"They are splendid in every way"

I let this news item pass this weekend without commenting on it.  A team of four Navy SEALS on a mission in the mountains of Afghanistan was surrounded by a large number of Taliban and pinned down by heavy fire.  A squad of 16 special forces troops was sent in to rescue the SEALS, but all perished when their approaching Chinook helicopter was shot down by the Taliban.  One SEAL managed to evade capture and was taken in by a local, who then contacted American forces and turned the SEAL over to them.

The loss of life related to this incident, bolstered by the fact that the US military subsequently flooded the area with hundreds of troops, has led to quite a bit of speculation regarding the original mission of the SEAL team.  Specifically, many are wondering if the SEALS were on a recon mission to confirm the presence of a "high-profile" target, perhaps Mullah Omar or Osama Bin Laden himself.

Michelle Malkin reports today that the bodies of all three SEALS that were killed in combat have now been recovered.  The Navy says "no way" to stories that surfaced last week claiming that one of the SEALS had been captured and beheaded by the Taliban.  Each of the SEALS fought to the death.  Michelle's entry also includes links to several moving tributes to the downed fighters.

And don't miss Wretchard's essay about the mission, a one-two punch that lands squarely on Osama Bin Laden's thoroughly discredited description of American military forces as "paper tigers."  These men exemplify what is great about America - a compassionate nation, but one that will not back down in the face of an aggressive enemy.  I have no doubt that Islamic terrorists will learn this lesson the hard way, just as so many have before.

Despite the bloviations of the Left about how we can't fight a war on two fronts and that our President is a blithering idiot who couldn't strategize his way out of a wet paper bag, I have every confidence that our military is doing everything that they can do - short of dropping a nuke - to apprehend or kill all of the remaining high-profile Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders.

If Bin Laden is hiding in the mountains of Afghanistan or near the Pakistani border, then it is a sure bet that he is defended by well-armed, hardened fighters who cut their teeth in battle against the Soviets.  Smoking out a target and engaging in the ensuing battle will be difficult and costly. 

Fortunately our military leaders understand that Bin Laden is but one part of Al Qaeda, and Al Qaeda is but one part of a global network of radical Islamofascist terrorists.  I trust their judgment regarding how hard they should hammer Bin Laden in relationship to all of the other fights that they must wage.  I believe that the President does, too.  Obviously his detractors do not.