Battle CENTCOM

After the Al Qaida attacks of September 11, 2001, America quickly toppled the Taliban regime that had sheltered the terrorist organization in Afghanistan. But, believing the war to be all but over, U.S. Central Command refused to commit the forces required to achieve total victory, while planning an unnecessary assault on Iraq. Instead, the war's biggest battle -- one that could have broken Al Qaida and captured Osama bin Laden -- was waged by a hodge-podge of units thrown together at the last moment. On March 2, 2002, America's first major battle of the 21st century began in the Shahikot Valley, where young, untested U.S. soldiers paid a bloody price for strategic, higher-level miscalculations. Journalist eyewitness Naylor describes how, denied the extra infantry, artillery, and attack helicopters with which they had trained, these troops nevertheless proved their worth in brutal combat and prevented an American military disaster.

The most complete and accurate account of this thirteen-day firefight waged in mountainous terrain nearly two miles above sea level. They describe how allied troops fought a fierce and well-entrenched enemy to a standstill, close to an old Soviet battlefield, and then drove them completely out of Afghanistan. Grau and Billingsley's account also highlights problems encountered in Anaconda and the lessons we should learn from their in-depth study. The Army and Air Force operated under conflicting views regarding the appropriate application of Close Air Support, and airpower both crippled and aided the overall effort. In addition, severe shortages of transport, attack helicopters, and artillery hampered the effort, while the acquisition and timely sharing of intelligence barely occurred at all and coalition relations frayed under the intense pressures of combat.

Includes maps of: Region of Lake George, 1762; Expansion of the Anzio Beachhead; Omaha Beach, 6 June 1944; North Burma Operations, 9 January-9 April 1944; Afghanistan during the Opening Stages of Enduring Freedom; Shahi Khot - Operation Anaconda, 3 March 2002; Takur Ghar in Relation to Objective Remington; Takur Ghar.