Victory At Tora Bora
by JohnHuang2
December 11, 2001
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"Their day of reckoning is at hand," said Marine spokesman Capt. Stewart Upton at Camp Rhino in southern Afghanistan, referring to the Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists.
Those were not empty words, either. Never has American resolve been more uncompromising, more unflinching.
For U.S. servicemen half a world away, "Let's Roll" is more than a phrase, it is a moto. The immortal words of hero Todd Beamer, who bravely led a passenger revolt aboard flight #93, may as well be the rallying code-name for their mission to rout out terrorists and bring justice to Osama Bin Laden.
And, as the noose grows tighter and tighter around al-Qaeda tonight, the moment of reckoning draws closer and closer. By late reports, anti-Taliban Freedom Fighters, backed by U.S. bombers, had flushed out that notorious vipers' nest at Tora Bora, a cave complex near Jalalabad where the terrorist mastermind and his henchmen had been holed up.
The 1,500 or so al-Qaeda terrorists who battled Afghan tribal forces along Tora Bora's rugged mountains are now completely encircled, all potential escape routes corked. Eastern Alliance soldiers have advanced into positions high above the Tora Bora valley, giving the good guys enormous strategic and tactical advantage over the terrorists, who are, by all accounts, now in full retreat. To the east, along Afghanistan's famously inhospitable border with Pakistan, reports are the Pakistanis have moved into position as many as two army divisions, backed by helicopter gun-ships, to ward off retreating enemy fighters. In short, Osama Bin Laden has no place to go.
To hear the media spin meisters tell it, the battle at Tora Bora exemplified the 'bravery', 'valor', and 'gallantry' -- not of the good guys, but of the enemy. To the media's quixotic romanticists, the clash symbolized the enemy's inexhaustible 'courage' and 'chivalry', even in the face of the gravest of dangers. In their starry-eyes, these 'fearless' 'lion-hearts' had more than earned the Croix de Guerre.
The media was again whistling in the dark.
Oh, how readily the hussies of Medialand, Osama's most die-hard loyalists, purposely unlearn the hard-won lessons of this war. Their subterfuge was beyond pathetic.
The battle at Tora Bora illustrated, not enemy valor, but enemy cowardice. The Wahabbi terrorists who had holed up in caves were not 'Holy Warriors', but diabolical fiends -- the putrid vestiges of a monstrous tyranny which, like a scourge of affliction, left only misery, death and destruction in its wake.
The cornered rats who cowered in caves were never 'soldiers,' but chickens -- fainthearted twerps who stooped to use their wives and children as shields.
The battle at Tora Bora was not a symbol of defiance, but of ignominious defeat -- of the enemy. It was the capstone of a war which will be remembered as the mightiest rout in the annals of military history. Tora Bora is -- and shall always remain -- a symbol of American triumph; the victory of American ingenuity, American resourcefulness, skill and tenacity. But, above all else, Tora Bora is an emblem of the bravery and valor of the indomitable men and women of our Armed Forces. They are the heroes of Operation Enduring Freedom.
They are -- and shall always remain -- unflinching, undaunted and, most of all, unbeatable.
God bless our President, God bless our troops, and God bless the United States of America!
My two cents..
"JohnHuang2" |
