U.S. special forces wage secretive 'small wars' against terrorists

https://archive.is/HVTJJ

President Barack Obama is increasingly calling upon Special Operations forces to carry out so-called "small wars" across the Middle East and Africa to challenge both ISIS and al Qaeda in places where the U.S. maintains a footprint beyond Syria and Iraq.

In his first trip overseas since taking command of U.S. Special Operations a month ago, Gen. Raymond Thomas told a Middle Eastern audience recently that "complex" fails to adequately describe the current security environment. That complexity is leading the Obama administration to expand the use of small teams of Special Operators in various terror hotspots.

Thomas previously served as head of the secretive Joint Special Operations Command -- the unit that includes Navy SEALS, the Army's Delta Force and other covert Special Operations units.

"We are attempting to identify opportunities to expand [Special Operations'] global presence, forward access and relationships to leverage opportunities short of crisis," Thomas said.

He did not offer additional details, but many military officials privately have noted that ISIS came to power and began controlling large swathes of territory, posing a major terror threat, faster than the U.S. could respond. They don't want to see it happen again.

That explains why -- although much of the U.S. response is clearly focused on Iraq and Syria -- Special Ops forces are being asked to prevent both ISIS and al Qaeda from gaining a stronger foothold in places like Libya, Somalia and Yemen. The military characterizes many of the operations as "advising and assisting" local forces with intelligence and overhead surveillance to help identify targets. But in reality there are also many instances of the U.S. conducting direct attack operations on terror targets.

Among the places where "small war" activities are underway:

(continued in article)