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A true account of a National Guard Special Forces team
in Afghanistan in the early years of the Afghanistan War. With
the call-sign of "BEAST 85" - they soon found themselves deep in a war
where beards, baseball caps and body armor were the uniform.
Fighting the enemy was not a problem for BEAST 85. Dealing with
the bureaucratic and risk-adverse higher headquarters was an
unexpected obstacle to mission accomplishment. The ODA operated
out of Firebase Gecko near Kandahar. Despite administrative
burdens (can you say "CONOP" and "battlespace clearance"?) placed on
its daily activities it stilled pursued the enemy. Click on the image to the
left for more information and to buy this book from Amazon.com. Book
review by SGC Group. Alan Caruba wrote the following
about the book: "At the forefront of American concerns is whether to
continue the war in Afghanistan, now in its eighth year. For a
powerful and disturbing insight, I recommend you read Hunting
al Qaeda ($17.99, Zenith Press, softcover). It is the story
of a National Guard Special Forces unit, Beast 85, a tight-knit group
of ten men, green berets, sent to Afghanistan shortly after 9/11 to
capture or kill al Qaeda and the Taliban. It is a story of
disillusionment because of the top-heavy, risk-averse command
structure of today’s army and how it became the second front for men
who actually captured a Taliban leader only to be told to release him!
The war has drawn on without victory because “victory” is not
attainable when it is a political issue, not a military objective."
http://bookviewsbyalancaruba.blogspot.com/2009/11/bookviews-by-alan-caruba.html
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