Al Qaeda’s Great Escape: The Military and the Media on Terrors Trail
July 30th, 2010 | 
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Details how Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda fighters slipped out of Afghanistan during the battles of Tora Bora and Operation Anaconda. The author also charges that Western media outlets, keen to satisfy their audience’s thirst for revenge, lost their grasp on journalistic objectivity while covering bin Laden’s pursuit. Blinding patriotism and reliance on Pentagon press releases led them to described events not reflecting reality on the ground. He contends tha… More >>
Al Qaeda’s Fantastic Escape: The Military and the Media on Terrors Trail
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I have to admit being somewhat disappointed by “Al Qaeda’s Fantastic Escape.” The fundamentals of the book are sound, as Philip Smucker and his translator Lutfullah Mashal trail Afghan tribal leaders and American soldiers through the mountains of Afghanistan, roundly condemning the American aversion to committing ground troops to the conflict and giving a jaundiced view of the members of the media covering the events, including himself.
Unfortunately, the book suffers from numerous obvious mistakes, which have persisted into the paperback edition. Some of these are gramatical or spelling mistakes (one does not “caste” suspicion or blame, as the book does on two separate occasions) and some may simply be typos (the NBC correspondent Mike Taibbi is referred to as “Mike Tiabbi” and there is no F-17 aircraft in the U.S. Air Force arsenal). But, there is at least one factual error as Smucker gets Air Force Pararescue Jumper (PJ) Jason Cunningham’s name incorrect, referring to him as “P.J. Cunningham” instead. The fact that SrA Cunningham was killed in action during Operation Anaconda makes this error even more upsetting. I can know how the mistake was made, but that doesn’t make it any less sloppy.
By themselves, none of these errors are serious, but there are quite a few of them, and all of them are the sort that should have been caught by a fact check or a decent editor. That so many foolish mistakes made their way into the final draft of the text forces one to wonder what other, less obvious errors slipped through. To me, these errors nearly call the credibility of the entire book into question, even if I happen to agree with many of Smucker’s conclusions.
But, the book is quite a page turner and seems to get things right at least on the broad-strokes level. It’s not a terrible book, but I would be very wary of using it as a single source of information.
Rating: 2 / 5
For those of you who may of read “Not a Excellent Day to Die”, “Mission, Men and Me” or “Kill Bin Laden..this book provides a “back tale” to all three well written books. The author is a seasoned journalist and casts a journalistic approach to the book in terms of “back tale” situations with the run up to the pending battle of Tora Bora..and the escape of Bin Laden from those mountains into Pakistan.
The book moves on to the alleged escape of many of the foreign fighters and Taliban commander elements down through Paktia Province through Gardez and into the mountains..where in March of 2002, the US undertook Operation Anaconda.
In small, the dependence on the Afghan warlords who were only dedicated on one element…and that was money severely impacted both the operations at Tora Bora and Operation Anaconda. The strategic decisions were not done from the ground commander(s), but rather from afar..and as such, we lost the opportunity to perhaps kill many HVT personnel, including Bin Laden. This is not to say many “terrible guys” were sent to Allah, but if the mission were to hunt and kill Bin Ladin, the the mission mush be categories as less than successful.
But, much praise and thanks to the soldiers on the ground amongst many in the Afghan community they did not know, nor trust…with their lives..risking all they had to do the mission.
A excellent read providing a journalist approach…just visualize reports running around the base of Tora Bora (to include Afghan warlord commanders so pleased to have blond blue eye gals riding on their lap as they drove to the battlefield TOC). In some ways, comical..and in other ways rather disappointing. So it goes!
Paktia/2003
Rating: 5 / 5
Philip Smucker’s account of the Battle at Tora Bora is the culmination of much journalistic and personal bravery. Surprisingly, what happened at the battle itself (when Osama Bin Laden is said to have escaped, navigating through the mountains) is not the most intriguing part of Smucker’s tale. Rather, it is Smucker’s commitment to seeking out the heart of the tale, and delivering it in a thought-provoking, purposeful manner. All around, a very excellent read.
Rating: 5 / 5
This is a journalist account of the eastern quadrant of Afghanistan during the intial operations of the invasion. Included are detailed discussions of Tora Bora and Shah-i-knot (AKA Anaconda). A couple things emerge from this account:
1) Pakistan did nothing to help the US anti-insurgent operations, and it was probably stupid to rely on them to seal their border. This permitted insurgents simple escape routes (an underground railroad) whenever operations soured, and made conditions for a revival of the insurgency (which we’re facing now).
2) The chief of special forces and the top military officer on the ground in Afghanistan did not consider capturing OBL to be a top priority. His orders were to overthrow the Taliban and weaken support elements like Al Queda. Getting OBL was a secondary consideration.
3) Tactical operations had small troop formations. Anaconda was the largest operation and used about 500 American troops, plus 700 Afghans who disappeared after being strafed in a friendly fire incident. Al Queda had about 1,000 men on the mountain. That our forces were not decimated is a testament to their skill and courage.
4) Al Queda was pervasive around Jalalabad, the author never seems to have distress finding AQ members or sympathizers with whom to start distress. AQ seemed to go in small units- 2 – 5 men, and could have been controlled by a strong military presence. It’s hardly suprising that guerillas go in small units, but why was there no strategy for containment? The US had no option because of their small force (they had maybe two dozen men on the ground at Tora Bora, our best shot at getting OBL). The fact that the US had no such presence backs up Scheuer and his contentions about the overall competence of command.
5) The CIA seems a bit goofy. In an anecdote Smucker talks about how his guide was courted by the CIA to work undercover. The CIA backed off when they realized he worked with a journalist- a fact no one seemed to try to hide. So the CIA basically made him an offer without doing even a preliminary check on what he was currently doing. The journalists were a huge boon to the economy of that region so basically everyone there was working for the media, a warlord, Al Queda, or some combination of the three. You’d reckon the CIA might want to know whose side their informer was on?
6) The Tora Bora operations were wasted from the beginning because Tommy Franks and Dick Cheney announced the operations in advance on public TV. Kind of hard to surprise anyone doing that…
Quick read to get nitty gritty on operations most people have already forgotten, but which were in retrospect our best chance to capture Bin Laden.
Rating: 4 / 5
An awesome, fascinating tale with an miserable ending. Mr. Smucker’s book, a high-stakes account from the trenches, rightly focuses on the crucial few weeks in the Afghan campaign when Pentagon and White House officials had bin Laden in their sights. The uncalculated plot of attack at Tora Bora (and beyond) should have given us all honest warning of the blunders that lay ahead for the Bush team. One reason we never found out was due to shoddy reporting driven by Pentagon spin doctors, aka Rummy and company. Read this book and bear witness to the indecision, the blind faith in our so-called Afghan “allies” and the unconvincing cover up of bin Laden’s escape. Bush’s security team has failed the American public and brought shame to the treasured institution of the US military, but it all started in Afghanistan. Required reading for the general public and military buffs the world over. Mr. Smucker calls it down the middle. Alas, he leaves the last choice to the reader. You’re Fired, RUMMY!!!
Rating: 5 / 5