[News] The Year of the Commando,,U.S. Special Operations Forces Deploy to 138 Nations, 70% of the World’s Countries

[Anti-Imperialist News]

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176227/tomgram:_nick_turse,_special_ops,_shadow_wars,_and_the_golden_age_of_the_gray_zone/#more 
<http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176227/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_special_ops%2C_shadow_wars%2C_and_the_golden_age_of_the_gray_zone/#more>*

The Year of the Commando*

*U.S. Special Operations Forces Deploy to 138 Nations, 70% of the 
World’s Countries*

By Nick Turse - January 5, 2017 
<http://www.tomdispatch.com/authors/nickturse>

They could be found on the outskirts of Sirte, Libya 
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/08/09/u-s-special-operations-forces-are-providing-direct-on-the-ground-support-for-the-first-time-in-libya/?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_uslibya-250pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory>, 
supporting local militia fighters, and in Mukalla, Yemen 
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/06/17/u-s-special-operations-forces-shift-to-long-term-mission-in-yemen/>, 
backing troops from the United Arab Emirates.  At Saakow, a remote 
outpost in southern Somalia 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/world/africa/somalia-shabab.html>, 
they assisted local commandos in killing several members of the terror 
group al-Shabab.  Around the cities of Jarabulus and Al-Rai in northern 
Syria 
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/09/16/u-s-special-operations-forces-begin-new-role-alongside-turkish-troops-in-syria/>, 
they partnered with both Turkish soldiers and Syrian militias, while 
also embedding with Kurdish YPG fighters and the Syrian Democratic 
Forces.  Across the border in Iraq 
<http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/iraqi-special-operations-forces-join-mosul-offensive-against-isis>, 
still others joined the fight to liberate the city of Mosul.  And in 
Afghanistan 
<http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-military-special-operations-member-killed-in-afghanistan-1475610292>, 
they assisted indigenous forces in various missions, just as they have 
every year since 2001.

For America, 2016 may have been the year of the commando 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/opinion/sunday/welcome-to-the-age-of-the-commando.html>.  
In one conflict zone after another across the northern tier of Africa 
and the Greater Middle East, U.S. Special Operations forces (SOF) waged 
their particular brand of low-profile warfare. “Winning the current 
fight, including against the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, and other areas 
where SOF is engaged in conflict and instability, is an immediate 
challenge,” the chief of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), 
General Raymond Thomas 
<http://www.defense.gov/About-DoD/Biographies/Biography-View/Article/709270/general-raymond-a-thomas-iii>, 
told 
<https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjXsJfumPfQAhVpJ8AKHRmhA7UQFggaMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.armed-services.senate.gov%2Fdownload%2Fthomas_03-09-16&usg=AFQjCNHW5Uq3Ss13bmwf6grMRL1bfc4FGA&bvm=bv.141536425,d.eWE> 
the Senate Armed Services Committee last year.

SOCOM’s shadow wars against terror groups like al-Qaeda and the Islamic 
State (also known as ISIL) may, ironically, be its most visible 
operations.  Shrouded in even more secrecy are its activities -- from 
counterinsurgency and counterdrug efforts to seemingly endless training 
and advising missions -- outside acknowledged conflict zones across the 
globe.  These are conducted with little fanfare, press coverage, or 
oversight in scores of nations every single day.  From Albania to 
Uruguay, Algeria to Uzbekistan, America’s most elite forces -- Navy 
SEALs and Army Green Berets among them -- were deployed to 138 countries 
in 2016, according to figures supplied to /TomDispatch/ by U.S. Special 
Operations Command.  This total, one of the highest of Barack Obama’s 
presidency, typifies what has become the golden age of, in SOF-speak, 
the “gray zone” -- a phrase used to describe the murky twilight between 
war and peace.  The coming year is likely to signal whether this era 
ends with Obama or continues under President-elect Donald Trump’s 
administration.

<http://www.tomdispatch.com/images/managed/sofmap1_large.jpg>
/America’s most elite troops deployed to 138 nations in 2016, according 
to U.S. Special Operations Command.  The map above displays the 
locations of 132 of those countries; 129 locations (blue) were supplied 
by U.S. Special Operations Command; 3 locations (red) -- Syria, Yemen 
and Somalia -- were derived from open-source information. (Nick Turse)/

CLICK TO ENLARGE 
<http://www.tomdispatch.com/images/managed/sofmap1_large.jpg>

“In just the past few years, we have witnessed a varied and evolving 
threat environment consisting of: the emergence of a militarily 
expansionist China; an increasingly unpredictable North Korea; a 
revanchist Russia threatening our interests in both Europe and Asia; and 
an Iran which continues to expand its influence across the Middle East, 
fueling the Sunni-Shia conflict,” General Thomas wrote last month in 
/PRISM/, the official journal of the Pentagon’s Center for Complex 
Operations.  “Nonstate actors further confuse this landscape by 
employing terrorist, criminal, and insurgent networks that erode 
governance in all but the strongest states... Special operations forces 
provide asymmetric capability and responses to these challenges.”

In 2016, according to data provided to /TomDispatch /by SOCOM, the U.S. 
deployed special operators to China (specifically Hong Kong),**in 
addition to eleven countries surrounding it -- Taiwan (which China 
considers a breakaway province 
<https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwizs6z7h_zQAhXszlQKHcuxCWIQFggaMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fworld-asia-34729538&usg=AFQjCNFDqLJmcP6N9z9qb-iTTxnX9lHwXQ&sig2=PeXV4vRo8ykVAb-glYjyFQ&bvm=bv.142059868,d.amc>), 
Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, India, Laos, the 
Philippines, South Korea, and Japan.  Special Operations Command does 
not acknowledge sending commandos into Iran, North Korea, or Russia, but 
it does deploy troops to many nations that ring them.

SOCOM is willing to name only 129 of the 138 countries its forces 
deployed to in 2016. “Almost all Special Operations forces deployments 
are classified,” spokesman Ken McGraw told /TomDispatch/.  “If a 
deployment to a specific country has not been declassified, we do not 
release information about the deployment.”

SOCOM does not, for instance, acknowledge sending troops to the war 
zones of Somalia 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/world/africa/somalia-shabab.html>, 
Syria 
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/09/16/u-s-special-operations-forces-begin-new-role-alongside-turkish-troops-in-syria/>, 
or Yemen 
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/06/17/u-s-special-operations-forces-shift-to-long-term-mission-in-yemen/>, 
despite overwhelming evidence of a U.S. special ops presence in all 
three countries, as well as a White House report, issued last month, 
that notes 
<https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwih5-DHpOfQAhXKRSYKHcY1CiUQFggaMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whitehouse.gov%2Fsites%2Fwhitehouse.gov%2Ffiles%2Fdocuments%2FLegal_Policy_Report.pdf&usg=AFQjCNEoF7_YHqvhjof789ipGTiztroUYw&bvm=bv.141320020,d.eWE> 
“the United States is currently using military force in” Somalia, Syria, 
and Yemen, and specifically states that “U.S. special operations forces 
have deployed to Syria.”

According to Special Operations Command, 55.29% of special operators 
deployed overseas in 2016 were sent to the Greater Middle East, a drop 
of 35% since 2006.  Over the same span, deployments to Africa 
skyrocketed 
<https://theintercept.com/2016/12/31/u-s-special-operations-numbers-surge-in-africas-shadow-wars/> 
by more than 1600% -- from just 1% of special operators dispatched 
outside the U.S. in 2006 to 17.26% last year.  Those two regions were 
followed by areas served by European Command (12.67%), Pacific Command 
(9.19%), Southern Command (4.89%), and Northern Command (0.69%), which 
is in charge of “homeland defense.”  On any given day, around 8,000 of 
Thomas’s commandos can be found in more than 90 countries worldwide.

<http://www.tomdispatch.com/images/managed/sofmap2_large.jpg>
/U.S. Special Operations forces deployed to 138 nations in 2016.  
Locations in blue were supplied by U.S. Special Operations Command.  
Those in red were derived from open-source information.  Iran, North 
Korea, Pakistan, and Russia are not among those nations named or 
identified, but all are at least partially surrounded by nations visited 
by America’s most elite troops last year. (Nick Turse)/

CLICK TO ENLARGE 
<http://www.tomdispatch.com/images/managed/sofmap2_large.jpg>

*The Manhunters*

“Special Operations forces are playing a critical role in gathering 
intelligence -- intelligence that’s supporting operations against ISIL 
and helping to combat the flow of foreign fighters to and from Syria and 
Iraq,” said 
<https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/05/24/prepared-remarks-aphsct-lisa-monaco-international-special-operations> 
Lisa Monaco <https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/author/lisa-o-monaco>, the 
assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, 
in remarks at the International Special Operations Forces Convention 
last year.  Such intelligence operations are “conducted in direct 
support of special operations missions,” SOCOM’s Thomas explained 
<https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjXsJfumPfQAhVpJ8AKHRmhA7UQFggaMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.armed-services.senate.gov%2Fdownload%2Fthomas_03-09-16&usg=AFQjCNHW5Uq3Ss13bmwf6grMRL1bfc4FGA&bvm=bv.141536425,d.eWE> 
in 2016.  “The preponderance of special operations intelligence assets 
are dedicated to locating individuals, illuminating enemy networks, 
understanding environments, and supporting partners.”

Signals intelligence from computers and cellphones supplied by foreign 
allies or intercepted 
<https://theintercept.com/drone-papers/firing-blind/> by surveillance 
drones and manned aircraft, as well as human intelligence provided by 
the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has been integral to targeting 
individuals for kill/capture missions by SOCOM’s most elite forces.  The 
highly secretive Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), for example, 
carries out such counterterrorism operations, including drone strikes 
<https://theintercept.com/drone-papers/the-assassination-complex/>, 
raids 
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/12/15/the-not-so-secret-history-of-jsoc/>, 
and assassinations 
<https://www.thenation.com/article/jsoc-black-ops-force-took-down-bin-laden/> 
in places like Iraq and Libya.  Last year, before he exchanged command 
of JSOC for that of its parent, SOCOM, General Thomas noted 
<https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwingIXHwf7QAhVq7YMKHRr8Cw0QFggaMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.armed-services.senate.gov%2Fhearings%2F16-03-09-nominations_-votel-thomas&usg=AFQjCNGixCAVD1yJy_1XoI2R6TQzDJev9w&sig2=SyoLjBaFyhY7m7PEnbXwrA&bvm=bv.142059868,d.eWE> 
that members of Joint Special Operations Command were operating in “all 
the countries where ISIL currently resides.”  (This may indicate 
<http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2015/257523.htm> a special ops 
deployment to Pakistan 
<http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/new-counterterrorism-heat-map-shows-isis-branches-spreading-worldwide-n621866>, 
another country absent from SOCOM’s 2016 list.)

“[W]e have put our Joint Special Operations Command in the lead of 
countering ISIL's external operations.  And we have already achieved 
very significant results both in reducing the flow of foreign fighters 
and removing ISIL leaders from the battlefield,” Defense Secretary Ash 
Carter noted 
<http://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/986525/joint-press-conference-by-secretary-carter-and-minister-le-drian-in-paris-france> 
in a relatively rare official mention of JSOC’s operations at an October 
press conference.

A month earlier, he offered 
<http://www.defense.gov/News/Speeches/Speech-View/Article/952252/submitted-statement-on-us-national-security-challenges-and-ongoing-military-ope> 
even more detail in a statement before the Senate Armed Services Committee:

”We’re systematically eliminating ISIL’s leadership: the coalition has 
taken out seven members of the ISIL Senior Shura... We also removed key 
ISIL leaders in both Libya and Afghanistan... And we’ve removed from the 
battlefield more than 20 of ISIL’s external operators and plotters... We 
have entrusted this aspect of our campaign to one of [the Department of 
Defense’s] most lethal, capable, and experienced commands, our Joint 
Special Operations Command, which helped deliver justice not only to 
Osama Bin Laden, but also to the man who founded the organization that 
became ISIL, Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi.”

Asked for details on exactly how many ISIL “external operators” were 
targeted and how many were “removed” from the battlefield by JSOC in 
2016, SOCOM’s Ken McGraw replied: “We do not and will not have anything 
for you.”

When he was commander of JSOC in 2015, General Thomas spoke of his and 
his unit’s “frustrations” with limitations placed on them.  “I’m told 
‘no’ more than ‘go’ on a magnitude of about ten to one on almost a daily 
basis,” he said <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYYW8aG_Gag>.  Last 
November, however, the /Washington Post/ reported 
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/11/25/obama-administration-expands-elite-military-units-powers-to-hunt-foreign-fighters-globally/> 
that the Obama administration was granting a JSOC task force “expanded 
power to track, plan and potentially launch attacks on terrorist cells 
around the globe.”  That Counter-External Operations Task Force (also 
known as “Ex-Ops”) has been “designed to take JSOC’s targeting model... 
and export it globally to go after terrorist networks plotting attacks 
against the West.”

SOCOM disputes portions of the /Post/ story. “Neither SOCOM nor any of 
its subordinate elements have... been given any expanded powers 
(authorities),” SOCOM’s Ken McGraw told /TomDispatch/ by email.  “Any 
potential operation must still be approved by the GCC [Geographic 
Combatant Command]**commander [and], if required, approved by the 
Secretary of Defense or [the president].”

“U.S. officials” (who spoke only on the condition that they be 
identified in that vague way) explained that SOCOM’s response was a 
matter of perspective.  Its powers weren’t recently expanded as much as 
institutionalized and put “in writing,” /TomDispatch/ was told.  
“Frankly, the decision made months ago was to codify current practice, 
not create something new.”  Special Operations Command refused to 
confirm this but Colonel Thomas Davis, another SOCOM spokesman, noted: 
“Nowhere did we say that there was no codification.”

With Ex-Ops, General Thomas is a “decision-maker when it comes to going 
after threats under the task force’s purview,” according 
<http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/11/28/obama-is-expanding-trumps-war-making-powers-on-his-way-out-the-door/> 
to the /Washington Post/’s Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Dan Lamothe.  “The 
task force would essentially turn Thomas into the leading authority when 
it comes to sending Special Operations units after threats.”  Others 
claim 
<http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/11/28/elite-u-s-special-operators-build-center-for-perpetual-war-on-terror.html> 
Thomas has only expanded influence, allowing him to directly recommend a 
plan of action, such as striking a target, to the Secretary of Defense, 
allowing for shortened approval time.  (SOCOM’s McGraw says that Thomas 
“will not be commanding forces or be the decision maker for SOF 
operating in any GCC's [area of operations].”)

Last November, Defense Secretary Carter offered an indication of the 
frequency of offensive operations following a visit to Florida’s 
Hurlburt Field, the headquarters 
<http://www.hurlburt.af.mil/AboutUs/FactSheets/FactSheets/tabid/4934/Article/204585/hurlburt-field.aspx> 
of Air Force Special Operations Command.  He noted 
<http://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1008142/media-availability-with-secretary-carter-at-eglin-air-force-base-florida> 
that “today we were looking at a number of the Special Operations 
forces’ assault capabilities.  This is a kind of capability that we use 
nearly every day somewhere in the world... And it's particularly 
relevant to the counter-ISIL campaign that we're conducting today.”

In Afghanistan, alone, Special Operations forces 
<http://bigstory.ap.org/article/6dc8c155100b4ee3a7a1a63e7a51b569/its-trumps-war-soon-afghan-progress-far-clear> 
conducted 350 raids targeting al-Qaeda and Islamic State operatives last 
year, averaging about one per day, and capturing or killing nearly 50 
“leaders” as well as 200 “members” of the terror groups, according 
<https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1019029/department-of-defense-press-briefing-by-general-nicholson-in-the-pentagon-brief> 
to General John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in that country.  Some 
sources also suggest 
<http://www.apalachtimes.com/news/20161210/david-ignatius-obama-exits-with-turf-war-over-killing-terrorists> 
that while JSOC and CIA drones flew roughly the same number of missions 
in 2016, the military launched more than 20,000 strikes in Afghanistan, 
Yemen, and Syria, compared to less than a dozen by the Agency. This may 
reflect an Obama administration decision to implement a long-considered 
plan 
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-drone-strikes-plummet-as-white-house-shifts-authority-to-pentagon/2016/06/16/e0b28e90-335f-11e6-8ff7-7b6c1998b7a0_story.html> 
to put JSOC in charge of lethal operations and shift the CIA back to its 
traditional intelligence duties.**

*World of Warcraft*

“[I]t is important to understand why SOF has risen from footnote and 
supporting player to main effort, because its use also highlights why 
the U.S. continues to have difficulty in its most recent campaigns -- 
Afghanistan, Iraq, against ISIS and AQ and its affiliates, Libya, Yemen, 
etc. and in the undeclared campaigns in the Baltics, Poland, and Ukraine 
-- none of which fits the U.S. model for traditional war,” said 
<https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/a-view-from-the-ct-foxhole-an-interview-with-ltgr-charles-t-cleveland-former-commanding-general-usasoc> 
retired Lieutenant General Charles Cleveland, chief of U.S. Army Special 
Operations Command from 2012 to 2015 and now a senior mentor to the 
chief of staff of the Army’s Strategic Studies Group. Asserting that, 
amid the larger problems of these conflicts, the ability of America's 
elite forces to conduct kill/capture missions and train local allies has 
proven especially useful, he added, “SOF is at its best when its 
indigenous and direct-action capabilities work in support of each other. 
Beyond Afghanistan and Iraq and ongoing CT [counterterrrorism] efforts 
elsewhere, SOF continues to work with partner nations in 
counterinsurgency and counterdrug efforts in Asia, Latin America, and 
Africa.”

SOCOM acknowledges deployments to approximately 70% of the world’s 
nations, including all but three Central and South American countries 
(Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela being the exceptions). Its operatives 
also blanket Asia, while conducting missions in about 60% of the 
countries in Africa. **

A SOF overseas deployment can be as small as one special operator 
participating in a language immersion program or a three-person team 
conducting a “survey” for the U.S. embassy.  It may also have nothing to 
do with a host nation’s government or military.  Most Special Operations 
forces, however, work with local partners, conducting training exercises 
and engaging in what the military calls “building partner capacity” 
(BPC) and “security cooperation” (SC).  Often, this means America’s most 
elite troops are sent to countries with security forces that are 
regularly cited 
<https://theintercept.com/2015/09/09/u-s-special-forces-expand-training-allies-histories-abuse/> 
for human rights abuses by the U.S. State Department.  Last year in 
Africa, where Special Operations forces utilize 
<http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176223/> nearly 20 different programs 
and activities -- from training exercises to security cooperation 
engagements -- these included Burkina Faso 
<http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252655.htm>, Burundi 
<http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252657.htm>, Cameroon 
<http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252661.htm>, Democratic 
Republic of Congo 
<http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252669.htm>, Djibouti 
<http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252675.htm>, Kenya 
<http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252693.htm>, Mali 
<http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252703.htm>, Mauritania 
<http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252705.htm>, Niger 
<http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252713.htm>, Nigeria 
<http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252715.htm>, Tanzania 
<http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252737.htm>, and Uganda 
<http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252741.htm>, among others.

In 2014, for example, more than 4,800 elite troops took part in just one 
type of such activities -- Joint Combined Exchange Training 
<https://theintercept.com/2016/09/08/documents-show-u-s-military-expands-reach-of-special-operations-programs/> 
(JCET) missions -- around the world.  At a cost of more than $56 
million, Navy SEALs, Army Green Berets, and other special operators 
carried out 176 individual JCETs in 87 countries.  A 2013 RAND 
Corporation study of the areas covered by Africa Command, Pacific 
Command, and Southern Command found “moderately low” effectiveness for 
JCETs in all three regions.  A 2014 RAND analysis 
<http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR350.html> of U.S. security 
cooperation, which also examined the implications of “low-footprint 
Special Operations forces efforts,” found that there “was no 
statistically significant correlation between SC and change in 
countries’ fragility in Africa or the Middle East.”  And in a 2015 
report for Joint Special Operations University, Harry Yarger, a senior 
fellow at the school, noted 
<http://jsou.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=9143421> that “BPC has in 
the past consumed vast resources for little return.”

Despite these results and larger strategic failures in Iraq 
<http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/08/america-war-greater-middle-east-160803141910584.html>, 
Afghanistan 
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-legacy-of-us-military-failure-in-the-middle-east-over-the-past-three-decades/2016/04/08/fd9812e6-f822-11e5-9804-537defcc3cf6_story.html>, 
and Libya 
<https://theintercept.com/2016/04/23/andrew-bacevich-and-americas-long-misguided-war-to-control-the-greater-middle-east/>, 
the Obama years have been the golden age of the gray zone.  The 138 
nations visited by U.S. special operators in 2016, for example, 
represent a jump of 130% since the waning days of the Bush 
administration.  Although they also represent a 6%**drop compared to 
last year’s total, 2016 remains in the upper range of the Obama years, 
which saw deployments to 75 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/03/AR2010060304965.html> 
nations in 2010, 120 <http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175426/> in 2011, 
134 
<http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175794/tomgram%3A_nick_turse,_secret_wars_and_black_ops_blowback/> 
in 2013, and 133 
<http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175945/tomgram%3A_nick_turse,_a_shadow_war_in_150_countries/> 
in 2014, before peaking at 147 
<http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176060/tomgram%3A_nick_turse,_success,_failure,_and_the_%22finest_warriors_who_ever_went_into_combat%22/> 
countries in 2015.  Asked about the reason for the modest decline, SOCOM 
spokesman Ken McGraw replied, “We provide SOF to meet the geographic 
combatant commands’ requirements for support to their theater security 
cooperation plans. Apparently, there were nine fewer countries [where] 
the GCCs had a requirement for SOF to deploy to in [Fiscal Year 20]16.”

The increase in deployments between 2009 and 2016 -- from about 60 
countries to more than double that -- mirrors a similar rise in SOCOM’s 
total personnel (from approximately 56,000 to about 70,000) and in its 
baseline budget (from $9 billion to $11 billion).  It’s no secret that 
the tempo of operations has also increased dramatically, although the 
command refused to address questions from /TomDispatch/ on the subject.

“SOF have shouldered a heavy burden in carrying out these missions, 
suffering a high number of casualties over the last eight years and 
maintaining a high operational tempo (OPTEMPO) that has increasingly 
strained special operators and their families,” reads 
<https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiEzuO5-4LRAhVmw4MKHXPnDHkQFggxMAc&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cna.org%2FCNA_files%2FPDF%2FDOP-2016-U-014394-Final.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHAL_Y6QPw2M-loIKL8k2j9z0LaQw&bvm=bv.142059868,d.eWE> 
an October 2016 report released by the Virginia-based think tank CNA.  
(That report emerged from a conference attended 
<http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/cna-report-special-ops-next-president> 
by six former special operations commanders, a former assistant 
secretary of defense, and dozens of active-duty special operators.)

<http://www.tomdispatch.com/images/managed/sofmap3baltic_large.jpg>
/A closer look at the areas of the “undeclared campaigns in the Baltics, 
Poland, and Ukraine” mentioned by retired Lieutenant General Charles 
Cleveland. Locations in blue were supplied by U.S. Special Operations 
Command.  The one in red was derived from open-source information. (Nick 
Turse)/

CLICK TO ENLARGE 
<http://www.tomdispatch.com/images/managed/sofmap3baltic_large.jpg>

*The American Age of the Commando*

Last month, before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Shawn Brimley 
<https://www.cnas.org/people/shawn-brimley>, former director for 
strategic planning on the National Security Council staff and now an 
executive vice president at the Center for a New American Security, 
echoed <http://www.armed-services.senate.gov/download/brimley_12-06-16> 
the worried conclusions of the CNA report.   At a hearing on “emerging 
U.S. defense challenges and worldwide threats,” Brimley said “SOF have 
been deployed at unprecedented rates, placing immense strain on the 
force” and called on the Trump administration to “craft a more 
sustainable long-term counterterrorism strategy.”  In a paper published 
<https://defense360.csis.org/special-operations-forces-let-sof-be-sof/> 
in December, Kristen Hajduk 
<https://share-ng.sandia.gov/news/resources/news_releases/tannenbaum_aps/#.WF0XAH2E2xY>, 
a former adviser for Special Operations and Irregular Warfare in the 
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and 
Low-Intensity Conflict and now a fellow at the Center for Strategic and 
International Studies, called for a decrease in the deployment rates for 
Special Operations forces.

While Donald Trump has claimed that the U.S. military as a whole is 
“depleted 
<http://time.com/4483355/commander-chief-forum-clinton-trump-intrepid/>” 
and has called <https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/national-defense/> 
for increasing the size of the Army and Marines, he has offered no 
indication about whether he plans to support a further increase in the 
size of special ops forces.  And while he did recently nominate 
<http://nypost.com/2016/12/15/former-navy-seal-will-abandon-senate-run-to-join-trump-cabinet/> 
a former Navy SEAL 
<https://theintercept.com/2016/12/20/trumps-pick-for-interior-secretary-was-caught-in-pattern-of-fraud-at-seal-team-6/> 
to serve as his secretary of the interior, Trump has offered few 
indications of how he might employ special operators who are currently 
serving.**

“Drone strikes,” he announced 
<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/donald-trump-terrorism-speech-227025> 
in one of his rare detailed references to special ops missions, “will 
remain part of our strategy, but we will also seek to capture high-value 
targets to gain needed information to dismantle their organizations.” 
  More recently, at a North Carolina victory rally, Trump made specific 
references to the elite troops soon to be under his command.  “Our 
Special Forces at Fort Bragg have been the tip of the spear in fighting 
terrorism. The motto of our Army Special Forces is ‘to free the 
oppressed,’ and that is exactly what they have been doing and will 
continue to do. At this very moment, soldiers from Fort Bragg are 
deployed in 90 countries around the world,” he told 
<https://www.c-span.org/video/?419634-1/presidentelect-trump-holds-victory-rally-fayetteville-north-carolina> 
the crowd.

After seeming to signal his support for continued wide-ranging, 
free-the-oppressed special ops missions, Trump appeared to change 
course, adding, “We don't want to have a depleted military because we're 
all over the place fighting in areas that just we shouldn't be fighting 
in... This destructive cycle of intervention and chaos must finally, 
folks, come to an end.”  At the same time, however, he pledged that the 
U.S. would soon “defeat the forces of terrorism.”  To that end, retired 
Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, a former director of intelligence 
for JSOC 
<http://www.defenseone.com/business/2013/10/exclusive-interview-dia-director-flynn-why-al-qaeda-still-growth-market/72794/> 
whom the president-elect tapped to serve as his national security 
adviser, has promised that the new administration would reassess the 
military’s powers to battle the Islamic State -- potentially providing 
more latitude in battlefield decision-making.  To this end, the /Wall 
Street Journal/ reports 
<http://www.wsj.com/articles/pentagon-prepares-tougher-options-on-fighting-militants-to-show-trump-team-1481330246> 
that the Pentagon is crafting proposals to reduce “White House oversight 
of operational decisions” while “moving some tactical authority back to 
the Pentagon.” **

Last month, President Obama traveled to Florida’s MacDill Air Force 
Base, the home of Special Operations Command, to deliver his capstone 
counterterrorism speech.  “For eight years that I've been in office, 
there has not been a day when a terrorist organization or some 
radicalized individual was not plotting to kill Americans,” he told 
<https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/12/06/remarks-president-administrations-approach-counterterrorism> 
a crowd packed 
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obamas-tenure-ends-with-a-turf-war-over-killing-terrorists/2016/12/08/b3c371d8-bd84-11e6-91ee-1adddfe36cbe_story.html> 
with troops.  At the same time, there likely wasn’t a day when the most 
elite forces under his command were not deployed in 60 or more countries 
around the world.

“I will become the first president of the United States to serve two 
full terms during a time of war,” Obama added.  “Democracies should not 
operate in a state of permanently authorized war.  That’s not good for 
our military, it’s not good for our democracy.”  The results of his 
permanent-war presidency have, in fact, been dismal, according 
<http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176191/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_killing_people%2C_breaking_things%2C_and_america%27s_winless_wars> 
to Special Operations Command.  Of eight conflicts waged during the 
Obama years, according to a 2015 briefing slide from the command’s 
intelligence directorate, America’s record stands at zero wins, two 
losses, and six ties.

The Obama era has indeed proven to be the “age of the commando 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/opinion/sunday/welcome-to-the-age-of-the-commando.html>.” 
  However, as Special Operations forces have kept up a frenetic 
operational tempo, waging war in and out of acknowledged conflict zones, 
training local allies, advising indigenous proxies, kicking down doors, 
and carrying out assassinations, terror movements have spread 
<https://theintercept.com/2016/07/11/in-africa-u-s-military-sees-enemies-everywhere/> 
across the Greater Middle East 
<http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/new-counterterrorism-heat-map-shows-isis-branches-spreading-worldwide-n621866> 
and Africa 
<http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176223/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_washington%27s_america-first_commandos_in_africa>. 


President-elect Donald Trump appears 
<http://fusion.net/story/369006/trump-obama-dismantle-legacy-president/> 
poised to obliterate 
<http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/11/13575668/barack-obama-legacy-donald-trump> 
much of the Obama legacy 
<http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/12/11/trump-vows-no-wrecking-ball-to-obama-legacy-but-signals-big-changes.html>, 
from the president’s signature healthcare law 
<http://www.npr.org/2016/12/16/505811920/trump-promised-to-repeal-obamacare-meets-with-a-plan-architect> 
to his environmental regulations 
<http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-epa-idUSKBN13Y183>, not to 
mention changing course when it comes to foreign policy, including in 
relations with China 
<http://www.vox.com/world/2016/12/18/13921962/trump-obama-china-russia-policy>, 
Iran 
<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-17/in-trump-era-israel-sees-opportunity-to-shift-iran-approach>, 
Israel 
<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-17/in-trump-era-israel-sees-opportunity-to-shift-iran-approach>, 
and Russia 
<http://www.vox.com/world/2016/12/18/13921962/trump-obama-china-russia-policy>.  
Whether he will heed advice to decrease Obama-level SOF deployment rates 
remains to be seen.  The year ahead will, however, offer clues as to 
whether Obama’s long war in the shadows, the golden age of the gray 
zone, survives.

/Nick Turse is the managing editor of /TomDispatch 
<http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176214/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_life%27s_no_picnic_in_trump%27s_secret_%28service%29_garden/>,/ a 
fellow at the Nation Institute, and a contributing writer for the 
/Intercept/. His book/ Tomorrow's Battlefield: U.S. Proxy Wars and 
Secret Ops in Africa/ received an //American Book Award/ 
<https://www.newark.rutgers.edu/news/ru-n-faculty-and-alumni-win-prestigous-2016-american-book-award>/in 
2016.  His latest book is /Next Time They’ll Come to Count the Dead: War 
and Survival in South Sudan 
<https://www.amazon.com/Next-Time-They%C2%92ll-Come-Count/dp/1608466485?ie=UTF8&ref_=nosim&tag=tomdispatch-20>/. His 
website is /NickTurse.com <http://www.nickturse.com/>.

/Follow /TomDispatch/on Twitter <https://twitter.com/TomDispatch> and 
join us on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/tomdispatch>. Check out the 
newest Dispatch Book, John Feffer's dystopian novel /Splinterlands 
<https://www.amazon.com/dp/1608467244/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20>/, 
as well as Nick Turse’s /Next Time They’ll Come to Count the Dead 
<http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608466485/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20>/, 
and Tom Engelhardt's latest book, /Shadow Government: Surveillance, 
Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World 
<http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608463656/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20>/./

Copyright 2017 Nick Turse

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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