october 2000 during a port call in yemen. >> they vaulted to the top of the terrorism ladder because they are so violent. the randomness of the bin laden type violence was just violence for violence sake. he is a mass murderer. >> oliver: within days of launching operation enduring freedom, the taliban and al-qaeda were on the run. they were no match for the northern alliance backed by cia operative special forces, u.s. marines and american air power. >> for a couple weeks there it seemed like the taliban were hanging on but eventually they couldn't maintain frontline positions because we were pulverizing them. >> on 12 november, the taliban fled kabul, the capital. >> a great many were able to just go back to their villages and blend back into the population. >> a tremendously successful