First in, Right Choice: The Employment of Special Operations Forces in America's War Against Osama Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda, and Global Terrorism

摘要

Americans are at war. Americans are at war in a country where the former Soviet Union suffered its most disastrous military defeat, Afghanistan. There is a significant contrast between the misfortunes of the Soviet Army and the successes attained thus far by the different elements of United States Central Command. The salient difference is that the United States is not acting as a foreign aggressor seeking to impose its will upon a beleaguered nation. Conversely, the United States stands as a nation acting in concert with other nations opposed to the ubiquitous threat of global terrorism. U. S. military action in Afghanistan has been limited solely to the prudent application of military force which has, as of this moment, forced the capitulation of the Taliban and seeks to annihilate the Al-Qaeda terrorist network. This is a struggle that America and its allies must win in order to maintain, at the very least, regional stability. It is a war that will continue across the Middle East. In Afghanistan, the United States is winning, with much of the hard-earned success being attributed to small cadres of Special Operations Forces. Special Operations Forces (SOF) provide the operational CINC the flexibility to respond to a multitude of contingencies across the spectrum of armed conflict. SOF personnel are mature, first rate, superbly equipped, and intensely trained professionals who bring with them a regional focus to the area of operations. It is therefore incumbent upon the operational CINC to understand and appreciate fully the vast potential such forces bring to the strategic as well as the operational playing field. Though many of the battles thus far have been and will continue to be fought clandestinely, the outcomes result in obvious strategic victories. Clearly, the present war against global terrorists warrants the necessity for the predominant reliance upon U. S. Special Operations Forces.