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WHATEVER THE POLITICAL PERSUASION, AS CITIZENS, WE ARE ENTITLED TO =
THE TRUTH. TO ME THIS ARTICLE RINGS TRUE AS OPPPOSED TO IRRESPONSIBLE =
DEMAGOGUERY.YOU MAKE YOUR OWN JUDGEMENT. MY TAKE: IN TIMES OF WAR =
DEMAGOGUERY ABOUT BATTLEFIELD TACTICS AND USE OF FORCES IS OUT OF =
BOUNDS.
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November 1, 2004=20
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COMMENTARY =20
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Setting the Record Straight on Tora Bora
By MICHAEL DELONG
November 1, 2004; Page A15
In recent days, John Kerry has repeatedly accused President Bush =
of having "outsourced the job" in Tora Bora to kill Osama bin Laden. =
Knight Ridder reporters concluded that in Tora Bora we "relied on three =
Afghan warlords" to catch bin Laden, "ignored" warnings from our own =
officers about incorrect methodology, and that we also relied on the =
Afghan warlords as our blocking forces, thus letting more than 1,000 al =
Qaeda fighters escape. As the No. 2 general at CentCom in charge of the =
Afghanistan War, I can say with certainty that all of these allegations =
are incorrect. And it is past time someone set the record straight on =
what really happened in Tora Bora.
* * *
We strategized Tora Bora in essentially the same way we =
strategized the rest of the Afghanistan war: by using a combination of =
our elite Special Forces and CIA Agents, embedded with native Afghan =
troops. We chose this approach in waging the Afghan war for many =
reasons: it minimized the number of U.S. troops put in harm's way; it =
drew on the strengths of the native Afghans who had been fighting in =
that terrain for years and who were adept at traversing the mountainous =
terrain on horseback; and it helped avoid the same mistake the Soviets =
made in Afghanistan. They had opted for a large troop presence and ended =
up with thousands of their troops killed.
The fact that we took Afghanistan in a matter of weeks -- a feat =
which tens of thousands of Soviet troops were unable to accomplish in a =
matter of years -- proves that our strategy was exactly the right =
approach for Afghanistan. This was essentially the same strategy we =
employed at Tora Bora. Thus, to say that we "outsourced" the job when we =
relied primarily on American Special Forces and American CIA agents is =
absurd.
This is especially the case in Tora Bora. I said "essentially" the =
same strategy because in Tora Bora we did shift tactics. Instead of =
letting the Afghan warlords have command (as they had for the rest of =
the Afghan war), we put U.S. Special Forces in command. These Special =
Forces conceived and executed the attack on Tora Bora, while the Afghan =
warlords took orders from us. We never "relied" on them: we were 100% in =
charge. Few people realize that Tora Bora began as a ground war, led by =
U.S. troops; bombing only followed later. Despite what some have said, =
no caves were too deep for our reach. We bombed nonstop for three weeks. =
We received many leads on bin Laden's whereabouts, and had U.S. troops =
rush in only to find dry holes.
The Knight Ridder reporters claim that we let 1,200 U.S. Marines =
sit idly by in an air base 80 miles away from Tora Bora while the =
Afghans did the fighting for us. This is also not the case. Gen. Tommy =
Franks, working with the Special Forces commander and consulting with =
the secretary of defense, all agreed that tactically it would be best =
not to use those 1,200 troops. It was a deliberate decision, because =
using them would have meant killing hundreds -- if not thousands -- of =
Afghan civilians, hostile to a heavy U.S. presence. A strong Afghan =
warlord presence was essential. We could have sent more U.S. forces in =
and killed everybody -- but we may very well still not have gotten bin =
Laden, and we would have definitely forever put the South at odds with =
us. Indeed, if we pursued such a strategy, the ramifications would be so =
great that it is quite possible there would be no stable Afghan =
government today.
The same holds true for the border region between Afghanistan and =
Pakistan, where bin Laden likely escaped (if indeed he was there to =
begin with). The Knight Ridder reporters claim that we relied on the =
Afghan warlords to block the border for us. Again, this is incorrect. We =
relied on the Pakistani Frontier Forces -- once again, because we had =
to. The U.S. could not go in to the border region with a heavier =
presence without sparking a war with the locals; indeed, the regular =
Pakistani army could not even go in there without sparking a war. The =
border area had to be blocked by Pakistani Frontier Forces if we didn't =
want to risk murdering thousands of civilians and making Pakistani =
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's position untenable with his people. =
Such actions would have meant losing a strong U.S. ally in Gen. =
Musharraf, an ally who has facilitated the killing or capturing of the =
largest percentage of al Qaeda in the world since 9/11.
Finally, most people fail to realize that it is quite possible =
that bin Laden was never in Tora Bora to begin with. There exists no =
concrete intel to prove that he was there at the time. Most importantly, =
capturing bin Laden was not our No. 1 priority. Our mission was to =
topple the Taliban regime and rid Afghanistan of al Qaeda. If we caught =
bin Laden it would have been a major plus -- but it was not our No. 1 =
objective.
One must remember that Tora Bora was a military operation and its =
execution was a tactical decision, which means that it was never run by =
the president, and never should have been -- which makes this one less =
reason to hold the president directly accountable on this issue. If =
anyone should be accountable, it should be us. And we are more than =
satisfied with the way we handled the Afghan war -- including Tora Bora. =
If we had to do it again, we'd do it exactly the same way.
Lt. Gen. Michael "Rifle" DeLong, former deputy commander of =
CentCom, is the author, with Noah Lukeman, of "Inside Centcom: The =
Unvarnished Truth About the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq," just =
published by Regnery.
URL for this article:
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http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109927307621260831,00.html
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