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You're getting fixated on the specifics of Tora Bora. Zoom out and look at the other big mountain operations over the following 15 years; you'll hear similar ex
by whakim 5y ago
You're getting fixated on the specifics of Tora Bora. Zoom out and look at the other big mountain operations over the following 15 years; you'll hear similar excuses "we needed this technology/we needed more men at this spot." With that context it's easy to see that Tora Bora probably wouldn't have been a success even with GATOR mines or more men.
- dragontamer 5y agoWe are literally talking about a battle that scared Osama Bin Laden so much that he wrote his last will and testament during the battle. Bin Laden thought he was going to die in that battle. We were close: just a little bit more would have done it. Sure, we didn't know how close we were until afterwards. But when you consider what we did accomplish with just 100 boots on the ground + air support, it really makes you wonder what we could have done with 800 or 2000 men instead.
- whakim 5y agoI'm not sure this conversation is going anywhere because (again, with context you'd realize this) narrowly missing the target by a day or two was par for the course with these types of engagements. If you're interested in learning more, I'd strongly recommend Wes Morgan's excellent book "The Hardest Place."