Kill Bin Laden: A Delta Force Commander's Account of the Hunt for the World's Most Wanted Man

Written by a recent Delta retiree, the book was constructed to document efforts to find and kill Usama bin Laden. It was written prior to the actual killing of UBL by Navy SEALs and from the author's perspective, that of a tactical operator. Sometimes he besmirched decisions made above his pay grade--typical for someone who's not been to high levels of command. Sometimes, the action gets very, very tactical...to me that's boring. He obviously loved his job and those with whom he fought for his country; thus the book.

It is not too often that a member of Delta comes out with a "tell all" recounting of a particular operation. However, this is one where it provides significant value-added to the body of work on what really happened at Tora Bora, in the mountains of Afghanistan.
Dalton Fury, writing under a pseudonym, is a recently retired member of Delta, and offered this account after he felt the story had not been truly articulated to the public, and moreover to give proper credence to the herculean effort that Delta, US Special Forces and others underwent, and almost succeeded in capturing/killing Bin Laden.
Of interest is the close cooperation/lack of cooperation the mujahedin provided in the effort, and the constraints that were placed on the US show more special operators during the struggle. The author rightly suggests that it is highly likely that the Afghan fighters were complicit in allowing UBL to escape. What we dont know however, is how close Delta came in killing Bin Laden. What is known, and Fury does a great job of recounting the battle, is Delta operated under horrible conditions, in terrain not well suited for any type of protracted combat, but yet still managed to inflict significant casualties on Al Qaida, and if the story is true, prompted Bin Laden to allow his forces to surrender.
Stories like these are not often told so close to the actual event, which is too bad, because these types of stories need to provide some context to the reporting from safe distances, which often dont capture the true essence of the actions. A great read, and a valuable addition to the complex story of the early days of US operations in Afghanistan. show less

2.75 stars. Serviceable writing, unfortunately though not surprisingly marred by lots of chest pounding and dick swinging, less actual content than one might wish. If you read my reviews you know it’s hard for me to give any combat vet book fewer than three stars, except in the case of truly bad books, because of my respect for what they’ve done; this is no exception. It’s an okayish listen and read available at this writing on scribd.

Let me first say, I really enjoy Dalton Fury's books, but this one took some perseverance, to finish. He definitely captured the essence, of the futility Delta Force, had to contend with, trying to find, capture or kill Usama bin Laden. Delta Force is an elite fighting force. Trained to execute a mission under any conditions. This book is about the mission in Afghanistan's snowed-covered Tora Bora Mountains, in Dec 2001, only three months after America was attacked on Sept 11. They were forced Into a supporting role with the Afghan mujahideen. The arduous conditions and magnitude of trying to support themselves in the mountains is a feat in itself. I think the story could have been told in a lot less pages. Give it a try and read for show more yourself what it was like. show less