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First of all let me say that I like Lone Survivor as a movie, it is one of the better war movies of the War on Terror era, I have watched it several times BUT I have come to believe that particularly the beginning of the operation is a pack of lies, basically a piece of propaganda designed to cover up a botched operation and protect the reputation or mystique of US special forces.
What I think really happened
The Taliban forces in the area were good at what they do, they simply heard the Helicopters in the night, lay in ambush or were searching and surprised the Seal team, some were likely killed or severely injured straight away, Mike Murphy was able to make a desperate call for help before being killed, the desperate escape jumping off cliffs could have been real, Marcus Luttrell was basically able to escape/evade the Taliban and luckily made his way to a friendly village before his rescue.
What I think did not happen
-Being discovered by a Shepard by him standing on their foot, just the odds of them even being discovered in a supposedly concealed position are remote but having one actually stand on his foot is borderline ridiculous. Now whether this comes from Luttrell account or if the standing on foot was added for the movie is hard to find out.
-Releasing the prisoners. Assuming there even were 3 shepherds to begin with. Why oh why would you release them, when apparently you still had no radio contact with base and no easy way out. I don't mean you have to terminate them but why cant you take them up the hill with you, make contact with base and go from there. They just release them so they can run and tell the enemy. Absolute bull****, they never existed.
-Radio problems, they have made contact earlier but radio contact stopped until the phone call. Or is it more likely that they were badly ambushed, the radio operator killed without a chance to contact base while the rest desperately fought for their lives.
-The arrive at the top of the hill/mountain and discover they cant get out that way and have to go back down. Bull****, they would have been prepared, studied the terrain and possible escape route, they wouldn't be climbing some hill if they didn't know what was over the other side. Simply did not happen.
Other evidence of bull****
-Mohammed Gulab, the man from the village has accused the Marcus Luttrell of exaggerating. He says there were far less than the 80-200 insurgents reported by Luttrell. Initial reports suggested 8-10 enemy, and that number seems to have ballooned over time to potentially 200. Another example of propaganda, the fine small special forces team take on hundreds of enemy, preserving the myth of Special forces.
-Gulab also says Luttrell had 11 magazines of ammunition, whilst Luttrell claims he used nearly all his ammo over this long epic firefight. More evidence that Luttrell could simply have panicked and ran, this is not a criticism of Luttrel, it's just that in a bad ambush with little or no hope watching your friends die who wouldn't want to live and simply run.
Whether this is an official cover up or Luttrell covering his ass or both is unclear. When you really scrutinise the middle part of the film it becomes harder and harder to believe. I don't blame anyone for doing this either, when you have massive loss of life, 19 spec forces killed you have to try and put a positive spin on it. Special forces are great at what they do but this Seal team wasn't a higher tear team on the level of Team 6/Delta force, they were a lightly armed surveillance team and on that particular day they quite simply were outmanoeuvred/soundly beaten by the enemy, occasionally this will happen in war.
What I think really happened
The Taliban forces in the area were good at what they do, they simply heard the Helicopters in the night, lay in ambush or were searching and surprised the Seal team, some were likely killed or severely injured straight away, Mike Murphy was able to make a desperate call for help before being killed, the desperate escape jumping off cliffs could have been real, Marcus Luttrell was basically able to escape/evade the Taliban and luckily made his way to a friendly village before his rescue.
What I think did not happen
-Being discovered by a Shepard by him standing on their foot, just the odds of them even being discovered in a supposedly concealed position are remote but having one actually stand on his foot is borderline ridiculous. Now whether this comes from Luttrell account or if the standing on foot was added for the movie is hard to find out.
-Releasing the prisoners. Assuming there even were 3 shepherds to begin with. Why oh why would you release them, when apparently you still had no radio contact with base and no easy way out. I don't mean you have to terminate them but why cant you take them up the hill with you, make contact with base and go from there. They just release them so they can run and tell the enemy. Absolute bull****, they never existed.
-Radio problems, they have made contact earlier but radio contact stopped until the phone call. Or is it more likely that they were badly ambushed, the radio operator killed without a chance to contact base while the rest desperately fought for their lives.
-The arrive at the top of the hill/mountain and discover they cant get out that way and have to go back down. Bull****, they would have been prepared, studied the terrain and possible escape route, they wouldn't be climbing some hill if they didn't know what was over the other side. Simply did not happen.
Other evidence of bull****
-Mohammed Gulab, the man from the village has accused the Marcus Luttrell of exaggerating. He says there were far less than the 80-200 insurgents reported by Luttrell. Initial reports suggested 8-10 enemy, and that number seems to have ballooned over time to potentially 200. Another example of propaganda, the fine small special forces team take on hundreds of enemy, preserving the myth of Special forces.
-Gulab also says Luttrell had 11 magazines of ammunition, whilst Luttrell claims he used nearly all his ammo over this long epic firefight. More evidence that Luttrell could simply have panicked and ran, this is not a criticism of Luttrel, it's just that in a bad ambush with little or no hope watching your friends die who wouldn't want to live and simply run.
There exists some conflict over the exact numbers of Taliban forces involved in the engagement, among other mistakes by some sources. In Luttrell's own official after-action report filed with his superiors after his rescue, he estimated the size of the Taliban force to be around 20–35. Luttrell claims in his book that during the briefing his team was told around 80 to 200 fighters were expected to be in the area.[7] Initial intel estimates estimated approximately 10 to 20.[3] Official media reports from the military estimated the size of the Taliban force to be around 20 as well, while in the Medal of Honor citation for LT Michael P. Murphy, the Navy cited 30–40 enemies.[56] In the Summary of Action related to the same MOH, the Navy cites an "enemy force of more than 50 anti-coalition militia".[57] In his book, Victory Point: Operations Red Wings and Whalers – the Marine Corps' Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan, military journalist Ed Darack cites a military intelligence report stating the strength of the Taliban force to be 8–10, compared to the 80-200 claimed by Luttrell in Lone Survivor. The military intelligence estimate cited by Darack is based on research sourced from intelligence reports, including aerial and eye-witness studies of the battlefield after the fact, including the men sent in to rescue Luttrell, as well as reports from Afghan intelligence.[3][11][12]
The claim in Luttrell's memoir Lone Survivor, written with Patrick Robinson, that Lieutenant Murphy even considered and then put to vote the possible execution of the unarmed civilians who stumbled upon the SEAL reconnaissance and surveillance team has been roundly criticized and dismissed by many as fiction. In an article by Sean Naylor, Army Times senior correspondent, Navy Special Warfare Command spokesman Lieutenant Steve Ruh stated that with respect to making command decisions in the field, "Whether they're officer or enlisted, the senior guy ultimately has the ultimate authority." And with regards to voting whether or not to execute unarmed civilians, he admitted, "This is the first time I've ever heard of anything put to a vote like that. In my 14 years of Navy experience, I've never seen or heard of anything like that."[32]
In the June 12, 2007, article "Survivor's book dishonors son's memory" by Michael Rothfeld in Newsday, Michael P. Murphy's father Dan claims that Lieutenant Murphy would never have considered executing unarmed civilians, let alone putting such a grave decision up for a vote (in reference to the purported vote of execution of unarmed locals). Military protocol, United States and international military doctrine, and rules of engagement strictly forbid harming unarmed non-combatant civilians, with one of the specific rules of engagement in effect at the time stating, "Civilians are not targets.
The claim in Luttrell's memoir Lone Survivor, written with Patrick Robinson, that Lieutenant Murphy even considered and then put to vote the possible execution of the unarmed civilians who stumbled upon the SEAL reconnaissance and surveillance team has been roundly criticized and dismissed by many as fiction. In an article by Sean Naylor, Army Times senior correspondent, Navy Special Warfare Command spokesman Lieutenant Steve Ruh stated that with respect to making command decisions in the field, "Whether they're officer or enlisted, the senior guy ultimately has the ultimate authority." And with regards to voting whether or not to execute unarmed civilians, he admitted, "This is the first time I've ever heard of anything put to a vote like that. In my 14 years of Navy experience, I've never seen or heard of anything like that."[32]
In the June 12, 2007, article "Survivor's book dishonors son's memory" by Michael Rothfeld in Newsday, Michael P. Murphy's father Dan claims that Lieutenant Murphy would never have considered executing unarmed civilians, let alone putting such a grave decision up for a vote (in reference to the purported vote of execution of unarmed locals). Military protocol, United States and international military doctrine, and rules of engagement strictly forbid harming unarmed non-combatant civilians, with one of the specific rules of engagement in effect at the time stating, "Civilians are not targets.
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