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AZJoe
01-10-2017, 02:48 PM
Year of the Commando: U.S. Special Operations Forces Deploy to 138 Nations, 70% of the World’s Countries
Special Forces development and their increasingly frenetic deployment globally – from an already impressive 60 countries a year in 2009 to a staggering 138 countries in 2016. http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176227/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_special_ops%2C_shadow_war s%2C_and_the_golden_age_of_the_gray_zone/%23more


http://www.tomdispatch.com/images/managed/sofmap1_small.jpg

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 …

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. … 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 … were deployed to 138 countries in 2016, according to figures supplied to TomDispatch by U.S. Special Operations Command. …


http://www.tomdispatch.com/images/managed/sofmap2_small.jpg

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. … 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%2Fwhi tehouse.gov%2Ffiles%2Fdocuments%2FLegal_Policy_Rep ort.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.” …


http://www.tomdispatch.com/images/managed/sofmap3baltic_small.jpg

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 … 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.” …

Last November, Defense Secretary Carter offered an indication of the frequency of offensive operations … 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.”...

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. …

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 … and in its baseline budget … It’s no secret that the tempo of operations has also increased dramatically …

goldenequity
01-10-2017, 04:34 PM
Commandos?
They are emissaries for MIplex.
One's mind immediately goes to the question:
'What US Military purpose do they serve?'

Perhaps none. Call me skeptical.

Perhaps their purpose is strictly as 'interface'..
'errand boys' in camo; highly skilled in MANY 'arts'...
who simply TAKE orders..
to develop/enforce global contracts and contractors
in a worldwide criminal racket infesting and networking
with other thugs, corporations, governments and rackets.
If we've learned ANYTHING the scam is to 'militarize' the cost
and 'privatize' the gain.
MIplex is about money.
MIplex is about corporate power.
It's not simply about 'Military'... it's more of a 'cover'
for the other two.
Bring.
Them.
Home.

AngryCanadian
01-10-2017, 06:07 PM
But Russia is the Aggressor:rolleyes:

enhanced_deficit
01-11-2017, 12:04 AM
But morale is pretty bad looking at latest Military Times news out today.
A total and dismal failure of strategy by DGP's masters.

http://cdn.static-economist.com/sites/default/files/images/2015/11/blogs/graphic-detail/20151121_woc539.png

Obama Years: A Violent Chapter in World History (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?498046-Obama-Years-A-Dark-Chapter-In-World-History&)

TheTexan
01-11-2017, 12:33 AM
http://www.tomdispatch.com/images/managed/sofmap2_small.jpg

Very cool! Does anyone know if the map markers are the precise locations where these secret operatives were deployed? Or is it more of a general location type of thing.

TheTexan
01-11-2017, 12:35 AM
Tajikistan

Probably fake news, there's no way that's actually a country

AZJoe
12-15-2017, 07:54 AM
The Wider and Wider War (http://www.tomdispatch.com)

America’s Special Operations forces increasingly act as our “diplomats” globally, training and bolstering allies and attempting to undermine enemies more or less everywhere. We’ve never seen anything like it … one of the major developments of our era: the phenomenal growth and historically unprecedented deployment of this country’s special operators in an atmosphere of permanent war (http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176361/) in Washington.

In the post-9/11 years, the once “elite” units of the U.S. military, perhaps a few thousand Green Berets and other personnel, have become a force of approximately 70,000. In other words, that secretive crew cocooned inside the U.S. military has grown as large as or larger than (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_military_and_parami litary_personnel) the militaries of countries such as Argentina, Canada, Chile, Croatia, South Africa, or Sweden. Now, imagine that those Special Operations forces, as Turse has again been reporting (http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176300/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_the_commandos_of_everywhe re/) for years, are not only being dispatched to more countries annually than ever before, but to more countries than any nation has ever deployed its military personnel to. …

We’re talking … about the deployment of special ops teams or personnel to 149 of the 190 (or so) nations on this planet in 2017. You can, of course, find articles (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/19/world/africa/trump-special-forces-navy-seals.html) about our special operators in the media, but … read like so many publicity releases (https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2017/11/09/veterans-day-military-themed-tv-shows/841986001/) for such forces. …

“We don’t know exactly where we’re at in the world, militarily, and what we’re doing,” said (http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/23/politics/niger-troops-lawmakers/index.html) Senator Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, …

General Raymond Thomas, the chief of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), offered some clues about the planetwide reach of America’s most elite troops. “We operate and fight in every corner of the world,” he boasted (https://www.socom.mil/pages/posture-statement-sasc.aspx). “Rather than a mere ‘break-glass-in-case-of-war’ force, we are now proactively engaged across the ‘battle space’ of the Geographic Combatant Commands… providing key integrating and enabling capabilities to support their campaigns and operations.”

In 2017, U.S. Special Operations forces, including Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets, deployed to 149 countries around the world, according to figures provided to TomDispatch by U.S. Special Operations Command. That’s about 75% of the nations on the planet …

Most Americans would be amazed to learn that U.S. Special Operations Forces have been deployed to three quarters of the nations on the planet,” observes William Hartung, the director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy. “There is little or no transparency as to what they are doing in these countries and whether their efforts are promoting security or provoking further tension and conflict.”

the Trump administration has embraced their use in the style of the former president, while upping the ante even further. President Trump has also provided military commanders greater authority to launch attacks (http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-soldiers-niger-20171018-story.html) in quasi-war zones like Yemen and Somalia. According to (http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/01/donald-trump-is-pushing-americas-special-forces-past-the-breaking-point-jsoc-navy-seal/) Micah Zenko, a national security expert and Whitehead Senior Fellow at the think tank Chatham House, those forces conducted five times as many lethal counterterrorism missions in such non-battlefield countries in the Trump administration’s first six months in office as they did during Obama’s final six months. …

This year, U.S. special operators were killed in Iraq (http://thefallen.militarytimes.com/special-warfare-operator-1st-class-charles-h-keating-iv/6568668), Syria (http://thefallen.militarytimes.com/spc-etienne-j-murphy/6568712), Afghanistan (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/11/05/pentagon-identifies-special-forces-soldier-killed-in-afghanistan/?utm_term=.f79fac4a885a),Yemen (https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/27/517496770/father-of-navy-seal-killed-in-yemen-raid-has-harsh-words-for-trump), Somalia (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/world/africa/somalia-navy-seal-kyle-milliken.html), and the Sahelian nations of Niger (http://thehill.com/policy/defense/358427-us-forces-in-deadly-niger-ambush-were-on-kill-or-capture-mission-report) and Mali (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/29/us/politics/navy-seals-team-6-strangle-green-beret-mali.html?_r=0) (although reports indicate that a Green Beret who died in that country was likely strangled by U.S. Navy SEALs). …

For the past two years, in fact, the U.S. has maintained (https://www.socom.mil/Pages/posture-statement-hasc.aspx) a Special Operations contingent in almost every nation on Russia’s western border. “[W]e’ve had persistent presence in every country – every NATO country and others on the border with Russia doing phenomenal things with our allies, helping them prepare for their threats,” said SOCOM’s Thomas, mentioning the Baltic states as well as Romania, Poland, Ukraine, and Georgia by name. These activities represent, in the words of General Charles Cleveland, chief of U.S. Army Special Operations Command from 2012 to 2015 and now the senior mentor to the Army War College, “undeclared campaigns” by commandos. …

The steady rise in the number of elite operators, missions, and foreign deployments since 9/11 appears in no danger of ending … both Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Republican Senator Joni Ernst, a combat veteran who served in Iraq, [want] to bulk up Special Operations Command yet more. “We have to increase numbers and resources,” Reed insisted (https://www.voanews.com/a/us-officials-special-ops-forces-stretched-breaking-point/4120338.html). This desire to expand Special Operations further comes at a moment when senators like Lindsey Graham continue to acknowledge how remarkably clueless they are about where those elite forces are deployed and what exactly they are doing in far-flung corners of the globe. …

“Almost by definition, the dizzying number of deployments undertaken by U.S. Special Operations forces in recent years would be hard to track. But few in Congress seem to be even making the effort,” …

Swordsmyth
12-15-2017, 01:30 PM
The Wider and Wider War (http://www.tomdispatch.com)

America’s Special Operations forces increasingly act as our “diplomats” globally, training and bolstering allies and attempting to undermine enemies more or less everywhere. We’ve never seen anything like it … one of the major developments of our era: the phenomenal growth and historically unprecedented deployment of this country’s special operators in an atmosphere of permanent war (http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176361/) in Washington.

In the post-9/11 years, the once “elite” units of the U.S. military, perhaps a few thousand Green Berets and other personnel, have become a force of approximately 70,000. In other words, that secretive crew cocooned inside the U.S. military has grown as large as or larger than (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_military_and_parami litary_personnel) the militaries of countries such as Argentina, Canada, Chile, Croatia, South Africa, or Sweden. Now, imagine that those Special Operations forces, as Turse has again been reporting (http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176300/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_the_commandos_of_everywhe re/) for years, are not only being dispatched to more countries annually than ever before, but to more countries than any nation has ever deployed its military personnel to. …

We’re talking … about the deployment of special ops teams or personnel to 149 of the 190 (or so) nations on this planet in 2017. You can, of course, find articles (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/19/world/africa/trump-special-forces-navy-seals.html) about our special operators in the media, but … read like so many publicity releases (https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2017/11/09/veterans-day-military-themed-tv-shows/841986001/) for such forces. …

“We don’t know exactly where we’re at in the world, militarily, and what we’re doing,” said (http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/23/politics/niger-troops-lawmakers/index.html) Senator Lindsey Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, …

General Raymond Thomas, the chief of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), offered some clues about the planetwide reach of America’s most elite troops. “We operate and fight in every corner of the world,” he boasted (https://www.socom.mil/pages/posture-statement-sasc.aspx). “Rather than a mere ‘break-glass-in-case-of-war’ force, we are now proactively engaged across the ‘battle space’ of the Geographic Combatant Commands… providing key integrating and enabling capabilities to support their campaigns and operations.”

In 2017, U.S. Special Operations forces, including Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets, deployed to 149 countries around the world, according to figures provided to TomDispatch by U.S. Special Operations Command. That’s about 75% of the nations on the planet …

Most Americans would be amazed to learn that U.S. Special Operations Forces have been deployed to three quarters of the nations on the planet,” observes William Hartung, the director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy. “There is little or no transparency as to what they are doing in these countries and whether their efforts are promoting security or provoking further tension and conflict.”

the Trump administration has embraced their use in the style of the former president, while upping the ante even further. President Trump has also provided military commanders greater authority to launch attacks (http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-soldiers-niger-20171018-story.html) in quasi-war zones like Yemen and Somalia. According to (http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/01/donald-trump-is-pushing-americas-special-forces-past-the-breaking-point-jsoc-navy-seal/) Micah Zenko, a national security expert and Whitehead Senior Fellow at the think tank Chatham House, those forces conducted five times as many lethal counterterrorism missions in such non-battlefield countries in the Trump administration’s first six months in office as they did during Obama’s final six months. …

This year, U.S. special operators were killed in Iraq (http://thefallen.militarytimes.com/special-warfare-operator-1st-class-charles-h-keating-iv/6568668), Syria (http://thefallen.militarytimes.com/spc-etienne-j-murphy/6568712), Afghanistan (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/11/05/pentagon-identifies-special-forces-soldier-killed-in-afghanistan/?utm_term=.f79fac4a885a),Yemen (https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/27/517496770/father-of-navy-seal-killed-in-yemen-raid-has-harsh-words-for-trump), Somalia (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/world/africa/somalia-navy-seal-kyle-milliken.html), and the Sahelian nations of Niger (http://thehill.com/policy/defense/358427-us-forces-in-deadly-niger-ambush-were-on-kill-or-capture-mission-report) and Mali (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/29/us/politics/navy-seals-team-6-strangle-green-beret-mali.html?_r=0) (although reports indicate that a Green Beret who died in that country was likely strangled by U.S. Navy SEALs). …

For the past two years, in fact, the U.S. has maintained (https://www.socom.mil/Pages/posture-statement-hasc.aspx) a Special Operations contingent in almost every nation on Russia’s western border. “[W]e’ve had persistent presence in every country – every NATO country and others on the border with Russia doing phenomenal things with our allies, helping them prepare for their threats,” said SOCOM’s Thomas, mentioning the Baltic states as well as Romania, Poland, Ukraine, and Georgia by name. These activities represent, in the words of General Charles Cleveland, chief of U.S. Army Special Operations Command from 2012 to 2015 and now the senior mentor to the Army War College, “undeclared campaigns” by commandos. …

The steady rise in the number of elite operators, missions, and foreign deployments since 9/11 appears in no danger of ending … both Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Republican Senator Joni Ernst, a combat veteran who served in Iraq, [want] to bulk up Special Operations Command yet more. “We have to increase numbers and resources,” Reed insisted (https://www.voanews.com/a/us-officials-special-ops-forces-stretched-breaking-point/4120338.html). This desire to expand Special Operations further comes at a moment when senators like Lindsey Graham continue to acknowledge how remarkably clueless they are about where those elite forces are deployed and what exactly they are doing in far-flung corners of the globe. …

“Almost by definition, the dizzying number of deployments undertaken by U.S. Special Operations forces in recent years would be hard to track. But few in Congress seem to be even making the effort,” …

Dude Where's My Troops? Pentagon Loses Track Of at least 44,000 Soldiers (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?517637-Dude-Where-s-My-Troops-Pentagon-Loses-Track-Of-at-least-44-000-Soldiers)