Caught in the middle of the Helmand river, the fleeing Taliban were paddling their boat back to shore for dear life. Smoke from the ambush they had just sprung on American special forces still hung in the air, but their attention was fixed on the two helicopter gunships that had appeared above them as their leader, the tallest man in the group, struggled to pull what appeared to be a burqa over his head. Strike force: An Apache gunship on patrol in Afghanistan As the boat reached the shore, Captain Larry Staley tilted the nose of the lead Apache gunship...