Customer Rating:  
Summary: In War There Is No Substitute For Victory
Comment: The mission was a partial success. Al Qaeda suffered. But, bin Laden escaped. Who's to blame? Certainly not Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton. Not the courageous members of Delta Force who were there or the Green Berets who were held back. Key CIA operatives showed bravery in the field but backed questionable allies. The warlord generals who had their own agendas were definitely contributors. Also in play was the "no-win" philosophy that seems to permeate the views of many ranking military officers to such a degree that President Bush when arguing for the Iraq Surge at a high level meeting is supposed to have said "doesn't anyone ever think of winning?". This is a valuable book written by an American hero.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Did not live up to the hype.
Comment: This was a sub-average book. I found the writing to be average and the editorializing by Maj Fury distracting. Now that I understand his career progression, I better understand why he views Tora Bora the way he does. He appears to be one of the best operators in the world but refused all attempts by the Army to train him in operational or strategic level operations. I do not recommend this book. He should have thought twice about writing this book. Since he decided he would, he desparately needed a ghost writer.
Customer Rating:
Summary: If Bin Ladin Reads This Book, He'll Die from Boredom! Send Him a Copy!
Comment: As I read the glowing comments on this book's cover, I could not wait to scrutinize it page by page. As I did, however, it left me bored and wondering why it was even written in the first place. I'm sorry to say that I was pretty disappointed with this book. It definitely does not live up to the praise and hype it's been afforded. The hundred-dollar question, of course, is why? Well, basically all one really learns from the book is that there are mountains in Afghanistan, it's cold there, donkeys are vital for transporting goods, our "allies" and certain upper-echelon commanders were often incompetent, Bin Ladin was never caught or even observed, the media are morons, the mission failed, and that it would have succeeded had the NCOs been given free reign to take care of business. All this was common knowledge long before the book was written. In short, the book seriously lacks substantive detail. You get a lot of salad and breadsticks, but they forgot the steak. I believe the absence of critical details are relative to security concerns. You can't plan and execute a mission of this type and then plaster the details all over the internet. I understand this and certainly agree. The problem is that from a literary vantage point, detailed, core-related facts are necessary to enhance a book's informative value, but in this case, too many things had to remain under wraps. The end result is that the book becomes a dull, lifeless read. It probably never should have been writtten. I understand as well that some in the special ops community are not happy with Dalton for writing this.
In spite of the overall dismal content, I thoroughly enjoyed two aspects. First and foremost, the book describes well the extreme dedication, the granite-hard discipline, and the astounding abilities of Delta. These guys are the textbook definition of professional. Had they been allowed to take care of business, the Statue of Liberty would be holding Bin Ladin's head for all the world to see.
The other thing I really liked about the book deals exclusively with the author, the on-site Delta commander (aka Dalton Fury). Throughout the book, he honors and gives credit to his subordinates, especially the NCOs. Throughout the years, I've seen far too many officers who could not find their butts with both hands take personal credit for the successful and exemplary deeds of the NCOs and lower ranking troops while simultaneously denying these fine people the accolades they earned. It's refreshing as a Nordic stream to see an officer do the right thing and honor his troops.
Although for me the book fell way short of its promised glory, I did enjoy reading about the operators and their characters. If one were to toss in some significant details, this might just make a good movie.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A flop of a book: too bad.
Comment: Man, these Delta Force guys are some mean dudes: I'm glad they're on my side! As for the book "Kill bin Laden," I have seldom read a book so poorly written. So much so, that after two chapters, although I was looking forward to read what Major "Fury" had to say (I had seen him on 60 minutes), I gave up, and skipped read the rest of what passes for a book. It did not really matter since I knew the punch line: the mission failed, regardless of the bravery and dedication of the English and American participants.
But I don't buy the excuses for the failure, as it reminded me too much of Vietnam. Allow me to paraphrase our "distinguished" ex-Secretary of Defense, Dumsfeld, who once said, "We go to war with the army we have, not the army we want," and say, "We get led by the government we have, not the government we want."
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Comment: This was a great read - hard to put down. It's nice to know that we have guys like this watching our back. We learn about some elite capabilities of our forces but are reminded that we live in an imperfect world - tribal differences, alliances, government BS, etc.
All part of some higher powers' checks and balances, but painful to see when the goal is so close.
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