Product Description
Command refused to commit the forces required to achieve total victory in Afghanistan. Instead, they delegated responsibility for fighting the war's biggest battle-one that could have broken Al Qaeda and captured Osama bin Laden-to a hodge-podge of units thrown together at the last moment.

At dawn on March 2, 2002, America's first major battle of the 21st century began. Over 200 soldiers of the 101st Airborne and 10th Mountain Divisions flew into Afghanistan's Shahikot valley-and into the mouth of a buzz saw. They were about to pay a bloody price for strategic, higher-level miscalculations that underestimated the enemy's strength and willingness to fight.

Now, award-winning journalist Sean Naylor, an eyewitness to the battle, details the failures of military intelligence and planning, and vividly portrays the astonishing heroism of these young, untested U.S. soldiers. Denied the extra infantry, artillery, and attack helicopters with which they trained to go to war, these troops nevertheless proved their worth in brutal combat and-along with the exceptional daring of a small team of U.S. commandos-prevented an American military disaster.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 101 reviews)

Exceptional story

This was an exceptional read. While reading through the story, it becomes easy to draw conclusions as to who failed the Soldiers on that field of battle. Unwise restrictions from General (Ret) Franks level to the equally unwise command relationship problems. Should be mandatory reading for all senior military officers. I would ask that we never repeat the mistakes here.
August 30, 2008

Interesting report on the first major battle in Afghanistan

Unlike some of those who paid and gave this book bad reviews, I had the foresight to check it out at the library instead. I must say, I am impressed.

This book (written by Army Times correspondent Sean Naylor) is basically split into two parts: the first revolves around the planning and politics involved in a major operation such as Anaconda; the second focuses on the operation itself.

I find the book to be very interesting and well-written. Some may be put off by the large amount of acronyms present, and the continuos discussion of military bureacracy involved. My advice: hold strong until you get to the second half, it picks up a lot. Still, for those interesting in the whole deal, it's worth the read. And for those who get bored by endless walls of text, there's quite a few very good pictures in the middle. Definitely recommended for anyone interesting in the early days of the Afghanistan war.
August 03, 2008

Lessons in command and leadership

Before I read this book, I was able to talk to one of the book's central figures. The book is well-researched and objectively written. The critical elements of command, control, and communication are evident, as well as leadership issues, which I believe (from talking to others who have participated in operations in Iraq as recently as 2007) are still not as well managed as they might/should be. The feeling of being "in the action" is portrayed very well, and the book should be read and analyzed by military students, and by anyone who wants a better understanding of the results of excellent leadership, as well as the consequences of less-than-ideal performance of critical duties.
July 25, 2008

Get through the first half to the second half

This book is in two halves. The first half is hard to get through -- it's a catalogue of the people and planning that went into this military operation. It probably could have been done better, but it is worth plowing through in order to get to the second half, which is outstanding. It's the story of how many things went wrong -- and how a few things went right -- in a battle with al Qaeda that the U.S. did everything it could to lose. You come away with huge respect for the soldiers and midlevel officers involved, and a lot of doubts about the top leadership.
May 22, 2008

Too Many Cooks in The Kitchen

In early March 2002, operation Anaconda in the Shah-i-Khot mountains in Afghanistan became a clusterf*ck before the first shot was fired thanks to Mr. Donald Rumsfeld's reductionist philosophy of warfare.

Most people know Anaconda from the fate of Navy SEAL Neil Roberts, who was reported to have fallen from a Chinook helicopter on top of Takur Ghar. Roberts either willingly or unwillingly disembarked, only to find himself alone fighting a group of Al Qaeda/Taliban fighters, and was ultimately captured and executed.

The first section of the book was filled with detailed operation plans which can easily confuse any reader like a blind lesbian in a fish market. There are too many characters from the various divisions of the military and too many acronyms to follow. Perhaps the Author's intent was to demonstrate the confusion that led to the unclear chain of command resulting in numerous blunders and unnecessary casualties during Operation Anaconda.

Most of the rest of the book was focused on what happened on the Takur Ghar peak and the rescue operation that followed, reading like a novel.

Anaconda was badly mismanaged because of too many cooks in the kitchen, and a chef in Mr. Rumsfeld who was too focused on the preparations to attack Iraq.

Mr. Sean Naylor, a senior writer for the Army Times and a veteran journalist having covered the Soviet war in Afghanistan, Somalia, Haiti, the Balkans, spent many months in Afghanistan and a few days in the Shahikot Valley during the run-up to Operation Anaconda (source: Mr. Naylor's web site). Mr. Naylor's impressive credentials and his firsthand experience in the planning phase of Anaconda qualified him as a supreme candidate in piecing together the story of this operation, and "Not A Good Day To Die" is nothing short of a masterpiece.
May 11, 2008

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