Special Forces are America's tool of choice

The MK-19 spits out 50 grenades a minute. The humvee has been modified almost beyond recognition. The top has been sawed off; the doors and windshield removed for quick access, egress, and 360-degree firing positions. It looks like a giant convertible, with its exposed gun mount jutting up in the middle like a flagpole.

Just outside the front gate of their modest new base, Gadoury's men park the humveee while Sean heads over to the mortar pit with a bunch of illumination rounds. The plan is for the Colombians to get things started, lighting things up with the illumination rounds. Meanwhile, Art primes the MK-19, then sets an M203 grenade launcher and an M240 machine gun on the ground. The Colombians are nearby with their .50-caliber machine guns. This is some serious firepower!

President Bush's global war on terrorism, America's Special Forces are on the front lines. But as the president said in describing that war after the September 11 attacks, the front lines would not always be readily visible, with many battles being fought in the shadows, far away from the bright lights of the television cameras.

Around the globe, from Afghanistan to the Philippines, U.S. Special Forces are either fighting, getting ready to fight, or teaching friendly forces the arcane and deadly arts of war. In Afghanistan, it was Special Forces working with militias like the Northern Alliance that sent the Taliban fleeing in panic into a warren of mountain redoubts.

If war comes in Iraq, Special Forces will play a key role early on, lighting up targets for smart bombs in the desert outside Baghdad and attacking Iraqi missile launchers before they can maneuver to fire.

The new missions mean more money--lots of it. This year, Bush plans to increase the budget of all the Pentagon's Special Operations forces by 20 percent, to $6 billion.

Link - www.usnews.com...

Brave words and sound propaganda; but Special forces do not win wars and often come terribly unstuck -witness the Teheran hostages and 1980. Or the SAS at the Falklands.
The cynic might ask if friendly-fire detectors are among this wondrous equipment (Afghanistan..or Fort Bragg, for that matter, suggest they might help).
Brave men -all of them, of any country, no doubt: but they don't win wars (although they may have great value in scaring the enemy - arguably a double-edged sword as their cock-up's assume greater significance).
It's the Poor Bloody Infantry who win the wars,.

Hey only politicians "win" wars, everybody else looses.

Special Forces are the pointy end of the spear. They lead the way for others by going in first and doing the dirty work. It's a total team effort, so they don't win the war...but they are like the QB. The QB needs others to win the game too while leading the team.

The one thing the general public doesn't understand is that every service has special forces. The Navy has SEALS, Marines have Force Recon guys, the Air Force has forward air controllers/combat controllers/pararescuemen, and the Army has Special Forces/Delta Force/Rangers.

The military in the 1990s started creating "Special teams" made up of guys from various special forces teams from every military service to create the ultimate fighting team. It's not uncommon for Army and Air Force guys to be working together in Iraq and Afghanistan as a special forces team to help bring more bite to the fight.

Indeed, MT- and every nation of military note has them too.
the trouble is that - far from leading the way - they are all too often put by the armchair-heroes into "special" situations, on the less-than-even chance of a propaganda coup.
From the Spartans at Thermopylae onwards, you can see this. All too often their activities have been connected to nothing.

I'd agree Special Forces are given too much credit for winning wars, but they are a key element in winning the war. They get down in the dirt with the enemy and take them on in their holes. They also stick around and help our allies rebuild and train themselves to prevent future wars like in Afghanistan.

If there is one area of the military that I believe actually swings the war in our favor, it's airpower. Airpower today is the most lethal military machine ever devised aside from nukes. Special forces do enhance airpower by identifying targets up close and even marking them for laser guided bombs. Of course, airpower typically takes special forces to the war zone too so it's a symbiotic relationship.

I'd certainly agree on air-power (and on much of the importance of special forces ahead of front-lines: in a friendly nation, a resistance can do much of this).
There is, however, the broader issue of holding the ground -as opposed to winning the war - and here it's grunts/PBI.
"Ground-holding" is where the casualties come and no amount of technological superiority can at present off-set that. Western losses (whatever the true figure) have been higher in Afghanistan since "we" won -than they were while "we" were winning.

Special Forces do not win a war; they perform stealth missions that preclude co-ordinated air strikes and future troop deployments. They gather intelligence, analyse and prepare pre-determined targets for precision air strikes.

Special Forces are intended to do advanced recon, possible demolition preparation, relay �on the ground� intelligence or deploy to undertake dangerous small / short engagement missions.

The rank & file infantry, armoured support and air superiority would obviously be the backbone of any war, after Special Forces made their contribution. Special Forces are a small, but invaluable part of any nation�s military machine.

The U. S. Special Forces are among the best in the world. I watched a programme about the French Foreign Legion; they appear to be some very tough �hombres�. The SAS and Navy Seals, Army Rangers etc., are also very well respected.

All those brave soldiers are worthy of respect and honour. They are trained not to question their orders, but fulfil their missions. Their missions are determined by generals and politicians.

Personally, I admire and give my heartiest support to any Special Forces around the world that are deployed to combat global terrorism.