October 15, 2001

Commandos in harm's way in Afghanistan

Through A Glass Darkly, by John Myers, Internet Photojournalist

A rumor was making the rounds in Rockingham on Friday that gave me a chill when I heard it. American Special Forces troops had supposedly been captured by the Taliban forces in Afghanistan. I was greatly relieved when news reports proved that to be false.

While responsible journalists normally don't respond to or even repeat rumors, I think this one is worth a response. The commando troops in our Armed Forces are the best-trained fighters we have, and it's only when they are put in situations where they can't use their training that we are likely to ever hear such a chilling report.

I know of at least two such instances in our near past. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter authorized a rescue mission for our hostages being held in Iran, which was led by the newly formed Delta Force.

But after some bickering among the other Armed Forces about being left out of the glory, Carter ordered the Delta commander, Col. Charlie Beckwith, to use various elements of the Marines, Air Force and Navy along with his mostly Army Delta Force troopers.

This was a disaster waiting to happen. The pilots Beckwith's forces had trained with were not allowed to fly the mission. Instead, last-minute changes were made in aircraft and pilots, and I'm sure you recall the disaster at Desert One, the launching site in the desert from where the assault was to be made to rescue our hostages.

A collision between a loaded helicopter and a C-130 transport plane killed many good men and ended the abortive rescue mission.

Situation two of misguided leadership from on high costing many good men their lives came in 1993 in Mogadishu, Somalia. President Bill Clinton sent our forces into that chaotic African country with no clear mission on one of the "nation-building" ventures that his administration was fond of -- disaster number two in the making.

Early on in that campaign, the Army requested armored personnel carriers and tanks be sent in to protect their troops from the well-armed gangs that several warlords were using to terrorize the populace and fight for control of the country. Defense Secretary Les Aspin nixed that request, saying it made our troops look too "warlike" since they were there for "nation building," not to fight.

And then the mission changed, when Aspin, Clinton and cohorts decided it was time for our troops to become kidnappers and they were sent out to arrest a certain warlord who the administration had targeted.

The result was a shootout with Somalia machine-gunners against our helicopters and soldiers in humvees or on foot, and guess who got shot. It sure wasn't Aspin or Clinton, but 18 of our best-trained Special Forces and Delta Force commandos who paid with their lives.

Aspin was forced to resign, but I'm sure that was no comfort at all to the widows and children and loved ones in 18 Army families.

All that hopefully has nothing to do with the Allied armed forces that are currently in Afghanistan. And I say Allied, because there are already more than just American troops in the mountains of Aghanistan searching for the hole Osama bin Laden is hiding in.

There are at least three American units in Afghanistan (none of which has been identified by the Bush administration, but I feel sure all three are currently involved), the U.S. Army Special Forces, known as the Green Berets; the Delta Force, mostly Army and mostly former Green Berets; and the U.S. Navy SEALS, an acronym which stands for Sea, Air and Land, which are the three areas all SEALS are trained to be able to fight equally at home in. These three units, plus Marine Force Recon, who also may be in Afghanistan, are the most elite fighting men in our forces or any others in the world.

Also in Afghanistan with our commandos are at least two other allied units, British troops from the Special Air Service, or SAS; and Russian special forces units, known as Spetznaz. Both of these groups were already there when our commandos arrived Sept. 13, two days after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

The SAS are reportedly operating with uniforms and arms similar to Taliban soldiers, including long, bushy beards and headscarves, spooking around in the mountains like ghosts in the mists. Just what they were doing there prior to the Sept. 11 attacks is a mystery, but we presume it has something to do with overthrowing the Taliban.

And the Russian Spetznaz troops have been actively working with the Afghan resistance fighters to overthrow the Taliban ever since the Russian withdrawal from active fighting in Afghanistan in 1989.

These are the men who are the first to go into harm's way in the war on terrorism and who have already fired the first shots of that war. They are the tip of the sword that President George W. Bush is wielding along with the growing allied forces to eliminate terrorism.

How long will they be in harm's way? Until the work is finished. One retired Special Forces instructor was asked if these men could survive for weeks behind enemy lines. He laughed, and replied, "Weeks? You don't go behind enemy lines unless you know they might not come out of there for six, seven months." We may never hear what these men are doing, but we can be sure they do it well.

They deserve the prayers of a grateful nation, whether they are American, British or Russian, and I pray there will be no such news reports as the false rumor circulating that some had been captured.