Special Forces and Smart Intelligence

Covert Forces Trumpet Successes In War On Terrorr, (Washington Times)…Claude Salhani, Oct 31, 2008.

…Covert action remains a critical instrument in the war on terror. And it is thanks to a number of covert operations that the United States, according to a high-ranking Pentagon official, has made headway in the war on terrorism.

Fighting terrorism necessitates a two-pronged approach – covert action by special forces and smart intelligence.

By the end of this decade or probably early in the next decade, special operations forces will essentially be twice as large as they were at the beginning of the decade. The numbers of special forces troops will increase from the current levels of about 15,000 to somewhere around 64,000. The budget for the Special Operations Command will more than double in the next year.

This is the largest growth in special operations force history. What the United States is building is the special operations component of the global war on terrorism for the future, according to Mr. Vickers.

At the moment, the United States maintains special operations forces in some 60 countries. The vast majority – 80 percent – of those right now are concentrated in the greater Middle East or the United States Central Command area of responsibility; the bulk of those of course in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is one of the reasons why the United States is expanding its force significantly.