This report from al Jazeera on US special operations forces if true, I found interesting, and if true, seems the US, IMHO, has gotten it right regarding the type of conflicts to be involved in in the 21st century.
Very unlikely hugh tank battles on open spaces as WW2, supported by armies in support, or as late as our actions against the Iraqis in two conflicts..
I wonder if other nations are also following suit in the same type of #'s..anyway, for those who are interested in the military of, as well as the costs of these endeavors I recommend the article as enlightening, for me anyway.
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english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/08/20118485414768821.html-----------------------------------------
[Click on link to read complete article]
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US special forces, like the Navy Seals, are now more actively engaged in more overseas operations[GALLO/GETTY]
Somewhere on this planet a US commando is carrying out a mission. Now, say that 70 times and you're done ... for the day.
Without the knowledge of much of the general American public, a secret force within the US military is undertaking operations in a majority of the world's countries.
This Pentagon power elite is waging a global war whose size and scope has generally been ignored by the mainstream media, and deserves further attention.
After a US Navy SEAL put a bullet in Osama bin Laden's chest and another in his head, one of the most secretive black-ops units in the US military suddenly found its mission in the public spotlight. It was atypical.
While it's well known that US Special Operations forces are deployed in the war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq, and it's increasingly apparent that such units operate in murkier conflict zones like Yemen and Somalia, the full extent of their worldwide war has often remained out of the public scrutiny.
Last year, Karen DeYoung and Greg Jaffe of the Washington Post reported that US Special Operations forces were deployed in 75 countries, up from 60 at the end of the Bush presidency.
By the end of this year, US Special Operations Command spokesman Colonel Tim Nye told me, that number will likely reach 120. "We do a lot of travelling - a lot more than Afghanistan or Iraq," he said recently.
This global presence - in about 60 per cent of the world's nations and far larger than previously acknowledged - is evidence of a rising clandestine Pentagon power elite waging a secret war in all corners of the world.
The rise of the military's secret military
Born of a failed 1980 raid to rescue American hostages in Iran, in which eight US service members died, US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) was established in 1987. Having spent the post-Vietnam years distrusted and starved for money by the regular military, special operations forces suddenly had a single home, a stable budget, and a four-star commander as their advocate."
