From Afghanistan To Somalia, The US' Special Ops Achieves Less With More

At around 11 o’clock that night, four Lockheed MC-130 Combat Talons, turboprop Special Operations aircraft, were flying through a moonless sky from Pakistani into Afghan airspace. On board were 199 Army Rangers with orders to바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트an airstrip.바카라 웹사이트 One hundred miles to the northeast, Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters cruised through the darkness toward Kandahar, carrying Army Delta Force operators and yet more Rangers, heading for a second site.바카라 웹사이트 It was October 19, 2001.바카라 웹사이트 The war in Afghanistan had just begun and U.S. Special Operations forces (SOF) were the tip of the American spear.

Those Rangers parachuted into and then swarmed the airfield, engaging the enemy -- a single armed fighter, as it turned out -- and killing him.바카라 웹사이트 At that second site, the residence of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, the special operators apparently바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트no resistance at all, even though several Americans were wounded due to friendly fire and a helicopter crash.

In 2001, U.S. special operators were targeting just two enemy forces: al-Qaeda and the Taliban.바카라 웹사이트 In 2010, his first full year in office, President Barack Obama바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트Congress that U.S. forces were still “actively pursuing and engaging remaining al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.”바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트a recent Pentagon report to Congress, American troops are battling more than 10 times that number of militant groups, including the still-undefeated Taliban, the Haqqani network, an Islamic State affiliate known as ISIS-Khorasan, and various “other insurgent networks.”

After more than 16 years of combat, U.S. Special Operations forces remain the tip of the spear in Afghanistan, where they continue to carry out counterterrorism missions.바카라 웹사이트 In fact, from June 1st to November 24th last year,바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트to that Pentagon report, members of Special Operations Joint Task Force-Afghanistan conducted 2,175 ground operations “in which they enabled or advised” Afghan commandos.

“During the Obama administration the use of Special Operations forces increased dramatically, as if their use was a sort of magical, all-purpose solution for fighting terrorism,” William Hartung, the director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy, pointed out.바카라 웹사이트 “The ensuing years have proven this assumption to be false.바카라 웹사이트 There are many impressive, highly skilled personnel involved in special operations on behalf of the United States, but the problems they are being asked to solve often do not have military solutions.바카라 웹사이트 Despite this fact, the Trump administration is doubling down on this approach in Afghanistan, even though the strategy has not prevented the spread of terrorist organizations and may in fact be counterproductive.”바카라 웹사이트

Global Commandos

Since U.S. commandos went to war in 2001, the size of Special Operations Command has doubled from about바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트personnel to 70,000 today.바카라 웹사이트 As their numbers have grown, so has their global reach.바카라 웹사이트 As바카라 웹사이트TomDispatch바카라 웹사이트last month, they were deployed to 149 nations in 2017, or about 75% of the countries on the planet, a record-setting year.바카라 웹사이트 It topped 2016라이브 바카라 138 nations under the Obama administration and dwarfed the numbers from the final years of the Bush administration.바카라 웹사이트 As the scope of deployments has expanded, special operators also came to be spread ever more equally across the planet.

In October 2001, Afghanistan was the sole focus of commando combat missions.바카라 웹사이트 On March 19, 2003, special operators바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트the first shots in the invasion of Iraq as their helicopter teams attacked Iraqi border posts near Jordan and Saudi Arabia.바카라 웹사이트 By 2006, as the war in Afghanistan ground on and the conflict in바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트continued to morph into a raging set of insurgencies, 85% of U.S. commandos were being바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트to the Greater Middle East.바카라 웹사이트

As this decade dawned in 2010, the numbers hadn’t changed appreciably: 81% of all special operators abroad were still in that region.

Eight years later, however, the situation is markedly different, according to figures provided to바카라 웹사이트TomDispatch바카라 웹사이트by U.S. Special Operations Command.바카라 웹사이트 Despite바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트that the Islamic State has been바카라 웹사이트, the U.S. remains embroiled in wars in바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트and바카라 웹사이트, as well as in Afghanistan and바카라 웹사이트, yet only 54% of special operators deployed overseas were sent to the Greater Middle East in 2017.바카라 웹사이트 In fact, since 2006, deployments have been on the rise across the rest of the world.바카라 웹사이트 In Latin America, the figure crept up from 3% to 4.39%.바카라 웹사이트 In the Pacific region, from 7% to 7.99%.바카라 웹사이트 But the striking increases have been in Europe and Africa.바카라 웹사이트

In 2006, just 3% of all commandos deployed overseas were operating in Europe.바카라 웹사이트 Last year, that number was just north of 16%. 바카라 웹사이트“Outside of Russia and Belarus we train with virtually every country in Europe either bilaterally or through various multinational events,” Major Michael Weisman, a spokesman for U.S. Special Operations Command Europe, told바카라 웹사이트TomDispatch.바카라 웹사이트 “The persistent presence of U.S. SOF alongside our allies sends a clear message of U.S. commitment to our allies and the defense of our NATO alliance.”바카라 웹사이트 For the past two years, in fact, the U.S. has maintained a Special Operations contingent바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트on Russia라이브 바카라 western border.바카라 웹사이트 As Special Operations Command chief General Raymond Thomas put it last year, “[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.”

Africa, however, has seen the most significant increase in special ops deployments. 바카라 웹사이트In 2006, the figure for that continent was just 1%; as 2017 ended, it stood at 16.61%.바카라 웹사이트 In other words, more commandos are operating there than in any region except the Middle East. As I recently바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트at바카라 웹사이트Vice News, Special Operations forces were active in at least 33 nations across that continent last year.

The situation in one of those nations, Somalia, in many ways mirrors in microcosm the 16-plus years of U.S. operations in Afghanistan.바카라 웹사이트 Not long after the 9/11 attacks, a senior Pentagon official바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트that the Afghan invasion might drive militants out of that country and into African nations.바카라 웹사이트 “Terrorists associated with al-Qaeda and indigenous terrorist groups have been and continue to be a presence in this region,” he said. “These terrorists will, of course, threaten U.S. personnel and facilities.”바카라 웹사이트

When바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트about actual transnational dangers, that official pointed to Somali militants, only to eventually admit that even the most extreme Islamists there “really have not engaged in acts of terrorism outside Somalia.”바카라 웹사이트 Similarly, when questioned about connections between Osama bin Laden라이브 바카라 core al-Qaeda group and African extremists, he offered only the most tenuous links, like bin Laden라이브 바카라 “salute” to Somali militants who killed U.S. troops during the infamous 1993바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트incident.

Nonetheless, U.S. commandos reportedly began바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트in Somalia in 2001,바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트by AC-130 gunships followed in 2007, and 2011 saw the beginning of U.S. drone strikes aimed at militants from al-Shabaab, a terror group that didn’t even exist until바카라 웹사이트.바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트to figures compiled by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the U.S. carried out between 32 and 36 drone strikes and at least 9 to 13 ground attacks in Somalia between 2001 and 2016.바카라 웹사이트

Last spring, President Donald Trump바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트Obama-era restrictions on offensive operations in that country.바카라 웹사이트 Allowing U.S. forces more discretion in conducting missions there, he opened up the possibility of more frequent airstrikes and commando raids.바카라 웹사이트 The 2017 numbers reflect just that.바카라 웹사이트 The U.S. carried out바카라 웹사이트, at least equaling if not exceeding the cumulative number of바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트over the previous 15 years.바카라 웹사이트 (And it took the United States only a day to바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트such strikes this year.)

“President Trump's decision to make parts of southern Somalia an ‘area of active hostilities’ gave [U.S. Africa Command or AFRICOM] the leeway to carry out strikes at an increased rate because it no longer had to run their proposed operations through the White House national security bureaucratic process,” said Jack Serle, an expert on U.S. counterterrorism operations in Somalia.바카라 웹사이트 He was quick to point out that AFRICOM claims the uptick in operations is due to more targets presenting themselves, but he suspects that AFRICOM may be attempting to cripple al-Shabaab before an African Union peacekeeping force is withdrawn and Somalia라이브 바카라 untested military is left to fight the militants without thousands of additional African troops.

In addition to the 30-plus airstrikes in 2017, there were at least three U.S. ground attacks.바카라 웹사이트 In one of the latter,바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트by AFRICOM as “an advise-and-assist operation alongside members of the Somali National Army,” Navy SEAL Kyle Milliken was killed and two U.S. personnel were injured during a firefight with al-Shabaab militants.바카라 웹사이트 In another ground operation in August, according to an바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트by the바카라 웹사이트Daily Beast,바카라 웹사이트Special Operations forces took part in a massacre of바카라 웹사이트10 Somali civilians.바카라 웹사이트 (The U.S. military is now investigating.)

As in Afghanistan, the U.S. has been militarily engaged in Somalia since 2001 and, as in Afghanistan, despite more than a decade and a half of operations, the number of militant groups being targeted has only increased.바카라 웹사이트 U.S. commandos are now battling at least two terror groups -- al-Shabaab and a local바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트-- as drone strikes바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트in the last year and Somalia became an ever-hotter war zone.바카라 웹사이트 Today,바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트to AFRICOM, militants바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트“training camps” and바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트“safe havens throughout Somalia [and] the region.”바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트

“The under-reported, 16-year U.S. intervention in Somalia has followed a similar pattern to the larger U.S. war in Afghanistan: an influx of special forces and a steady increase in air strikes has not only failed to stop terrorism, but both al-Shabaab and a local affiliate of ISIS have grown during this time period,” said William Hartung of the Center for International Policy.바카라 웹사이트 “It's another case of failing to learn the lessons of the United States' policy of endless war: that military action is as likely or more likely to spark terrorist action as to reduce or prevent it.”

Somalia is no anomaly.바카라 웹사이트 Across the continent, despite escalating operations by commandos as well as conventional American forces and their local allies and proxies, Washington라이브 바카라 enemies continue to proliferate.바카라 웹사이트 As바카라 웹사이트Vice Newsreported, a 2012 Special Operations Command strategic planning document바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트five prime terror groups on the continent. An October바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트counted seven by name -- the Islamic State, Ansar al-Sharia, al-Qaida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, al-Murabitun, Boko Haram, the Lord라이브 바카라 Resistance Army, and al-Shabaab -- in addition to “other violent extremist organizations.”바카라 웹사이트 The Pentagon라이브 바카라 Africa Center for Strategic Studies now offers a바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트of 21 “active militant Islamist groups” on the continent.바카라 웹사이트 In fact, as바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트at바카라 웹사이트The Intercept, the full number of terrorist organizations and other “illicit groups” may already have been closer to 50 by 2015.

Saving SOF through Proxy War?

As wars and interventions have multiplied, as U.S. commandos have spread across the planet, and as terror groups have proliferated, the tempo of operations has jumped dramatically.바카라 웹사이트 This, in turn, has raised바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트among think-tank experts, special ops supporters, and members of Congress about the바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트on those elite바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트of such constant deployments and growing pressure for more of them.바카라 웹사이트 “Most SOF units are employed to their sustainable limit,” General Thomas told members of Congress last spring. “Despite growing demand for SOF, we must prioritize the sourcing of these demands as we face a rapidly changing security environment.”바카라 웹사이트 Yet the number of countries with special ops deployments hit a new record last year.

At a November 2017 conference on special operations held in Washington, influential members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees acknowledged growing strains on the force. For Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, the solution is, as he바카라 웹사이트, “to increase numbers and resources.”바카라 웹사이트

While Republican Senator Joni Ernst did not바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트the possibility of adding to already war-swollen levels of commandos, she much prefers to farm out some operations to other forces: “A lot of the missions we see, especially if you... look at Afghanistan, where we have the train, advise, and assist missions, if we can move some of those into conventional forces and away from SOF, I think that라이브 바카라 what we need to do.”바카라 웹사이트 Secretary of Defense James Mattis has already바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트that such moves are planned.바카라 웹사이트 Leigh Claffey, Ernst라이브 바카라 press secretary, told바카라 웹사이트TomDispatch바카라 웹사이트that the senator also favors “turning over operations to capable indigenous forces.” 바카라 웹사이트

Ernst라이브 바카라 proxies approach has, in fact, already been applied across the planet, perhaps nowhere more explicitly than in Syria in 2017.바카라 웹사이트 There, SOCOM라이브 바카라 Thomas바카라 웹사이트, U.S. proxies, including both Syrian Arabs and Kurds, “a surrogate force of 50,000 people... are working for us and doing our bidding.” They were indeed the ones who carried out the bulk of the fighting and dying during the campaign against the Islamic State and the capture of its capital, Raqqa.바카라 웹사이트

However, that campaign, which바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트almost all the territory ISIS held in Syria, was exceptional.바카라 웹사이트 U.S. proxies elsewhere have fared far worse in recent years.바카라 웹사이트 That 50,000-strong Syrian surrogate army had to be raised, in fact, after the U.S.-trained Iraqi army, built during the 2003-2011 American occupation of that country,바카라 웹사이트바카라 웹사이트in the face of relatively small numbers of Islamic State militants in 2014.바카라 웹사이트 In Mali, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Honduras, and elsewhere, U.S.-trained officers have carried out바카라 웹사이트, overthrowing their respective governments.바카라 웹사이트 Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, where special ops forces have been working with local allies for more than 15 years, even elite security forces are still largely incapable of operating on their own.바카라 웹사이트 According to the Pentagon라이브 바카라 2017 semi-annual report to Congress, Afghan commandos needed U.S. support for an overwhelming number of their missions, independently carrying out only 17% of their 2,628 operations between June 1, 2017, and November 24, 2017.

Indeed, with Special Operations forces acting, in the words of SOCOM라이브 바카라 Thomas, as “the main effort, or major supporting effort for U.S. [violent extremist organization]-focused operations in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, across the Sahel of Africa, the Philippines, and Central/South America,” it라이브 바카라 unlikely that foreign proxies or conventional American forces will shoulder enough of the load to relieve the strain on the commandos.바카라 웹사이트

Bulking up Special Operations Command is not, however, a solution, according to the Center for International Policy라이브 바카라 Hartung. 바카라 웹사이트“There is no persuasive security rationale for having U.S. Special Operations forces involved in an astonishing 149 countries, given that the results of these missions are just as likely to provoke greater conflict as they are to reduce it, in large part because a U.S. military presence is too often used as a recruiting tool by local terrorist organizations,” he told바카라 웹사이트TomDispatch.바카라 웹사이트 “The solution to the problem of the high operational tempo of U.S. Special Operations forces is not to recruit and train more Special Operations forces. It is to rethink why they are being used so intensively in the first place.”바카라 웹사이트

This article first appeared on.

Nick Turse is the managing editor of바카라 웹사이트,바카라 웹사이트a fellow at the Nation Institute, and a contributing writer for the바카라 웹사이트Intercept. His website is바카라 웹사이트.