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Good point, and here are some other red flags pointing out why this article is fiction.

1. "This is no war for Special Operations," one officer said

Nobody actually in the U.S. military would even think that, never mind say it. In any context.

2."The Rangers' parachute jump took place only after an Army Pathfinder team—a specialized unit that usually works behind enemy lines—had been inserted into the area and had confirmed that the airfield was clear of Taliban forces."

This is controversial?!?! Try standard operating procedure. We learned in WWII the importance of putting scouts on the ground before inserting a large number of troops by parachute.

3. "Why would you film it? I'm a big fan of keeping things secret—and this was being driven by public opinion."

Such a big fan of secrecy that he chooses to blab to some lying POS reporter. Crappy source.

4. "They operated strictly in secret," Bowden wrote. "You'd meet this guy hanging out at a bar around Bragg..."

Amazingly, all that secrecy is now in the past, as many members of Delta Force currently deployed in unknown locations are calling all their buds to fill them in on how screwed up their last mission was. Nice try Seymour.

5. "The mission was initiated by sixteen AC-130 gunships, which poured thousands of rounds into the surrounding area..."

Considering we only have 21 in the whole Air Force, and most of those remain in the U.S., I find it absolutely AMAZING we put 16 of them over a single compound. Not to mention that 16 AC-130's would lay down such a carpet of lead the guys on the ground would need a week with heavy equipment just to unbury the target compound.

6. "It was like an ambush. The Taliban were firing light arms and either R.P.G.s"—rocket-propelled grenades—"or mortars." The chaos was terrifying. "

Light arms and RPG's shot at night by non-NVG equipped Taliban against a "100 soldier" Delta Force "squadron", would be like a few mosquitoes on a moose. To imply that this was something men trained to the level of Delta Force commandoes couldn't handle is idiocy.

7. "Don't put us in an environment we weren't prepared for."

Apparently, the author would have us believe Delta Force isn't prepared to raid enemy compounds at night. THAT'S THEIR WHOLE F*#^$ING JOB.

8. "On Sunday, October 21st, the day after the raids, the London Sunday Telegraph reported that the United States had requested the immediate assignment to Afghanistan of the entire regiment of Britain's élite commando units, the Special Air Service..."

Gee, after-action reports weren't even in the system, and we already decided we needed to call the SAS to the rescue. Could it be, that just maybe, we'd already requested the SAS troops. Besides, I thought "military sources" had already determined that "this is no war for Special Forces."

Bottomline. The article smells worse than the Taliban, and is less truthful. This guy is nothing but a washed up loser, trying to make one last headline.

Thanks for the outstanding feedback. You seem to know a good deal more about the military than I do. I could only spot the obvious but it raised a big red flag.

Could you do me a favor and respond to my military question here?

Shalom.

I think your evidence is good that Hersh may have made up this story or that he has a source (in a Congressional oversight committee) that's civilian and critical of the war on terrorism. But this is the sort of "fiction" that can and should be quashed immediately and decisively -- not debated in the media and FR. Myers's post-operation wording was, to say the least, semantic obfuscation. If he told the truth, he appeared to be lying -- or, at least, parsing the meaning of "is." This is a very important matter and deserves to be settled decisively. If Hersh is lying, as I believe, the lie can be exposed by the Secretary of Defense and the President demanding the names, ranks, serial numbers, and kind of medial treatment given to any Delta member during or after that operation. It's very unhealthy to allow Hersh and his supporters to argue that these are merely conflicting claims and Hersh's view is valid until proven wrong. Such an approach encourages the critical media to spread more disinformation in the guise of "sources."

5. "The mission was initiated by sixteen AC-130 gunships, which poured thousands of rounds into the surrounding area..." Considering we only have 21 in the whole Air Force, and most of those remain in the U.S., I find it absolutely AMAZING we put 16 of them over a single compound. Not to mention that 16 AC-130's would lay down such a carpet of lead the guys on the ground would need a week with heavy equipment just to unbury the target compound.

I walked through an area in Grenada that AC-130s had "sanitized." You know those shakes them make at gyms where they take alfalfa and put it in a blender then squeeze it out? The stuff that's left behind, that ground up fiber? That's what a section of jungle a hundred yards wide and deep looked like after Specter had finished with it.

There's several items in the article that lead me to believe it's crap.

"They operated strictly in secret," Bowden wrote. "You'd meet this guy hanging out at a bar around Bragg..."

If they are so secret, how could Bowden write his book? My theory is that Delta is actually made of humans. And they probably passed there concerns up the chain -- they weren't exactly happy about Steele (I don't remember the rank) in Bowden's book either. What's the big deal? I would hope the Pentagon re-thinks things all the time, even when things aren't going badly.