Synopses & Reviews
When President Bush announced in a televised speech the week after September 11 that he wanted Osama bin Laden dead or alive, a grieving nation seeking justice and revenge roared in agreement. Two years later, as al Qaeda's associates mounted almost weekly attacks against U.S. interests and bin Laden still roamed the earth as a free man, Americans wondered why. With both the military and the media declaring the war in Afghanistan over and a resounding success, respected war correspondent Philip Smucker examines in Al Qaeda's Great Escape what kind of victory we can rightfully claim. Primarily focusing on the major battles of Tora Bora and Operation Anaconda, Smucker details how Osama bin Laden and scores of other highly trained al Qaeda fighters managed to slip unnoticed out of eastern Afghanistan, despite the presence of the overwhelming U.S. military power that successfully decimated the Taliban. To balance his reproach, Smucker also turns a critical eye on post-9/11 developments in his own profession. Smucker charges that Western media outlets, eager to satisfy their audience's thirst for revenge, began losing their grasp on journalistic objectivity while covering the military's pursuit of bin Laden. Blinding patriotism and an unhealthy reliance on the Pentagon's official press releases led the media to portray events that did not reflect reality on the ground in Afghanistan. Further, Smucker contends that to satisfy the press and the public's need for vengeance, the Bush administration aggressively pushed to achieve some early, highly visible successes, leading to a shortchanging of long-term strategy. Impatience at the top forced a rush into a war aimed primarily at regime change,but it left the U.S. military largely empty-handed when it came to capturing its al Qaeda prey. --------------------------------------------------------------------- GREAT ESCAPE UNVEILED: HOW OSAMA OUTSMARTED AMERICAN STRATEGISTS Why hasn't Osama bin Laden been brought to justice? What happened in Afghanistan after September 11th? In AL QAEDA'S GREAT ESCAPE: The Military and the Media on Terror's Trail (April 19, 2004; Brassey's, Inc.) Philip Smucker, a respected foreign correspondent who broke the story of Osama bin Laden's escape from Afghanistan in 2001, reveals how bin Laden and scores of other highly trained Al Qaeda fighters managed to slip unnoticed out of eastern Afghanistan, despite the presence of the overwhelming U.S. military power that helped oust the Taliban. Smucker explains how the Bush administration's push to achieve early and visible successes to satisfy the public's need for vengeance led to a shortchanging of long-term strategy. Impatience at the top from mostly civilian policymakers forced a rush into a war aimed primarily at regime change, but it left the U.S. military largely empty-handed when it came to capturing its Al Qaeda prey. In Al Qaeda's Great Escape, Smucker follows the escape route on foot, by jeep and by mule through dusty villages and frigid mountain passes, to tell an intriguing story of what really happened at the battle of Tora Bora and Operation Anaconda. He describes the heavy bombing of the Tora Bora redoubt beginning in October 2001, which served only to alienate the very tribesmen that the Pentagon had been hoping to win over. He details the behind-the-scenes deal making between Afghans and Arabs that had assisted bin Laden and his toplieutenants in their escapes. The book also includes interviews with U.S. forces and their commanders, as well as a first-ever published account and frank assessment of the successes and failures of the campaign from the top ground commander for U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan. The author documents the turn of events at Operation Anaconda in January and February of 2002 as the enemy learns to respect the power of the U.S. war machine. Nevertheless, a flawed battle plan, driven by strategists eager for quick results, contributes to the fresh escape of hundreds of Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters. Smucker charges that during our conflict in Afghanistan, western media outlets, eager to satisfy their audience's thirst for revenge and blinded by their own patriotic feelings, began losing their grasp on journalistic objectivity. Subject to an unhealthy reliance on the Pentagon's official press releases, the media portrayed events that did not reflect the reality on the ground in Afghanistan. Smucker witnessed his fellow colleagues as they often disregarded, manipulated and misinterpreted the information available to them. Al Qaeda's Great Escape: The Military and the Media on Terror's Trail provides both a powerful and needed account of the truth behind enemy lines and a stunning look at how the U.S. fell short of the victory claimed by both the media and the military. Smucker is much harsher on U.S. strategists and his fellow journalists than he is on the American fighting men and women in the field &this book is not for idealogues at either end of the spectrum, as the struggle for balance and perspective is visible on every page &leaving readers with a palpable sense of missed opportunity.--Publishers Weekly Smucker's narrative style makes you feel as if you were there &quite a picture of contemporary combat reporting. --Booklist ### About the Author PHILIP SMUCKER, who has written for Time, U.S. News & World Report, The Christian Science Monitor and The Daily Telegraph (London), broke the story of bin Laden's escape from Afghanistan in December 2001. He has spent the last eighteen years as an overseas reporter, covering conflicts in Burma, Cambodia, Haiti, Bosnia, Serbia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. In connection with his reporting in Afghanistan, Smucker appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, Chris Matthews's Hardball, ABC's Nightline, and CNN's Wolf Blitzer Reports, among others. Smucker resides in Cairo, Egypt.
Synopsis
Details how Osama bin Laden and other al Qaeda fighters slipped out of Afghanistan during the battles of Tora Bora and Operation Anaconda. The author also charges that Western media outlets, eager to satisfy their audiences thirst for revenge, lost their grasp on journalistic objectivity while covering bin Ladens pursuit. Blinding patriotism and reliance on Pentagon press releases led them to portray events not reflecting reality on the ground. He contends that to satisfy the press and the publics need for vengeance, the Bush administration pushed to achieve early, highly visible successes to the detriment of long-term strategy. Impatience at the top forced a rush into a war aimed primarily at “regime change,” which left the U.S. military largely empty-handed.