spooked the hell out of the Taliban.

During the Soviet misadventure in the 1980's the general rule was that the Soviets won every battle in the daytime and the Afghans counterattacked successfully at night. The unmistakable message the US nighttime raid sent was that we could attack them anytime, anyplace, at our choosing, and the Taliban was really shook up by the raid, wondering what kind of devils were these infidel Americans who could sneak in and out at night with impunity? Even if the Americans found nothing of value at the site, in the so important psychological battles in war, the raid was a big success.