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 …
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 …