The terrain would have tried the best Rangers or marines.

[meliss]

Hi. I think it is a conditional sentence which means that "even if the best Rangers or marines had tried, the chance (to capture bin Laden) woud have been low. Am I right? Thank you.
"Tora Bora was the United States’ best chance to capture bin Laden in 2001. Since then, participants and observers have seen it as a lost opportunity.130 Indeed, had bin Laden been captured, America’s war on terror might have been curtailed. The foremost threat to the United States would have disappeared.The odds were never good. The terrain would have tried the best Rangers or marines. And it was winter." (Carter Malkasian, The American War in Afghanistan)

 

[jutfrank]

You can substitute tried for the phrase 'been very challenging to'. The difficult terrain would have been very challenging to deal with, even for highly trained soldiers.

 

[Skrej]

See transitive verb definitions 2a and 2b.

 

[meliss]

Thank you all for your answers. I didn't ask about try actually, my question was about the tense - Future Perfect in the Past - and its meaning here.

 

[Tarheel]

What's future perfect in the past?

 

[5jj]

Meliss used this label for 'would have tried'. I call call this a modal perfect form.

 

[Tarheel]

I have learned that ESL learners tend to know many more grammar terms than native speakers. (We don't know those words, but somehow we get by.)

 

[meliss]

No matter the name, does it mean that even with the best Rangers or marines the chance to capture bin Laden was slim?

 

[Skrej]

Yes, due in part to seasonal weather and geography.

 

[Tarheel]

And bin Laden and his group knew the territory better than the Americans.