First arrival on the Observation Post. I tell the prisoner where he is and who hes talking to. This scandal would tarnish General Dostums very realaccomplishment of being Americas most aggressive and stalwart allyagainst the Taliban and al Qaeda. The mystery of missing prisoners was never matched up to the careful medical records kept of each al Qaeda and Taliban detainee kept by doctors and local NGOs. Perhaps we really ought to think of the Star Wars icon as an. Yes, but the tagline is a bit of an exaggeration. It seems that the brutal warlord has engineered the biggest peaceful surrender in recent Afghan historymore than 5,000 Afghan Taliban fighters and foreign volunteers laid down their arms. The 12 Strong true story confirms that he had been given an administrative staff position in the Fifth Group Headquarters. Mitch Nelson in the film about a team of Green Berets on a strategic mission in Afghanistan in the days immediately following 9/11. Like in the 12 Strong movie, the real Horse Soldiers were able to liberate Afghanistan's fourth largest city, Mazar-i-Sharif, in just three weeks. The movie tells the hitherto little known story of a U.S. Army Special Forces unit sent on a dangerous mission into Afghanistan mere days after 9/11. Even the CIA was reticent to land paramilitaries and officers to set up the conditions for an Special Forces ODA to be inserted. I was asked to sit on the same row as the team during his funeral. America was fully committed to defeating the Taliban and ousting them from power. At eight that night, we pulled in to Shulgareh, which is the biggest town in the valley. The pilot asked us, Whats the effect [of the bomb attack on the truck]? We yell over the radio, We dont know! In the back, a doctor leans over a man with a smoke-blackened face, wild black hair, and an unkempt beard. The Americans, up on the ridge, are using GPS units to finalize coordinates. Later on he had a dark premonition. When noon comes and goes, I expect the order to fire. Twenty Urgan missiles point toward the village. DP hats, so I dig them out of my bag and pass them around. Were not about to stand up and watch whats going on. Almost immediately after the bombs exploded, the horses swept across the objectivethe enemy was so shell-shocked. However, the rugged Afghan terrain forced them to adopt the rudimentary practices of the Afghan horse soldiers. In response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, the elite U.S. Special Forces unit, Operational Detachment-Alpha 595 (ODA 595 for short), was one of three teams of Special Forces soldiers sent into Afghanistan. He refused to talk to his parents and he was takenback to our guesthouse for his protection. Its more like, I am coming to get youwhether I hit you is another story. Its Old World combat at its finest. Yes, and that's why Gen. Dostum kept the American soldiers back from the front lines at first. A crude videotape made by one of Dostums men shows a battle in the rolling hills of the Darra-e Suf, where the yellow grass contrasts with the deep blue sky. -BUILD Series. "They weirdly are a formidable force that will continue to fight, no matter what.". Pennington is portrayed by Michael Shannon in the movie. He freely admits that in two decades of war, abuses have been committed by the troops of every commander. This part of Afghanistan is ancient, arid, windblownand is the real cradle of its history and wealth. I target the third bunker. The idea that that Dostum would actually savethe day for an embattledAmerica is an irony that has not fully played out. The team cleared him for immediate re-attack, but the pilot radioed back that he had hung a bomba bomb had not released. Real Life Special Forces Heroes Helped Keep 12 Strong True To Life Green Berets work in secrecy, so only their first names can be used: Theres Andy, the slow-talking weapons expert who is never without his grenade launcher; back home, he keeps the guns in his collections loaded so they are ready when I am. Both he and Paul, a quiet, bespectacled warrant officer, have been in the unit 11 years. I am surprised, then, to see Dostum wrap his blue turban around his head and chin and stride into the village . Dating at least to the days of Genghis Khan, the violent game is not so much about scoring as it is about using every dirty trick possiblebeating, whipping, kickingto prevent the opposing team from scoring. Capt. In real life, they learned of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center over the truck's radio on their way back to the base. "We knew nothing about these guys," retired Lt. Gen. John F. Mulholland said. The two Afghan leaders study a map with Captain Mark, just in case air strikes are needed. Three hours later, I am awakened by a massive explosion a few yards from the houseanother near miss by a rocket fired from inside the fort. If the Taliban can rule successfully, let them. A year later, betrayed by his second in command, who had defected to the Taliban, Dostum fled to Turkey. 12 Strong, from Warner Bros. Pictures, will release on January 19, 2018. A bizarre story called The Convoy of Death surfaced and painted Dostum and the team in a negative light. (In his book Taliban, author Ahmed Rashid reports a tale he heard that Dostum once ordered his men to drag a thief behind a tank until all that was left was a bloody pulp of gore. They are men with wives, children, mortgages, bills. At a full gallop, its a smooth ride. War drama directed by Nicolai Fuglsig which is inspired by true events and is set days following 9/11 when a U.S. Special Forces team, led by their new Captain, Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth), is chosen to be the first U.S. troops sent into Afghanistan for an extremely dangerous mission. A small group of CIA that included Mike Spann, flew in to the Darra-e Suf the day before ODA 595 would land. The money was hardly enough for feeding my horses, Dostum says. At the end of the Soviet period Dostum had 45,000 troops with about half of them as village reserves. But when he smiles, he looks like a naughty 12-year-old. There was talk that the team might be split uprumors of differences with a commanding officer who didnt appreciate the traditional independence of the Green Berets. However, when the 2009 Horse Soldiers book was being written, Mark Nutsch had requested that his name be changed to protect his identity, as was the case with most of the other Horse Soldiers. They formed an alliance with Afghan rebels led by Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, played by Numan Acar. Hemsworth plays Capt. A man whois said by some journalists to define violence and treachery. True Story of 12 Strong: The Horse Soldiers - Average Joes Robert Young Pelton, all rights reserved. We pass the twisted, stripped wrecks of trucks and Toyotas. My attempts to convince the Afghans took place in a building in which men with dark beards sat in from of Tony Montana style palm tree sunset wall paper murals. On another truck are the seriously wounded. We were ready to throw down the mattress and settle in for the night when one of the security guards came up with a radio and said that Dostum needed someone to go up to the front to call in aircraft. As we approach the village, the men and boys are lined up in a perfect row a hundred yards long, waiting to greet Dostum. ", Yes. In 1996, when the Taliban rolled into Kabul, Dostum was forced to retreat to his stronghold in Mazar as the mullahs instituted their version of a pure Islamic state. Open your eyes! What made working with him particularly dangerous was that he was known for switching sides during several conflicts with Afghanistan. John, he says. -Horse Soldiers book, Yes. Somehow I make it across the open area. At its core, 12 Strong is not just a war movie; its a story about learning to respect the differences that separate us but also to embrace the qualities that unite us., Terms of Use At first he is hostile, like a kitten baring its claws. "When I went to Afghanistan, I reported to Lieutenant Colonel Max Bowers. Next door, in Dostums pink house, Mullah Faizal and Mullah Nuri sit on pillows in a small room. Lined up against a wall is the most pathetic display of humanity I have ever seen: the survivors of the bunker at Qala Jangi fortress. Accordingly, on 25 May 1997, Malik arrested Khan, handed him over and let the Taliban enter Mazar-e-Sharif, giving them control over most of northern Afghanistan. If the U.S. Special Forces team didnt work together with General Dostum and his militia, they would have had no chance against the tens of thousands of Taliban fighters. He points out that the word "Tiangi" actually means gap, so when they refer to the "Tiangi gap" in the movie, they're actually saying the gap, gap.Pennington said that with regard to the enemy vehicle (BM-21) launching rockets in and around the Tiangi, it did happen, several times. The prisoners were not properly searched by members of the Northern Alliance before they were crammed onto trucks and the troops had not realized the American Lindh was among them. There are 86 al Qaeda fighter in the basement, including John Walker Lindh. At first I thought, Why not let them rule? he says. According to historian and author Doug Stanton, who spent five years. His name, he says, is John Walker. Images of them doing this can be seen below and in Alex Quade's short documentary Horse Soldiers of 9/11. Commandeering whole villages, women in burkas with not even eyes showing, the stoning of a woman only for being caught in adultery, and the execution of a mother for daring to teach her daughters to read. In the morning Villagers come out in the crisp, golden light of morning, shivering and tired. "I created the face without the use of models or photos," said artist Douwe Blumberg, who designed the statue in collaboration with Mark Nutsch. Sidelined, and in exile in Turkey, In 2009, Dostum was begged by President Karzai to come back from exile to reelect him and again in 2014 Dostum engineered the victory ofPresidentGhani.only to go back into exile. He sits and makes small talk, then excuses himself to take a shower. Its a high, lonely place. At first, the planes wouldnt fly below 15,000 feetthe brass was worried about surface-to-air missilesso targeting was sketchy. If we had been there, Mikes death would not have happened., When they got word of the incident, the unit desperately wanted to get back to the prison. The Uzbeks and Hazara took to the mountains to escape the mechanized columns of the Taliban, Those among Dostums men who had remained in Afghanistan now became guerrilla fighters, moving on horseback holed up in the mountains under the command of his former number two La. He talked for half an hour. Support Dostum. Hemsworth and Negahban convey the tension between the two men brilliantly, and Negahban had this to say: This was the first film that truly shows what Afghans went through and how we united with them to achieve our goal.. Payback was certainly on the minds of some members of the team, while others focused primarily on the mission at hand. I figured I could whip my horse and run across an open area, Mike said. In the courtyard, a soft-eyed cow tries to eat spilled oats just beyond its reach. Dostum and Mitch Nelson remain close friends to this day. What your name? Mullah Faizal and Mullah Nuri refuse: They claim they dont know these people. The bread we ate was half-mixed with dirt. He went on to serve in the US Army, although he did not see combat until the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. They are direct military descendants of the Devils Brigade, a joint Canadian-American unit that fought in Italy during the Second World War. General Abdul Rashid Dostum and Captain Mark Nutsch achieved this unexpected success in November 2001 by breaking out of a rebel pocket of the Hindu Kush Mountains and seizing Mazar i Sharif,. John Walker Lindh was the second Irish American jihadi I had met who was trained in Bin Ladens camps. Mitch Nelson, scanned the dark landscape around the landing zone. As we explored the accuracy of 12 Strong, we discovered that a group of both currently-serving and retired U.S. special operators were involved in the making of the movie, mainly to make sure that the filmmakers represented soldiers and combat accurately. Mark Nutsch's team, ODA 595, was dropped in Dehi, roughly 100 miles from the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Outmanned, the Green Berets decided to move out on horseback. The rest mounted up and rode north. Their motto is To Free the Oppressedsomething they have done so far in this war with no civilian casualties, no blowback, and no regrets. Dozens of dark-eyed men in turbans scramble into battered Toyota pickup trucks and assorted four-wheel-drive vehicles. It was like that scene in Close Encounters where the aliens meet humans for the first time, one soldier says later. It was put on display across from Ground Zero in 2012. Rob Riggle, who portrays Lieutenant Colonel Max Bowers in the movie (the commander of the 3rd Battalion 5th Special Forces Group) served in Afghanistan as a Marine in 2001. Ironically, he actually served under the man he is portraying. They were all quitting demanding to be sent to other units rather than put up with new commander ideas on what soldiering was. Dostum, a former Communist general, had a reputation for violence. I asked him to describe it, just to be sure, says Will. The moments of shockIs this really happening? What we are doing now has not occurred since Vietnam. Its an irresistible story, made all the more so by a convincing rumor Ive been hearing since my arrival: that Dostum triumphed with a little help from his friendsspecifically, the Green Berets. "The threat of capture, torture was very real." We are alive thanks to you. As Dostum stands on the porch, looking at the place of his birth, he chokes up. However, at least 3 false starts delayed their deployment for almost a month. Now, in a scene that has been repeated over and over for the past 2,000 years, a warlord is arriving. The gear seemed to float from the landing site under a procession of brown blankets and turbans. General Dostum knew the area and how to reach the goal faster by cutting through the mountains and finally communicated this when he felt more trusting of Captain Nelson. Again he began integrating mujahideen into the political military ranks among them his number two against the Taliban Lal Kamadan. Same thing: We identity it and boom! "They were very mature, very family-orientated," Bob Pennington said. The doctor yells in halting English, What your name? He jabs at the half-conscious mans face. We jumped in the back of a truck and drove up to Dostums HQ here in this house.. The CIA had begun to work with Massouds people in October of 1999 hoping to pay him to kill Osama bin Laden. Anticipating more fireworks, I head there with him and move into another of his residences, a huge, high-walled compound that includes a mosque and, improbably, an unfinished health-club complex. Nelson commits to leading 595 into Afghanistan as word of the disastrous terrorist attacks that day breaks. They brought with them the courage of a whole army.. They have been blowing themselves up with grenades. Nuri has the black look of a Pashtun who has endured a lifetime of war. "The battle at the end was not depicted accurately," says the real Bob Pennington. The morning after Heavy Ds return from Kunduz, he greets me with a deep, booming Howareyou? Today, he tells me, he is eager for me to meet his trophy mullahs. This included using horses to navigate the mountainous region. The unexplained feeling of relief when you know your loved one is safe. When the pilot radioed that he needed to return to base, the other pilot swung into action. Americas finest were about to fight their first war on horseback in more than a hundred years. They send off steam in the cold night, their brown skin white with dust. Robert Young Pelton, all rights reserved, The joy was short-lived. One of the soldiers from the ODA 595 died later while serving in Iraq. Early in the afternoon on November 10, Dostum reached Mazar. There is aneed to never forget the sacrifices men make in war. He never sacrificed his men. How do you love your family and leave them to go to war? It took just a few months for American and Afghan forces to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan; thus ousting them from power. Power is not given to anyone forever. He confesses that he had worried at first how the Americans would handle Afghan warfare: It was cold; the food was bad. This story needed to be shared with the rest of the country. They sit patiently for hours, clutching tiny pieces of paper, seeking his aid. Some are in pieces; others have been flattened by tank treads. Dostums men load RPGs and check their ammo drums. They told us, If Dostum wants to go to Kabul, you are going with him. ), Commander Abdul Karim Fakir, who was in charge of the fortress while Dostum was in Kunduz, had worked with the Green Berets since they landed in Afghanistan. Back in 2002 and 2003 the film and book industry were not interested in books or movies about Afghanistan. He ended up in the Takhar Province, in the northeastern part of the country. Some stayed behind to handle logistics and supplies. Most of the fallen look as if they were killed instantly. I soon learn that yesterday some 400 foreign Taliban prisoners overpowered their guards, broke into arsenals, and took over part of the fortress. This was a guy we considered part of our unit, says Mark. The pilots, however, could not lock in on the laser-sighting device that the team was using to identify the target. Late in the afternoon, a convoy of mud-spattered off-road vehicles pulls up, and a dozen dusty Americans in tan chocolate chip camo climb out. The enemy was 700 meters out and moving quickly. One key point noted repeatedly (and military spouses already know this!) Outnumbered by enemy fighters 5,000 to 1, the men were also in extreme danger due to the huge bounties placed on their lives by the Taliban. is the manner in which military members tend to downplay their service or push aside thanks, rarely focusing on themselves, but on their team or country as a whole. In a village on the outskirts of Balkh, the convoy rumbles to a halt near an ancient castle that is now a rounded mound of tan mud. (19 Dec 2001) 1. One Leadership Skill That Turned 12 'Horse Soldiers' Into An Elite When I look at the terrible conditions and the predicament that Walker is in, I have to ask him if this is what he expected. '12 Strong' battles for hearts and minds - Boston Herald The mission stopped being a secret on November 16, 2001, a mere two months after 9/11. Military historians have called it one of the most successful unconventional warfare campaigns in U.S. history. Is Captain Mitch Nelson still alive? He brings the mullahs along, to show them the havoc incited by their foreign volunteers. He rose through the ranks quickly becoming a paratrooper in 1973, an armored unit in 1978 and Battalion 734 KhAD by 1983. The rest of the time they travel. When the regime fell in 1992, three years after the Soviets departed, Dostum fought alongside the mujahidin and helped the Northern Alliances legendary Ahmad Shah Massoud battle the fundamentalist Pashtun forces of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and gain control of the capital. Of course, war is cruel and brutal; any person who has ever read a single page of history understands the unfortunate necessity and commonality of war in all cultures, in all countries around . 2018 Robert Young Pelton, all rights reserved, Copyright 2013 DPx Gear, All Rights Reserved, ious article:Finding Bergdahl The Final Chapter, article:Erik Prince An American Commando In Exile, The Hack Part Two: The Hunt for Clinton Dirt, The Hack Part Three: Deception and Deceit, The Hack Part One The Attack On America, The Story of How Robert Young Pelton Created DPx Gear, Erik Prince An American Commando In Exile, General Dostum and 12 Strong: THE LEGEND OF HEAVY D AND THE BOYS. Like in the film (available to watch here), at first they tried giving him horse feed but General Dostum wasn't impressed. The men who first defended this post with me are all dead now. We fought for an idea, says Nuri. More than 400 prisoners are said to have died; I count only about 50 bodies in the courtyard. He would take a village by getting the mounted guys up close. I was at the prison in Sheberghan when they unloaded the trucks and watched the Red Cross medics count the dead and note the wounded. Yes. "And to me, that was a plus when you got saddled with a mission that was going to be as complex as this one."
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