p. 76-77 "There was another intriguing option, and we liked it enough to plan it out. What about going in the back door, across the 14,000 foot mountains on the Afghan-Pakistan border? What if several teams could insert safely by helicopter into Pakistan, on the far side of the highest Tora Bora peaks. They would have bottled oxygen and acclimate themselves as they ascended even higher, and once they crested the peaks and found any sign of al Qaeda, they would be in business.
The commandos would own the high ground and could accurately target bunkers and cave openings with lasers for US warplanes to strike them with relative impunity.
A tactical plan drawn up by the Delta experts is rarely denied, and in fact I cannot remember anyone ever saying no once Delta determined what it needed to do to accomplish its assigned mission. This one worked its way up through our various commanders, but somewhere way, way above us, it was denied. We would not be allowed to infiltrate through Pakistan.
Any plan has negatives, including this one. Just re-supplying such recon teams with water, ammunition, and radio batteries would have been a tall order. That did not mean, however, that we should not do it. We were Delta and we could overcome such things. Having Delta guarding the far side of the mountain passes, closing the ring, would have made a huge difference. But our plan was shot down.
p. 78 "the air fleet was being downsized in a strange attempt to fool the terrorists.
"Ashley (Delta Force Squadron Commander of Fury's team) wanted to make those possible exit routes even more dangerous by dropping some CBU-89 Gator mines into the passes. The Gators would spread a minefield that would both deny enemy foot soldiers their escape routes and also knock out vehicles, leaving the enemy trapped and shaping the battlefield more to our liking.
Even this logical request was disapproved at some higher level, most likely even above the four-stars at CENTCOM.
p. 210-215 December 12, 2001 An alleged al Qaeda surrender
Haji Zaman Ghamshareek " Pashtun warlord who controlled Jalalabad and was one of the senior Afghan commanders at Tora Bora. He later fled the country and was on the run when this book was written.
MSS Grinch " Mission Support Site under the command of Sergeant Major Jim code named Grinch. The mission consisted of 25 American and British commandos.
"The (local) commander said that al Qaeda had thrown in the towel! A full surrender of all al Qaeda forces was about to take place!
As Jim's fury grew, the local commander raised Zaman on his radio, and the warlord himself issued an order that the foreign commandos were not to proceed any farther into the mountains.
˜Whatever it takes,' Zaman said in Pashto. ˜Under no circumstances are the Americans allowed to attack al Qaeda. We must see the negotiations through.'
"Jim knew the surrender gambit was nonsense, and said so. He responded that he had his own orders and intended to see them through"Within twenty minutes after hearing Zaman insist that Americans would not be allowed to take another step, Jim and MSS Grinch began humping up the ridgeline.
They had covered only about fifty meters when Zaman's men appeared on the high ground and leveled their weapons- eighty AK-47s- at the commandos" the odds in a fire fight were probably about even" but getting into a shootout with your supposed allies was not the most diplomatic of moves. So MSS Grinch had little choice but to hold in place and let the cease fire situation play out a little more. An hour passed uneventfully except for the commandos stewing about being held back.
A few minutes after 6:00 AM, Zaman arrived with another dozen of his fighters" he took full credit for arranging the surrender"
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