They were fighting in a forest, and in West Germany, the skies in late November are overcast more often than not (I have lived there), so close air support might not have been all that effective.
As the article points out, however, there were options other than simply staying there.
In his book "A Bright Shining Lie", Neil Sheehan made reference to several battles during WWII that were completely unnecessary; he cited Peleliu, Tarawa, and Cape Gloucester. The intelligence about the sites had been incorrect and the errors were not discovered until the battles had commenced or after their completion. Interestingly, he wrote, "But in the end, the victory redeemed them all." (In other words, as long as we won the war, we would simply justify the loss of American lives as being somehow necessary for the greater cause of the American victory at the end.)
I've read several articles about the Hurtgen Forest fight; I know that there are tours in Germany where one can see the battlefield (and pull shrapnel from the trees). But to Neil Sheehan's list, I would add the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest.