by just any military or intelligence force. The best America had to offer was needed. As such, the task was handed to roughly forty members of America’s supersecret counterterrorist unit formerly known as 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta; more popularly, the elite and mysterious unit Delta Force.
The American generals were flexible. A swatch of hair, a drop of blood, or simply a severed finger wrapped in plastic would be sufficient. Delta's orders were to go into harm's way and prove to the world bin Laden had been terminated.
These Delta warriors had help: a dozen of the British Queen’s elite commandos, another dozen or so Army Green Berets, and six intelligence operatives from the CIA who laid the groundwork by providing cash, guns, bullets, intelligence, and interrogation skills to this clandestine military force. Together, this team waged modern siege of epic proportions against bin Laden and his seemingly impenetrable cave sanctuary burrowed deep inside the Spin Ghar Mountain range in eastern Afghanistan.
Over the years, since the battle ended, scores of news stories have surfaced offering tidbits of information about what actually happened in Tora Bora. Most of it is conjecture and speculation.
This is the real story of the operation, the first eyewitness account of the Battle of Tora Bora, and the first book to detail just how close Delta Force came to capturing bin Laden, how close U.S. bombers and fighter aircraft came to killing him, and exactly why he slipped through our fingers. Lastly, this is an extremely rare inside look at the shadowy world of Delta Force and a detailed account of these warriors in battle.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews...
 How we lost bin Laden at Tora Bora November 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 Review November 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.
 Kill bin Laden November 10, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The beginning of this book was pretty boring military description. The last hundred and something pages were really interesting. I didn't want to put the book down.
Outstanding reading. November 9, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I knew we had Bin Laden but lost the small window. I feel this lost opportunity was wholly Rumsfeld's call. He is Macnamara reborn. A micro-manager who would not listen to his field commanders. This book is outstanding and should be read by everyone!
good read November 9, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
xcellent book couldent put it down,,amazing what these guys do for this country ....highly recomend this book....
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