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Eric Haney, a retired command sergeant major of the U.S. Army, was a founding member of Delta Force, the military's elite covert counter-terrorist unit. Q: What's your assessment of the war in Iraq? A: Utter debacle. But it had to be from the very first.

CBS) Shortly after 9/11, the Pentagon ordered a top secret team of American commandos into Afghanistan with a single, simple order: kill Osama bin Laden. It was America's best chance to eliminate the leader of al Qaeda. The inside story of exactly what happened in that mission, and how close it came to its objective has never been told until now. The man you are about to meet was the officer in command, leading a team from the U.S. Army's mysterious Delta Force - a unit so secret, it's often said Delta doesn't exist. But you are about to see...

(CBS) Shortly after 9/11, the Pentagon ordered a top secret team of American commandos into Afghanistan with a single, simple order: kill Osama bin Laden. It was America's best chance to eliminate the leader of al Qaeda. The inside story of exactly what happened in that mission, and how close it came to its objective has never been told until now.

Despite the lies told by the press and by John Kerry, special forces did in fact try to kill Bin Laden at Tora Bora. The biggest challenge in the operation was in fact the terrain. Afghan fighters who were to actually lead the charge ended up turning on the US forces during a cease fire they had with al Qaeda. Then there is the big issue as told by the officer,

We are asking prayer for safety,well-being and release of the Korean hostages from Taliban terrorists. 2-3 of the hostages have been murdered! Negotiations for release are political, so the process is slow and painful. Please pray for families involved waiting for their loved ones. Thank You for your prayerful support. Hebrews 13:3..Remember the prisoners as if chained with them, and those who are mistreated, since you yourselves are in the body also.

When Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld turned to special operations forces to take the lead in the hunt for Osama bin Laden five years ago, he no doubt had in mind the kind of kill-or-capture operation mounted to go after Pancho Villa, or, more recently, the Balkans' war criminals. The problem was that those manhunts came up empty. Finding a single individual intent on hiding, it turns out, is a very tall order, even for a superpower. In a rare interview, Lt. Gen. Dell Dailey, who has helped lead the hunt for al Qaeda's founder, explained why. "Our manhunting skills are...

I heard Brian Williams compare suicide bombers to US special forces. I was listening to Hugh Hewitt's Radio Show. He is on vaction, his host was someone nameed Jed or Jess I heard this man on other shows like Rush, Hannity etc. He said I am going to break when I come back I will tell you something that is unbelieveible and until I heard it I could not believe it. After the break he mad e a few comments on the Theorists already saying the Bob Threat was Bush engineered. Then said just hours Chris Matthews was talking to...

WASHINGTON, D.C., APRIL 11, 1980, NOON The meeting began with Jimmy Carter's announcement: “Gentlemen, I want you to know that I am seriously considering an attempt to rescue the hostages.” Hamilton Jordan, the White House chief of staff, knew immediately that the president had made a decision. Planning and practice for a rescue mission had been going on in secret for five months, but it had always been regarded as the last resort, and ever since the November 4 embassy takeover, the White House had made every effort to avoid it. As the president launched into a list of detailed...

Eric Haney, a retired command sergeant major of the U.S. Army, was a founding member of Delta Force, the military's elite covert counter-terrorist unit. He culled his experiences for "Inside Delta Force" (Delta; $14), a memoir rich with harrowing stories, though in an interview, Haney declines with a shrug to estimate the number of times he was almost killed. (Perhaps the most high-profile incident that almost claimed his life was the 1980 failed rescue of the hostages in Iran.) Today, he's doing nothing nearly as dangerous: He serves as an executive producer and technical adviser for "The Unit," CBS' new...

Last night on CBS, new show about a Delta Force counter-terrorism unit. Depicts both the comradeship of special forces guys and their family relationships. Good actors who fit right in.

This monthly thread is dedicated to Freepers who also enjoy online gaming. Post here to find fellow gamers, arrange online games, or share screen shots, reviews, helps and tips. Separate Ping lists are created and maintained for each game.Official game site links are available for most games listed. We currently have 92 gamers playing over 95 different games. Top Games: Battlefield/Battlefield 2 (19 gamers) World Of Warcraft (16 gamers) Unreal Tournament (9 gamers) City Of Heroes (10 gamers)

If you are a Freeper, and also like online gaming, post here to find fellow gamers, share screen shots, reviews, helps, and tips. Gamer tables are updated and published weekly. We currently have 86 gamers playing over 60 different games. Top Games: Battlefield/Battlefield 2 (19 gamers) World Of Warcraft (15 gamers) Unreal Tournament (9 gamers) City Of Heroes (10 gamers)

2 teams of Delta Force operators have been dropped into New Orleans. Hopefully this will make the MSM news. Sounds like the heavy guns have come to help.

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2005 – America today honored eight American servicemen who died trying to rescue American hostages in Iran 25 years ago. A ceremony here, on the 25th anniversary of their deaths, brought together the families of those killed, their comrades and those servicemembers who carry on the special operations mission. In November 1'7' Iranian militants took 53 Americans in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran hostage. It was the most egregious violation of the principles of diplomacy in the history of statecraft, L. Bruce Laingen, the highest-ranking American taken hostage, said at today's ceremony. On April 25, 1'80, the...

Sadly, watching the end of Hardball tonight, I just realized that today is the 25th anniversary of Operation Eagle Claw, the heroic, but doomed mission to rescue the American hostages held for over a year in the US embassy in Tehran.

WASHINGTON - It was a quarter-century ago this month, April 24, 1980, that the secret American raid into Iran to rescue 53 hostages from the U.S. Embassy in Tehran collapsed in disaster on a make-shift airstrip in the middle of the Iranian desert. The embarrassingly public failure of the raid, code-named Operation Eagle Claw, was a low-water mark for the Carter administration and for our military as well, still struggling to get back on its feet in the wake of the debacle in Vietnam just five years before. Eight American servicemen died when the raid came apart with the fiery...

A colleague had a chance to hear the new Chief of Staff of the Army (GEN Schoomaker, Shinseki's replacement) speak (I'm not sure of the forum). He summarized the talk into a memo, which was distributed to the chain. Sorry about some of the jargon. I don't know it all myself. I can't vouch for the accuracy of the review, other than to say the source is credible. So inaccuracies, if any, are mistranscriptions, and not fabrications. Here is what it said: Subject: New CSA's Comments Some of the highlights of what the CSA said: 1. He had no idea...

·Delta Force caught in ferocious Taliban ambush ·Debacle prompted review of war tactics The Pentagon's only publicly announced commando raid on Taliban positions, hailed as a success and beamed around the world in grainy video pictures only hours after it took place, actually went badly wrong, seriously injuring American soldiers, sources in Pakistan said yesterday. The debacle, which saw US Delta Force soldiers come under intense fire from the Taliban, prompted a review of special forces operations in Afghanistan and seems to have led to a delay in similar behind-the-lines operations. The ferocity of the Taliban resistance caught US ...

What happened when the Special Forces landed in Afghanistan? Early on the morning of Saturday, October 20th, more than a hundred Army Rangers parachuted into a Taliban-held airbase sixty miles southwest of Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan. A military cameraman videotaped the action with the aid of a night-vision lens, and his grainy, green-tinted footage of determined commandos and billowing parachutes dominated the television news that night. The same morning, a second Special Operations unit, made up largely of Rangers and a reinforced Delta Force squadron, struck at a complex outside Kandahar which included a house used by Mullah Omar, the ...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

The Washington Times www.washingtontimes.com Elite veterans prowl PakistanBy Rowan ScarboroughTHE WASHINGTON TIMESPublished August 9, 2004 The United States, on the hunt for Osama bin Laden, is augmenting counterterror operations in Pakistan with scores of former special-operations warriors who work for the CIA and other agencies under contract.     Thousands of U.S. troops are openly fighting in Afghanistan along the Pakistan border. The stated U.S. policy, however, is that no American troops are inside Pakistan pursuing bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorists or advising local troops.     The reality is there are "a load of contracts" with U.S. agencies attracting veterans of Special...

An elite U.S. Special Forces team rescued three Italians and one Polish hostage from pro-Saddam kidnappers yesterday in a daring commando raid south of Baghdad. In a dramatic development seen as a huge boost to coalition forces, military officials said a special hostage-rescue team from the legendary Delta Force carried out the carefully choreographed mission without firing a shot. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, said suspects "involved in the kidnapping" also were arrested at the undisclosed hideout. The three Italian hostages, Umberto Cupertino, Maurizio Agliana and Salvatore Stefio, were security guards employed by an American firm...

BAGHDAD - With attention focused on the seven soldiers charged with abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison, U.S. military and intelligence officials familiar with the situation tell NBC News the Army’s elite Delta Force is now the subject of a Pentagon inspector general investigation into abuse against detainees. The target is a top-secret site near Baghdad’s airport. The battlefield interrogation facility known as the “BIF” is pictured in satellite photos. According to two top U.S. government sources, it is the scene of the most egregious violations of the Geneva Conventions in all of Iraq’s prisons. A place where the normal...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

The secret war On the North-West Frontier, soldiers are trying to tighten the noose around bin Laden's forces. But in Europe and America, there is no clear enemy to fight - yet every expert knows that a terrorist atrocity is coming Mark Townsend in Tangier, John Hooper in Madrid, Greg Bearup in Peshawar, Paul Harris in Washington, Peter Beaumont in Baghdad, Antony Barnett, Martin Bright, Jason Burke and Nick Pelham in London Sunday March 21, 2004 The Observer There were shadows in the rocks. As the 12 US Special Forces soldiers arrived at a remote mountain region in eastern Afghanistan...

WASHINGTON - The Pakistani military was pounding a mud-walled fortress last night where a "very senior" Al Qaeda leader - possibly Osama Bin Laden's No. 2 - was holding out against a Pakistani siege. American intelligence officials were cautious about who might be inside the mountain stronghold, but Pakistani sources said they believe it was Bin Laden's top general, Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri, and he may be wounded. Al-Zawahiri, nearly always at Bin Laden's side during his taunting videotapes, helped create Al Qaeda and was considered the brains behind its operations. His capture or death would be a major blow to...

The top secret international commando group which tracked down Saddam Hussein is being transferred from Iraq to Afghanistan to spearhead the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Task Force 121, a 1400-strong unit drawn from the U.S. army's Delta Force, Rangers and Green Berets, U.S. navy Seals, and attached elements of British and Australian SAS and Canadian special forces, will be used as the cutting edge of an offensive aimed at netting or killing top al Qaeda fugitives. The unit, which may be renamed before deploying on the Afghan side of the frontier with Pakistan's lawless tribal lands, is moving in...

Many readers complain that I never find one good thing to say about President George W. Bush. Well, this is your lucky day. I agree with President Bush in his double denunciation of remarks made by Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin. “He doesn’t reflect my point of view or the point of view of this administration,” the president told reporters in the Rose Garden, having earlier dumped on Boykin during his visit to Malaysia. Boykin’s supporters immediately accused the president of turning his back on an American hero and a true Christian warrior. But they are wrong. A 30-year veteran, Boykin...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

Berlin, Aug 7, IRNA -- Twelve CIA-agents are currently said to be on an "unclear mission" in Germany according to local intelligence circles, the "Bild" newspaper said Thursday in an unconfirmed report. The agents are said to belong to an "elite unit" such as the "Delta Force" which has been "lent" to the CIA for the current mission in Germany. "German security experts assume that the special agents might have received the order to track down the homes of possible islamic terrorists and their supporters in Germany," the paper reported. The 12-man team is also said to be in posession...

A covert Army Special Forces unit, operating in Iraq since before the war began in March, has played a dominant but ultimately unsuccessful role in the Bush administration's stymied hunt for weapons of mass destruction, according to military and intelligence sources in Baghdad and Washington. Task Force 20, whose existence and mission are classified, is drawn from the elite Army special mission units known popularly as Delta Force. It sent a stream of initially promising reports to a limited circle of planners and policymakers in Washington pointing to the possibility of weapons finds. The reports helped feed the optimism expressed...

Rumsfeld Selects Retired General as Army Chief of Staff By Robert Burns The Associated Press Tuesday, June 10, 2003; 4:40 PM Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld reached into the ranks of retired officers to pick a successor to departing Army chief of staff Gen. Eric Shinseki, officials said Tuesday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Rumsfeld chose Peter J. Schoomaker, who retired from the Army after commanding the U.S. Special Operations Command from 1997-2000.

For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.   Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today!     US Special Forces (Click on the graphics for links to sources and additional information) Part IV - A: DELTA FORCE Part IV - B: 160th SOAR"These are guys that are putting their lives on the line, taking on some very serious bad guys. The less anyone knows about the unit, the better." — Former Delta Force soldier quoted in Stars and Stripes. WHO ARE THEY: The super-secret...

Dear Lord, There's a young man far from home, called to serve his nation in time of war; sent to defend our freedom on some distant foreign shore. We pray You keep him safe, we pray You keep him strong, we pray You send him safely home ... for he's been away so long. There's a young woman far from home, serving her nation with pride. Her step is strong, her step is sure, there is courage in every stride. We pray You keep her safe, we pray You keep her strong, we pray You send her safely home...

<p>April 23, 2003 -- BAGHDAD - They're tough, seasoned and lethal when they need to be - and they're working secretly in Baghdad, masking their identity by wearing U.S. Army uniforms and traveling in U.S. military vehicles.</p> <p>Fortunately, they're on our side. They're members of Britain's elite, highly secretive SAS, the special operations group that inspired the Army's counter-terrorist Delta Force.</p>

<p>KUWAIT CITY - As U.S. air and ground forces blast into Baghdad, dozens of CIA paramilitaries and thousands of U.S. Special Operations forces are waging a hidden war in Iraq's shadows.</p> <p>Under the cover of darkness, they're hunting and assassinating Baath Party members and Republican Guard leaders, rigging selected bridges with explosives and detonating them when suspected Iraqi leaders drive by, and using viruses to disable computers at military command centers, power plants and telephone networks.</p>

As U.S. air and ground forces blast into Baghdad, dozens of CIA paramilitaries and thousands of U.S. special operations troops are waging a hidden war in Iraq's shadows. Under the cover of darkness, they're hunting and assassinating Baath Party members and Republican Guard leaders, rigging selected bridges to explode when suspected Iraqi leaders drive by in armored vehicles, and using viruses to disable computers at military command centers, power plants and telephone networks. Their efforts, largely off-camera, burst into view with the dramatic rescue last week of Pfc. Jessica Lynch from a hospital in Nasiriyah where she was being held...

Top Stories - AFP British, US special forces enter Baghdad during blackout: British press Thu Apr 3,11:23 PM ET LONDON (AFP) - US and British special forces slipped into Baghdad during a blackout and have begun covert operations including an assessment of the threat posed by Iraq (news - web sites)'s elite Republican Guard, the British press said. The electricity cut at around 9:00 pm local time on Thursday coincided with a major incursion by SAS and American special forces personnel into the Iraqi capital, newspapers in London said. The Guardian, quoting military sources in Qatar, said that dozens of...

Three Iraqis who aided the CIA in the March 20 attempt by the United States to kill Iraqi President Saddam Hussein were executed this week by Iraqi counterintelligence, former and serving U.S. officials told United Press International. A super-secret U.S. intelligence operation, working in Baghdad for weeks before the war, provided the crucial targeting data for the attack on Saddam and his sons, launched in an effort to pre-empt a full-scale war, these sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The war had been scheduled to start Friday, March 21, U.S. officials told UPI. But -- after getting intelligence that...

THE people of Iraq awoke to a newly named international airport yesterday after an audacious night assault by coalition forces wrested control of the civilian and military complex from Republican Guard units. After British SAS and US Delta Force special operations teams spent Thursday morning making covert reconnaissance patrols of the airport’s outer perimeter they pulled back in preparation for a fearsome dusk assault that could be clearly heard ten miles away in central Baghdad. The attack on Saddam International Airport began when tanks of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division punched through its outer wall, rumbling past a towering portrait...

It is dark and Mike Smith's clothing is wet. Mike Smith is an athlete, an elite athlete in fact. He is a triathlete, has done Ironman several times, a couple adventure races and even run the Marathon Des Sables in Morocco- a 152 mile running race through the Sahara done in stages. Mike has some college, is gifted in foreign languages, reads a lot and has an amazing memory for details. He enjoys travel. He is a quiet guy but a very good athlete. Mike's friends say he has a natural toughness. He can't spend as much time training for...

<p>March 31, 2003 -- HAVE faith in the American soldier. Have particular faith in our special operations forces, the shadow warriors who are the most effective fighting men in history.</p> <p>Over the weekend, special ops troops leading Kurdish freedom fighters overran a vast terrorist base near Iraq's border with Iran.</p>

WASHINGTON -- In the largest operation in their storied history, elite special operations forces are waging a shadow war in Iraq whose success could determine whether coalition forces can topple the regime of Saddam Hussein quickly or whether the conflict will drag on for months, say military officials and specialists. The military's ''silent warriors,'' as President Bush called them yesterday, were involved in the first operations of the war and are likely to conduct some of the last, including helping spearhead the birth of new civil institutions in a post-Hussein Iraq. Details of their activities in recent weeks -- from...

TWO hundred SAS, Delta Force and CIA paramilitaries were last night behind enemy lines in Baghdad — and about to slit the throat of Saddam’s regime. Battle commanders have ruled out a full advance into the capital to avoid bloody street-fighting and heavy civilian casualties. Instead the Special Forces teams — also including SAS squads from Australia — will become the enemy within. More: http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2003140559,00.html

New York - A senior Iraqi official tipped off the CIA, telling Washington where Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would be sleeping on the eve of the war, Newsweek magazine reports. After months of US intelligence groundwork, the magazine quoted an unnamed "knowledgeable intelligence source" as saying Delta Force, the secret commando group, "managed to tap Saddam's underground phone lines in Baghdad. "The real break came when the CIA managed to recruit an asset, a senior Iraqi official in a position to know Saddam's greatest vulnerability: where he sleeps each night," the news weekly added in its report due on news...

Iraq's inhospitable western desert is the scene of a campaign without the presence of cameras or media pools. The battle here is astride the crucial road from Jordan to Baghdad The western desert is a flat land of compacted sand, sharp flints and pavements of limestone and basalt. Its occupants are a few Bedouin encampments and the occasional dirty towns that grew up around the pump stations on the now abandoned Baghdad-Haifa oil pipeline. Now a road follows that pipeline, the main strategic route connecting Baghdad with Jordan to the west. And along this road a very different kind of...

Secret op targeted Saddam By Richard Sale, UPI Intelligence Correspondent From the International Desk Published 3/21/2003 5:34 PM View printer-friendly version A top-secret U.S. intelligence operation, working in Baghdad weeks before the war, provided the crucial targeting information for the attack on Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, which may have killed Saddam's son Qusay, administration officials said. The highly clandestine targeting effort, directed at top Iraq leaders, involved specialized CIA and military teams under command of the CIA, these sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. A senior, former covert operative of the CIA told United Press International Friday that the...

ELITE teams of US Delta Force commandos have been inside Iraq for weeks and are preparing to descend on Baghdad with the objective of capturing or killing President Saddam Hussein, US defence officials said yesterday. Small, highly mobile units picked from the US Army’s most revered and secretive fighting force have been assigned a key mission of the war: to hunt down Saddam, his two sons and at least a “dirty dozen” of Iraq’s top military and civilian leaders. The Delta Force, the US equivalent of the British SAS, has 306 men. It has been training for several years with...

ELITE teams of US Delta Force commandos have been inside Iraq for weeks and are preparing to descend on Baghdad with the objective of capturing or killing President Saddam Hussein, US defence officials said yesterday. Small, highly mobile units picked from the US Army’s most revered and secretive fighting force have been assigned a key mission of the war: to hunt down Saddam, his two sons and at least a “dirty dozen” of Iraq’s top military and civilian leaders. The Delta Force, the US equivalent of the British SAS, has 306 men. It has been training for several years with...