Rating: 
Summary: What else is misleading?
Review: I was willing to accept a lot of his facts up until I came across the author's glowing description of the Andy McNabb's SAS unit performance in Desert Storm. Moore's description is so far from the truth (3 died, 4 captured & tortured & one escaped) it made me wonder what else is misrepresented in this book.Overall details are skimpy. Some chapters are more detailed than others, possibly due to more research. While titled about Bin Laden, there really isn't much in this book about the hunt for him. The author's condescending attitude about all other service branches and general grade officers wears thin quickly. I think a far better written book will be written about special ops warfare in Afghanistan.
Rating: 
Summary: A great story lost
Review: After reading the book I must say I am disappointed. Mr. Moore wrote about true hero's only to have them colored by a soldier of fortune and mercenary named Keith Idema. This is an example of how to pillage a great story.
Rating: 
Summary: Worst book I have ever read zero starts
Review: Moore's book is not only inaccurate in title - there's almost nothing about Bin Laden or even the "hunt" for him - but it is UTTER trash. I can say this from a liberal or conservative standpoint. If garbage like this with an complete ignorance of AlQaida, Bin Laden, Afghanistan, American foreign policy, Islam, and Middle East politics seen through a constantly reoccurring (and irrelevant) obsession with the Vietnam War is your idea of a good read, go for it. Unless "green beret porn" and mindless patriotism (And I mean MINDLESS) is your preferred read, don't buy this book. It is as laughable as Pravda. Its full of worse than comic book violence, badly written battle stories, mixed metaphors, zero analysis, and sexist and racist slime. It is factually inaccurate in so many places I can't count. But the real horror of reading it (apart from cliches such as "send a message" every few pages) are the writing and literary gems. Such as "...one of the sergeants joked as he checked his magazine and made sure a round was chambered that LZ lovelace would hopefully not be as hot as Linda Lovelace, the star of Deep Throat."
"He was 38 y.o. with a Muslim full beard and piercing eyes."
"...some explosive device waiting to go postal on you."
"It was as if TIGER 01 had just hit a field goal to win the Super Bowl in overtime."
""I hate everybody 'cept maybe these little brown guys"" Young teen boys or grown men with no social life or education who have never left their town and sit online reading conspiracy theories in their bedrooms (in their parents' house) stuffed full of militaria will LOVE this.
Rating:
Summary: Book Review
Review: The book gives the reader a general understanding of how Army Special Forces were used in Afghanistan and a general understanding of the politics in the region. However, it is not very detailed. Depictions of battles and operations are very skim. No detailed descriptions of how units were deployed or maneuvered on the field. Because everything in the book is so general, many of the vignettes become repetitive and boring. Not for the military historian or for military personnel. This book seems oriented more towards the general public.
Rating:
Summary: Remember "Rashomon"
Review: If you remember "Rashomon," enough said. The "real" story (as if there were such a thing) remains to be told. The "good guys" will still be the good guys. But the most knowledgeable narrators, often lacking in Moore's second-hand account, eventually will give us a far more accurate and refined picture of how a comparatively few extraordinarily capable American soldiers (and CIA field operatives) toppled the monstrous Taliban tyranny while destroying Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
Rating:
Summary: Green Berets vs. the Taliban
Review: Robin Moore in a less than enthralling fashion documents the unconventional war fought between al-Qaida and the Taliban and the Northern Alliance bolstered by the Green Berets in Afghanistan. Moore devotes a chapter to each of the separate battles fought to liberate Afghanistan under Task Force Dagger, the code name for the Special Forces mission. Less than 100 American forces in total were inserted into the fray under the command of Colonel Mulholland. He orchestrated the actions of 12 man teams composed mainly of Green Berets. They essentially mobilized and organized the rag tag and scattered forces of the Northern Alliance. They were instrumental in directing precision air strikes against the enemy forces. Within short order the Taliban were expelled from Afghanistan. Moore praises and glorifies the bravery and military excellence of the Green Berets and rightly so. He speaks very highly of President Bush and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and their commitment to unconventional guerilla warfare. He bashes the conventional military men like Gen. Tommy Franks as lacking vision in their tactics. The most disturbing part of the book was the total insufficient amount of support both emotionally and monetarily given by the government to the families of the heroes who gave their health and lives to promote freedom in Afghanistan.
Rating:
Summary: Fiction under another name
Review: It seems that Robin Moore has been taken in by the convicted felon Idema. As a result, at least part of the book is nothing but fiction. Puts all of the book under a questionable light.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Sorry, but pretty much a waste of time and money. Disjointed, repetitive. Last section of book all fluff and filler. Writer denigrates virtually everyone involved in Afghanistan operations, except the Green Berets. Never misses a chance to say something nasty about non SOF personnel or organizations. He is very positive about President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld, but infers that Gen Tommy Franks is an ... I believe events have proven him incorrect about Franks, and history will prove his coverage of the conflict superfluous.
Rating: 
Summary: Educational and Humbling
Review: Mr. Moore has done a superb job in getting insiders access (or as much as an outsider could get) into the first war of the this century. His access is not with the policy makers in Washington, but with the close knit groups comprised of America's Special Forces. The story told is how less than 100 Special Operators were able to infiltrate Afghanistan and bring down the Taliban with in months. Told are the various stories and experiences of different groups of soldiers sent into hostile territory to work behind the scenes before the official "war" started. These men were "in country" with suitcases filled with US curreny (used to buy assistance) before much of the general public even had an idea that Osama Bin Laden was behind the attacks. They read like short stories, with all the excitement of a Clancy novel, but real. Mr. Moore has done a great job on putting a face to many of these unsung heroes who risk their lives without the knowledge of the public. He sheds light on many issues of the Afghanistan war, such as the death of Michael Spann (an execution), Johnny Lindh Walker (a conspirator against his own country), the tragic friendly fire accidents, and even the true feelings of many Special Forces soldiers of Geraldo Rivera. He also points out the hipocracy of many of the Taliban and Al Qaida, who are supposedly doing Allah's will. The question is raised though, is it his will to have them gang rape and murder not just reporters but their own people, including children? Mr. Moore also touches on the difficult situations the US soldiers were put in to ferret out the truth from Afghan tribal leaders who would use our forces for their benefit to wipe out competing factions that were not Taliban or Al Qaida. Overall, this is an excellent book that should be apart of any military library. It is an insiders account at how many of the new wars against groups of people, not countries, will be fought. It is also a humbling reflection on the prices many US soldiers and their families pay to fight for America's safety.
Rating:
Summary: Moore delivers more, and then some
Review: This is an excellent book, one that I think many years from now will still be referenced as providing a great insight on the beginning of the war on terror. The overriding thing that one gets from this book is an overwhelming appreciation for the special forces: their skills in combat and outside of combat, their intelligence and dogged persistence and their unmatched courage. The fact that they were able to work with the muj of the Northern Alliance, ferocious warriors in their own right, is a credit to the special forces ability to assimilate themselves into the culture of Afganistan. The fact that they were able to gain the respect of many muj cannot be overstated as a key point of importance in aiding the success of the operation. The description of the conflict between the regular armed forces and the special services and how, perhaps, bin Laden and Omar were inadvertedly permitted to flee, is frustrating but also educational as well. It also should remind anyone that speaking of "the armed services" as one vast monolith is pointless. This is a great book by an author, Robin Moore, than has proven himself to a skilled writer, fiercely devoted to the Green Berets that he has always written so fondly of.
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