Uh oh. Looks like defeating the Taliban might be a little tougher than we thought. But you wouldn't know it from what's been in the American press lately. The India Times' Taliban fought off US commando raid: Report provides a scary account indeed.

"NEW YORK: Twelve Delta Force commandos were wounded -- three seriously -- when they encountered stiffer-than-expected Taliban resistance during the October 20 raid on Mullah Mohammad Omar's compound outside Kandahar, the New Yorker magazine reported. The fiasco has triggered a review of special forces operations in Afghanistan.

But a top US general has denied the report.

Top US military officials are re-assessing future special forces operations in Afghanistan after the nearly disastrous October 20 raid, according to the Monday edition of the magazine.

The elite Delta Force, "which prides itself on stealth, had been counterattacked by the Taliban, and some Americans had to fight their way to safety," according to the article.

The ferocity of the Taliban response "scared the crap out of everyone," a senior military officer told Seymour Hersh, the article's author.