THIS WEEK 60 MINUTES: DELTA FORCE DESCRIBES TORA BORA FAILURE
RERUN OF THEIR IRAN HOSTAGE FAILURE OR BUSH COVERUP?
By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER
This week I had the misfortune of watching the 60 minutes inteview with somone in disguise claiming to be the Delta Force commander during the "Keystone Cops" attempt to capture Osama Bin Laden at Tora Bora. As I work with Special Forces personnel daily and know Delta Force operatives, I find the representations made on 60 minutes utterly unbelievable.
The story, as told on 60 minutes, was spotty and filled with omissions. The general twist is that Delta was almost ready to capture Bin Laden and turned around and retreated because they were afraid they were outnumbered. They had 60 men.
Then a minute later, our disguised "Delta" representative told us that Bin Laden was seen immediately thereafter with 50 men. One minute, he has a thousand then its 50. I wasn’t aware that Special Forces cared to count, except for dead on the ground. None of this made any sense.
The primary impediment, we were told, were the Afghan allies that, we were told, seemed to actually support Bin Laden. This is a surprise? The warlord supporting the operation was known to be a Bin Laden follower. Did Delta fail to get a briefing on this?
Initial complaints brought forward where that Delta’s plans for Bin Laden’s "elimination" were repeatedly overruled "at the highest levels." Delta was forced to operate with a group of part time stragglers that eventually negotiated a truce with Bin Laden’s forces.
These orders came directly from Vice President Cheney, everyone knows this. Nobody asks why.
The commander admitted that he turned around and quit the mission when he may have been within 500 meters of Bin Laden. We were told that Bin Laden may have been wounded in subsequent bombing and then drove, yes, DROVE, up into the mountains then walked across into Pakistan.
We had 200 planes and an entire division in support and Bin Laden DROVE away.
What I ask is this: Why come forward now? Why admit to such horrific errors in both tactics, judgement and drive to complete a mission?
The guys I know would never have come home alive, much less gone on TV with such a lame excuse.
Please take the time to watch this, if you have not already: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/02/60minutes/main4494937.shtml
Billions of dollars spent, massive support available and an operation far more disasterous than the ill fated Iran hostage rescue was the result.
Americans died then and a president was humiliated.
Nobody died here. We are told, we simply went home when things got too tough.
I don’t believe a word of it.
Gordon Duff is a Marine combat veteran and regular contributor on politial and social issues.
Gordon Duff posted articles on VT from 2008 to 2022. He is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War. A disabled veteran, he worked on veterans and POW issues for decades.
Gordon is an accredited diplomat and is generally accepted as one of the top global intelligence specialists. He manages the world’s largest private intelligence organization and regularly consults with governments challenged by security issues.
Duff has traveled extensively, is published around the world, and is a regular guest on TV and radio in more than “several” countries. He is also a trained chef, wine enthusiast, avid motorcyclist, and gunsmith specializing in historical weapons and restoration. Business experience and interests are in energy and defense technology.
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