Hunting Al Qaeda: A Take-No-Prisoners Account of Terror, Adventure, and Disillusionment

In April 2002, Special Forces Team 2085 of the Virginia National Guard were ""ripped from their lives"" and deployed to Afghanistan to aid in the hunt for the remnants of al Qaeda and their Taliban allies. Over the course of their six-month tour, they mounted 45 missions, captured three high-value targets and destroyed 79,000 pounds of weapons and ammunition. This volume by team members ""Red"" and ""Captain,"" however, focuses more on the story of their disillusionment than on their military successes. Frustrated that Special Forces troops ""were being demoralized and squandered"" by career-minded officers, they conclude that ""our army is a wasteful, immobile, risk-averse outfit, whose purpose is simply to 'do time.'"" This, of course, is the same army that routed the Taliban government in one month and toppled Saddam Hussein in 21 days. The account is rambling, often indecipherable and occasionally gratuitous-as when one of the authors refers to 9/11: ""I remember the day well."" Don't we all? Sometimes, it pays to remain anonymous. Other than the fact that it airs ""a lot of dirty laundry,"" there's not much to recommend this book.