Last night I watched the movie, "12 Strong", which is loosely based on the real life story of the first US Special Forces sent into Afghanistan after 9/11. It's a pretty good movie, recommended (although the unrealistic scenes of shooting from horseback were cringe-worthy).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0791T5DTV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_d_asin_title_o00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It's especially poignant to hear them talk about eradicating the Taliban in light of current events.
@BassWrangler IIRC,retired SF MSG Billy Waugh was working for the CIA then,and was the team leader. I believe he was in his late 60's or early 70's,and has been getting shot up since the early 1960's. He is still alive and kicking,and still refusing to talk to the media.
I first met Billy on Okinawa around 1966,and was warned to be aware of any "good deal" he offered you because you were likely to get your ass shot off in some remote area where you will never be found. In fact,some people even advised me to "scream like a woman and run for your life!"
He is the guy that dreamed up the midnight halo parachute jump into Laos along the Ho Chi Mihn Trail by a recon team because ever other method that had been tried in that target had gotten shot out in less than a day. I was even friends with a couple of the people who volunteered,and to this very day I can't understand why they volunteered for it. Both were and are very intelligent,rational men.
Night parachute drop into the jungle in an area TOTALLY controlled by the NVA??????
I wouldn't have volunteered for that if you had pointed a gun at me.
Billy was/is what you might call optimistic,as well as totally freaking fearless.
I have GOT to watch this show!
BTW,I have seen a photo of him sitting on a horse in the Afghanistan mountains,but he was unidentified in the photo. Can't remember where it was published at this late date,but it a mainstream media outfit that published it.
Thanks for the tip!
UPDATE!
I just watched the clip and read about the movie,and it is about the first official SF team to go into Afghanistan. Billy Waugh and his team were all retired SF people,working for the CIA,and they established the contacts necessary for active duty teams to go in.