<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<div id="container" class="container font-size5 content-width3">
<div id="reader-header" class="header" style="display: block;"> <font
size="-2"><a id="reader-domain" class="domain"
href="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">http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176227/tomgram:_nick_turse,_special_ops,_shadow_wars,_and_the_golden_age_of_the_gray_zone/#more</a></font><span
style="font-size: x-large;"><strong><br>
<br>
The Year of the Commando</strong> </span><br>
</div>
<div class="content">
<div id="moz-reader-content" class="line-height4"
style="display: block;">
<div id="readability-page-1" class="page"
xml:base="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">
<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>U.S. Special
Operations Forces Deploy to 138 Nations, 70% of the
World’s Countries</strong> </span><br>
</p>
<p>By <a
href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/authors/nickturse"
target="_blank">Nick Turse - January 5, 2017</a></p>
<p>They could be found on the outskirts of Sirte, <a
href="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"
target="_blank">Libya</a>, supporting local militia
fighters, and in Mukalla, <a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/06/17/u-s-special-operations-forces-shift-to-long-term-mission-in-yemen/"
target="_blank">Yemen</a>, backing troops from the
United Arab Emirates. At Saakow, a remote outpost in
southern <a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/world/africa/somalia-shabab.html"
target="_blank">Somalia</a>, they assisted local
commandos in killing several members of the terror group
al-Shabab. Around the cities of Jarabulus and Al-Rai in
northern <a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/09/16/u-s-special-operations-forces-begin-new-role-alongside-turkish-troops-in-syria/"
target="_blank">Syria</a>, 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 <a
href="http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/iraqi-special-operations-forces-join-mosul-offensive-against-isis"
target="_blank">Iraq</a>, still others joined the fight
to liberate the city of Mosul. And in <a
href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-military-special-operations-member-killed-in-afghanistan-1475610292"
target="_blank">Afghanistan</a>, they assisted
indigenous forces in various missions, just as they have
every year since 2001.</p>
<p>For America, 2016 may have been the year of the <a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/opinion/sunday/welcome-to-the-age-of-the-commando.html"
target="_blank">commando</a>. 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), <a
href="http://www.defense.gov/About-DoD/Biographies/Biography-View/Article/709270/general-raymond-a-thomas-iii"
target="_blank">General Raymond Thomas</a>, <a
href="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"
target="_blank">told</a> the Senate Armed Services
Committee last year.</p>
<blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div>
<p>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 <em>TomDispatch</em>
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.</p>
<p><a
href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/images/managed/sofmap1_large.jpg"
target="_blank"><img
src="cid:part12.1631D715.66387942@freedomarchives.org"
alt=""></a><br>
<em>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)</em></p>
<p><a
href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/images/managed/sofmap1_large.jpg"
target="_blank">CLICK TO ENLARGE</a></p>
<p>“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 <em>PRISM</em>,
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.”</p>
<p>In 2016, according to data provided to <em>TomDispatch
</em>by SOCOM, the U.S. deployed special operators to
China (specifically Hong Kong),<strong> </strong>in
addition to eleven countries surrounding it -- Taiwan
(which China considers a <a
href="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"
target="_blank">breakaway province</a>), 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. </p>
<p>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 <em>TomDispatch</em>. “If a deployment
to a specific country has not been declassified, we do
not release information about the deployment.” </p>
<p>SOCOM does not, for instance, acknowledge sending
troops to the war zones of <a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/world/africa/somalia-shabab.html"
target="_blank">Somalia</a>, <a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/09/16/u-s-special-operations-forces-begin-new-role-alongside-turkish-troops-in-syria/"
target="_blank">Syria</a>, or <a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/06/17/u-s-special-operations-forces-shift-to-long-term-mission-in-yemen/"
target="_blank">Yemen</a>, 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 <a
href="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"
target="_blank">notes</a> “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.”</p>
<p>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 <a
href="https://theintercept.com/2016/12/31/u-s-special-operations-numbers-surge-in-africas-shadow-wars/"
target="_blank">skyrocketed</a> 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.</p>
<p><a
href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/images/managed/sofmap2_large.jpg"
target="_blank"><img
src="cid:part21.3C28B2FD.082408C1@freedomarchives.org"
alt=""></a><br>
<em>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)</em></p>
<p><a
href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/images/managed/sofmap2_large.jpg"
target="_blank">CLICK TO ENLARGE</a></p>
<p><strong>The Manhunters</strong></p>
<p>“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,” <a
href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/05/24/prepared-remarks-aphsct-lisa-monaco-international-special-operations"
target="_blank">said</a> <a
href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/author/lisa-o-monaco"
target="_blank">Lisa Monaco</a>, 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 <a
href="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"
target="_blank">explained</a> in 2016. “The
preponderance of special operations intelligence assets
are dedicated to locating individuals, illuminating
enemy networks, understanding environments, and
supporting partners.” </p>
<p>Signals intelligence from computers and cellphones
supplied by foreign allies or <a
href="https://theintercept.com/drone-papers/firing-blind/"
target="_blank">intercepted</a> 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 <a
href="https://theintercept.com/drone-papers/the-assassination-complex/"
target="_blank">drone strikes</a>, <a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/12/15/the-not-so-secret-history-of-jsoc/"
target="_blank">raids</a>, and <a
href="https://www.thenation.com/article/jsoc-black-ops-force-took-down-bin-laden/"
target="_blank">assassinations</a> in places like Iraq
and Libya. Last year, before he exchanged command of
JSOC for that of its parent, SOCOM, General Thomas <a
href="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"
target="_blank">noted</a> that members of Joint
Special Operations Command were operating in “all the
countries where ISIL currently resides.” (This may <a
href="http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2015/257523.htm" target="_blank">indicate</a>
a special ops deployment to <a
href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/new-counterterrorism-heat-map-shows-isis-branches-spreading-worldwide-n621866"
target="_blank">Pakistan</a>, another country absent
from SOCOM’s 2016 list.) </p>
<p>“[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 <a
href="http://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/986525/joint-press-conference-by-secretary-carter-and-minister-le-drian-in-paris-france"
target="_blank">noted</a> in a relatively rare
official mention of JSOC’s operations at an October
press conference. </p>
<p>A month earlier, he <a
href="http://www.defense.gov/News/Speeches/Speech-View/Article/952252/submitted-statement-on-us-national-security-challenges-and-ongoing-military-ope"
target="_blank">offered</a> even more detail in a
statement before the Senate Armed Services Committee:</p>
<p>”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.”</p>
<p>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.” </p>
<p>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 <a
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYYW8aG_Gag"
target="_blank">said</a>. Last November, however, the
<em>Washington Post</em> <a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/11/25/obama-administration-expands-elite-military-units-powers-to-hunt-foreign-fighters-globally/"
target="_blank">reported</a> 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.” </p>
<p>SOCOM disputes portions of the <em>Post</em> story.
“Neither SOCOM nor any of its subordinate elements
have... been given any expanded powers (authorities),”
SOCOM’s Ken McGraw told <em>TomDispatch</em> by email.
“Any potential operation must still be approved by the
GCC [Geographic Combatant Command]<strong> </strong>commander
[and], if required, approved by the Secretary of Defense
or [the president].”</p>
<p>“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,” <em>TomDispatch</em>
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.”</p>
<p>With Ex-Ops, General Thomas is a “decision-maker when
it comes to going after threats under the task force’s
purview,” <a
href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/11/28/obama-is-expanding-trumps-war-making-powers-on-his-way-out-the-door/"
target="_blank">according</a> to the <em>Washington
Post</em>’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 <a
href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/11/28/elite-u-s-special-operators-build-center-for-perpetual-war-on-terror.html"
target="_blank">claim</a> 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].”)</p>
<p>Last November, Defense Secretary Carter offered an
indication of the frequency of offensive operations
following a visit to Florida’s Hurlburt Field, the <a
href="http://www.hurlburt.af.mil/AboutUs/FactSheets/FactSheets/tabid/4934/Article/204585/hurlburt-field.aspx"
target="_blank">headquarters</a> of Air Force Special
Operations Command. He <a
href="http://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1008142/media-availability-with-secretary-carter-at-eglin-air-force-base-florida"
target="_blank">noted</a> 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.” </p>
<p>In Afghanistan, alone, <a
href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/6dc8c155100b4ee3a7a1a63e7a51b569/its-trumps-war-soon-afghan-progress-far-clear"
target="_blank">Special Operations forces</a>
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, <a
href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1019029/department-of-defense-press-briefing-by-general-nicholson-in-the-pentagon-brief"
target="_blank">according</a> to General John
Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in that country. Some
sources also <a
href="http://www.apalachtimes.com/news/20161210/david-ignatius-obama-exits-with-turf-war-over-killing-terrorists"
target="_blank">suggest</a> 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 <a
href="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"
target="_blank">long-considered plan</a> to put JSOC
in charge of lethal operations and shift the CIA back to
its traditional intelligence duties.<strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>World of Warcraft</strong></p>
<p>“[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,” <a
href="https://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/a-view-from-the-ct-foxhole-an-interview-with-ltgr-charles-t-cleveland-former-commanding-general-usasoc"
target="_blank">said</a> 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.” </p>
<p>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. <strong> </strong></p>
<p>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 <a
href="https://theintercept.com/2015/09/09/u-s-special-forces-expand-training-allies-histories-abuse/"
target="_blank">cited</a> for human rights abuses by
the U.S. State Department. Last year in Africa, where
Special Operations forces <a
href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176223/"
target="_blank">utilize</a> nearly 20 different
programs and activities -- from training exercises to
security cooperation engagements -- these included <a
href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252655.htm"
target="_blank">Burkina Faso</a>, <a
href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252657.htm"
target="_blank">Burundi</a>, <a
href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252661.htm"
target="_blank">Cameroon</a>, <a
href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252669.htm"
target="_blank">Democratic Republic of Congo</a>, <a
href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252675.htm"
target="_blank">Djibouti</a>, <a
href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252693.htm"
target="_blank">Kenya</a>, <a
href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252703.htm"
target="_blank">Mali</a>, <a
href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252705.htm"
target="_blank">Mauritania</a>, <a
href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252713.htm"
target="_blank">Niger</a>, <a
href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252715.htm"
target="_blank">Nigeria</a>, <a
href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252737.htm"
target="_blank">Tanzania</a>, and <a
href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2015/af/252741.htm"
target="_blank">Uganda</a>, among others.</p>
<p>In 2014, for example, more than 4,800 elite troops took
part in just one type of such activities -- <a
href="https://theintercept.com/2016/09/08/documents-show-u-s-military-expands-reach-of-special-operations-programs/"
target="_blank">Joint Combined Exchange Training</a>
(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 <a
href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR350.html"
target="_blank">analysis</a> 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, <a
href="http://jsou.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=9143421"
target="_blank">noted</a> that “BPC has in the past
consumed vast resources for little return.”</p>
<p>Despite these results and larger strategic failures in
<a
href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/08/america-war-greater-middle-east-160803141910584.html"
target="_blank">Iraq</a>, <a
href="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"
target="_blank">Afghanistan</a>, and <a
href="https://theintercept.com/2016/04/23/andrew-bacevich-and-americas-long-misguided-war-to-control-the-greater-middle-east/"
target="_blank">Libya</a>, 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%<strong>
</strong>drop compared to last year’s total, 2016
remains in the upper range of the Obama years, which saw
deployments to <a
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/03/AR2010060304965.html"
target="_blank">75</a> nations in 2010, <a
href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175426/"
target="_blank">120</a> in 2011, <a
href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175794/tomgram%3A_nick_turse,_secret_wars_and_black_ops_blowback/"
target="_blank">134</a> in 2013, and <a
href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175945/tomgram%3A_nick_turse,_a_shadow_war_in_150_countries/"
target="_blank">133</a> in 2014, before peaking at <a
href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176060/tomgram%3A_nick_turse,_success,_failure,_and_the_%22finest_warriors_who_ever_went_into_combat%22/"
target="_blank">147</a> 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.”</p>
<p>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 <em>TomDispatch</em> on the
subject. </p>
<p>“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,” <a
href="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"
target="_blank">reads</a> an October 2016 report
released by the Virginia-based think tank CNA. (That
report emerged from a conference <a
href="http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/cna-report-special-ops-next-president"
target="_blank">attended</a> by six former special
operations commanders, a former assistant secretary of
defense, and dozens of active-duty special operators.)</p>
<p><a
href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/images/managed/sofmap3baltic_large.jpg"
target="_blank"><img
src="cid:part74.A19603B6.E501F062@freedomarchives.org"
alt=""></a><br>
<em>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)</em></p>
<p><a
href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/images/managed/sofmap3baltic_large.jpg"
target="_blank">CLICK TO ENLARGE</a></p>
<p><strong>The American Age of the Commando</strong></p>
<p>Last month, before the Senate Armed Services Committee,
<a href="https://www.cnas.org/people/shawn-brimley"
target="_blank">Shawn Brimley</a>, 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, <a
href="http://www.armed-services.senate.gov/download/brimley_12-06-16"
target="_blank">echoed</a> 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 <a
href="https://defense360.csis.org/special-operations-forces-let-sof-be-sof/"
target="_blank">published</a> in December, <a
href="https://share-ng.sandia.gov/news/resources/news_releases/tannenbaum_aps/#.WF0XAH2E2xY"
target="_blank">Kristen Hajduk</a>, 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.</p>
<p>While Donald Trump has claimed that the U.S. military
as a whole is “<a
href="http://time.com/4483355/commander-chief-forum-clinton-trump-intrepid/"
target="_blank">depleted</a>” and has <a
href="https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/national-defense/"
target="_blank">called</a> 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 <a
href="http://nypost.com/2016/12/15/former-navy-seal-will-abandon-senate-run-to-join-trump-cabinet/"
target="_blank">nominate</a> a former <a
href="https://theintercept.com/2016/12/20/trumps-pick-for-interior-secretary-was-caught-in-pattern-of-fraud-at-seal-team-6/"
target="_blank">Navy SEAL</a> to serve as his
secretary of the interior, Trump has offered few
indications of how he might employ special operators who
are currently serving.<strong> </strong></p>
<p>“Drone strikes,” he <a
href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/donald-trump-terrorism-speech-227025"
target="_blank">announced</a> 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
<a
href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?419634-1/presidentelect-trump-holds-victory-rally-fayetteville-north-carolina"
target="_blank">told</a> the crowd. </p>
<p>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 <a
href="http://www.defenseone.com/business/2013/10/exclusive-interview-dia-director-flynn-why-al-qaeda-still-growth-market/72794/"
target="_blank">JSOC</a> 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 <em>Wall Street
Journal</em> <a
href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/pentagon-prepares-tougher-options-on-fighting-militants-to-show-trump-team-1481330246"
target="_blank">reports</a> that the Pentagon is
crafting proposals to reduce “White House oversight of
operational decisions” while “moving some tactical
authority back to the Pentagon.” <strong> </strong></p>
<p>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 <a
href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/12/06/remarks-president-administrations-approach-counterterrorism"
target="_blank">told</a> a crowd <a
href="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"
target="_blank">packed</a> 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. </p>
<p>“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, <a
href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176191/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_killing_people%2C_breaking_things%2C_and_america%27s_winless_wars"
target="_blank">according</a> 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.</p>
<p>The Obama era has indeed proven to be the “<a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/opinion/sunday/welcome-to-the-age-of-the-commando.html"
target="_blank">age of the commando</a>.” 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 <a
href="https://theintercept.com/2016/07/11/in-africa-u-s-military-sees-enemies-everywhere/"
target="_blank">spread</a> across the <a
href="http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/new-counterterrorism-heat-map-shows-isis-branches-spreading-worldwide-n621866"
target="_blank">Greater Middle East</a> and <a
href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176223/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_washington%27s_america-first_commandos_in_africa"
target="_blank">Africa</a>. </p>
<p>President-elect Donald Trump <a
href="http://fusion.net/story/369006/trump-obama-dismantle-legacy-president/"
target="_blank">appears</a> poised to <a
href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/11/13575668/barack-obama-legacy-donald-trump"
target="_blank">obliterate</a> much of the <a
href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/12/11/trump-vows-no-wrecking-ball-to-obama-legacy-but-signals-big-changes.html"
target="_blank">Obama legacy</a>, from the president’s
<a
href="http://www.npr.org/2016/12/16/505811920/trump-promised-to-repeal-obamacare-meets-with-a-plan-architect"
target="_blank">signature healthcare law</a> to his <a
href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-epa-idUSKBN13Y183"
target="_blank">environmental regulations</a>, not to
mention changing course when it comes to foreign policy,
including in relations with <a
href="http://www.vox.com/world/2016/12/18/13921962/trump-obama-china-russia-policy"
target="_blank">China</a>, <a
href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-17/in-trump-era-israel-sees-opportunity-to-shift-iran-approach"
target="_blank">Iran</a>, <a
href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-17/in-trump-era-israel-sees-opportunity-to-shift-iran-approach"
target="_blank">Israel</a>, and <a
href="http://www.vox.com/world/2016/12/18/13921962/trump-obama-china-russia-policy"
target="_blank">Russia</a>. 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.</p>
<p><em>Nick Turse is the managing editor of </em><a
href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176214/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_life%27s_no_picnic_in_trump%27s_secret_%28service%29_garden/"
target="_blank">TomDispatch</a>,<em> a fellow at the
Nation Institute, and a contributing writer for the </em>Intercept<em>.
His book</em> Tomorrow's Battlefield: U.S. Proxy Wars
and Secret Ops in Africa<em> received an </em><a
href="https://www.newark.rutgers.edu/news/ru-n-faculty-and-alumni-win-prestigous-2016-american-book-award"
target="_blank"><em>American Book Award</em></a><em>
in 2016. His latest book is </em><a
href="https://www.amazon.com/Next-Time-They%C2%92ll-Come-Count/dp/1608466485?ie=UTF8&ref_=nosim&tag=tomdispatch-20"
target="_blank">Next Time They’ll Come to Count the
Dead: War and Survival in South Sudan</a><em>. His
website is </em><a href="http://www.nickturse.com/"
target="_blank">NickTurse.com</a>.</p>
<p><em>Follow </em>TomDispatch<em> on <a
href="https://twitter.com/TomDispatch"
target="_blank">Twitter</a> and join us on <a
href="http://www.facebook.com/tomdispatch"
target="_blank">Facebook</a>. Check out the newest
Dispatch Book, John Feffer's dystopian novel </em><a
href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1608467244/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20"
target="_blank">Splinterlands</a><em>, as well as Nick
Turse’s </em><a
href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608466485/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20"
target="_blank">Next Time They’ll Come to Count the
Dead</a><em>, and Tom Engelhardt's latest book, </em><a
href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608463656/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20"
target="_blank">Shadow Government: Surveillance,
Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a
Single-Superpower World</a><em>.</em></p>
<p>Copyright 2017 Nick Turse</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.freedomarchives.org">www.freedomarchives.org</a>
</div>
</body>
</html>