Covering Crime, Espionage & Terrorism, And Other Military Journalism

Prior to working as a reporter, columnist and writer for newspapers, magazines and Internet publications, I was a contributing writer to U.S. Navy and Defense Department magazines.

I received the Philadelphia Federal Executive Board's 1990 Public Affairs Award for my magazine articles.  

I wrote my first newspaper piece while I was an 18-year-old seaman aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk in 1970. I was assigned to the warship's Special Services unit and although I was a high school dropout, the officer in charge took a chance when he discovered that I was an aspiring writer and had me write several pieces for the ship's newspaper, The Flyer. 

My pieces ranged from what Special Services offered the 5,500 men aboard the carrier to what San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico offered the crew ashore. I loved going out as a reporter and writing those pieces. As we prepared to sail to Southeast Asia and combat duty off the coast of Vietnam, the ship's newspaper was transferred to the newly formed Public Affairs Division. As I had not attended the Navy's journalism school or had a journalism degree, I was reassigned to the Radio Communications Division.

In 1986 I was the civilian chief of Installation Services for a Defense Department command in Philadelphia. I oversaw security, safety and other programs for the command's military and civilian employees. I also began contributing articles to local and worldwide Defense Department magazines. The Defense Logistic Agency's magazine, Dimensions, reached more than three million DoD civilians and military people worldwide.

I covered crime, espionage, terrorism, drug trafficking and special operations, subjects I continue to cover today.

You can read some of my magazine pieces below:

           

Note: You can click on the above to enlarge.

Talking To James Hawes, Former Navy SEAL, CIA Operative And Author Of 'Cold War Navy SEAL: My Story Of Che Guevara, War In The Congo, And The Communist Threat In Africa'

I had a long and interesting talk today with James Hawes, a former Navy SEAL who served in Vietnam and later served in the Congo as a CIA operative.

In Africa, James Hawes engaged no less a figure than Che Guevara. James Hawes' interdiction efforts drove the infamous revolutionary out of Africa.

Mr. Hawes (seen in the above photo on the left) is the author of Cold War Navy SEAL: My Story of Che Guevara, War in the Congo, and the Communist Threat in Africa.    

My interview with James Hawes will appear in the upcoming issue of Counterterrorism magazine and my review of Cold War Navy SEAL will appear in the Washington Times.

I’ll post both pieces here when they come out.    

My Q&A With Mark Bowden, Author Of 'Hue 1968' And 'Black Hawk Down'

My Q&A with Mark Bowden, author of Hue 1968, Black Hawk Down and Killing Pablo, appears in the current issue of Counterterrorism magazine.

You can read the piece below:

Note: You can click on the above to enlarge 

British SAS Soldier 'Drowned ISIS Jihadi In Puddle As Group Fought Terrorists With Bare Hands'

Ross Logan at the British newspaper the Express offers a piece on a fierce fight between the SAS and the terrorists.

One British fighter drowned a jihadist in a puddle, while another killed three extremists by beating them to death with the butt of his rifle.

Almost every member of the elite unit returned to operations two days after their miracle escape, a source told the Daily Star.

The team were reportedly ambushed by the ISIS fighters as they completed an intelligence gathering operation close to Mosul, northern Iraq.

After a four hour gun battle with the terror cell, in which roughly 20 ISIS fighters were said to have been killed, the SAS team were trapped by a river bed with then 10 bullets left between them.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/823792/SAS-kill-ISIS-Mosul-drown-soldier-puddle-incredible-escape-Iraq 

Interview With Admiral McRaven, The Architect Of The Bin Laden raid

Peter Bergen at CNN interviewed William H. McRaven (seen in the above U.S. Navy photo in uniform), the retired Navy SEAL admiral who planned and executed the raid that killed the most wanted man in the world, Osama bin Laden.

(CNN)The man who was the architect of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in the suburbs of a Pakistani city was getting anxious.

He had thought it was possible to keep an element of surprise and evade any response from Pakistan's military if the U.S. Navy SEALs could complete the mission in 30 minutes, Adm. William "Bill" McRaven told CNN last week in his first in-depth interview about the operation.

But after killing bin Laden and his bodyguards, some SEALs went down to the second floor of bin Laden's house and found a treasure trove of hard drives and documents. Now they were trying to pick up all this, which was stretching the time on target.

After about 40 minutes, McRaven was "getting a little bit anxious," he recalled. Speaking to the ground commander, he said, "Hey, get everything you can. But it's time to wrap this up and get out of Abbottabad." As they lifted off from the Abbottabad compound, the SEALs had spent 48 minutes on the ground.

You can read the rest of the piece and watch the video clips of the interview via the below link:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/02/politics/osama-bin-laden-raid-architect-mcraven-bergen/   

Defense Secretary Carter: DoD Intensifies ISIL Fight, Urges More International Support

Cheryl Pellerin at the DoD News offers the below report.

WASHINGTON Dec. 1, 2015 — The Defense Department is quickly adapting to fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and is urging the international community to step up the pace of its contributions to the fight, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said today.

The secretary, joined by Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before members of the House Armed Services Committee on U.S. strategy for Syria and Iraq.

“The president had directed us to intensify and adapt the military campaign before the [Nov. 13] Paris attacks,” Carter told the panel. “We continue to accelerate our efforts in the wake of Paris, and we are urging others to do the same, because those attacks further highlighted the stake that not just the United States, but the world, has in this fight.”

Adapting to ISIL

Carter said specific elements of the adaptations to ISIL include deploying a specialized expeditionary targeting force, expanding U.S. attacks on ISIL infrastructure and revenue sources, improving ways to find and eliminate ISIL leadership, and organizing a new way to leverage established infrastructure.

Tens of thousands of U.S. personnel are operating in the broader Middle East region, and more are on the way, the secretary said.

Some of the most advanced U.S. air and naval forces are attacking ISIL, he added, and U.S. troops advise and assist ground operations in Syria and Iraq.

“On President [Barack] Obama’s orders and the chairman’s and my advice, we’re sending special operations forces personnel to Syria to support the fight against ISIL,” Carter said.

Expeditionary Force

In coordination with the Iraq government, the department is deploying a specialized expeditionary targeting force to help Iraqi and Kurdish peshmerga forces and to put more pressure on ISIL.
“These special operators will, over time, be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence and capture ISIL leaders,” the secretary said. “That creates a virtuous cycle of better intelligence, which generates more targets, more raids and more momentum.”

Raids in Iraq will take place at the Iraqi government’s invitation and will focus on defending Iraq’s borders and building Iraqi security forces capacity, he added, and the special operators will be in a position to conduct unilateral operations into Syria.

Expanding U.S. Attacks

The department also significantly expanded U.S. attacks on ISIL infrastructure and revenue sources, especially oil revenue, Carter said.

“Over the past several weeks, because of improved intelligence and understanding of ISIL’s operations, we’ve intensified the air campaign against ISIL’s war-sustaining oil enterprise, a critical pillar of ISIL’s financial infrastructure,” he told the panel.

Coalition forces have destroyed fixed facilities, such as wells and processing facilities, and nearly 400 ISIL oil tanker trucks, Carter said. “There’s more to come, too,” he added.

Raids using targeted airstrikes and the specialized expeditionary targeting force are helping to improve the ability to eliminate ISIL’s leadership, he said.

Leveraging Infrastructure

Because the threat posed by ISIL and similar groups spans regions and U.S. combatant commands, Carter said, the department is organizing a new way to leverage infrastructure already established in Afghanistan, the Levant, East Africa and Southern Europe into a unified capability to counter transnational and transregional threats.

“An example of this network in action was our recent strike on Abu Nabil, where assets from several locations converged to successfully kill this ISIL leader in Libya,” he said. “As that strike shows, there’s a lot of potential here, but to do more, we need to be creative and consider changes to how the Defense Department works and is structured.”

Carter said the department is constantly looking to do more in the fight against ISIL, but the world must do the same.

International Contributions

“The international community, including our allies and partners, has to step up before another attack like Paris,” the secretary said. France has been galvanized by the attacks in its capital, Britain is debating expanded airstrikes, Italy has made important contributions in Iraq, and Germany is making more contributions, he noted. . All countries, including the United States, must do more, he added.
Turkey must do more to control its border, and Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States have been preoccupied by the Yemen conflict after joining the air campaign in the early days, Carter said. Russia, which publicly committed to defeating ISIL, has largely attacked opposition forces rather than ISIL, the secretary told the House committee.

“It is time for Russia to focus on the right side of this fight,” he said.

American leadership is essential, he added, but contributions from other nations will boost the combat power the department can achieve using its own force.


“We also need to leverage our allies’ and partners’ relationships and capabilities to effectively work with Syrians and Iraqis, who in the end must expel ISIL and restore effective governance," the secretary said.

Note: In the above DoD photo Defense Secretary Ash Carter, foreground, and Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testify before the House Armed Services Committee about U.S. strategy for Syria and Iraq in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 1, 2015. The photo was taken by Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz.

Delta Force Secretly Killed Iranian Agents in Iraq - With IEDs

You can read how Delta Force operatives secretly killed Iranian agents in Iraq in an excerpt of Sean Naylor's book Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command that appears in the New York Post. 

By early 2007, some US intelligence estimates held that as many as 150 Iranian operatives were in Iraq. Many were member of the Quds Force, the covert arm of Iran’s Shi’ite theocracy. Their mission was to coordinate the violent campaign being waged against US forces by Iraq’s Shi’ite militias.

“It was 100 percent, ‘Are you willing to kill Americans and are you willing to coordinate attacks?’ ” said an officer who studied the Quds Force’s approach closely. “ ‘If the answer is “yes,” here’s arms, here’s money.’ ”

The Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) set up a new task force, named Task Force 17.

Its mandate was simple: go after “anything that Iran is doing to aid in the destabilization of Iraq,” said a Task Force 17 officer.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://nypost.com/2015/10/04/how-the-us-conducted-secret-assassinations-using-ieds/ 

The President's Most Blunt Instrument: Can Admiral McRaven's Special Ops Team Save Iraq?

Marc Ambinder at politico.com offers a piece on Admiral McRaven and Iraq.

Attempting to confront the sudden ripening threat of a transnational terrorist haven in Iraq, President Obama has once again turning to his most blunt instrument, the special operations forces commanded by Adm. William H. McRaven, to restore order.

 

No air strikes (yet). No new invasion. No headlines. Just a tiny contingent of America’s best, placed once again in harm’s way and tasked with singlehandedly defending the national interest.

Three hundred special operators will deploy, bringing with them efficient, advanced insurgent tracking technology and tactics that McRaven’s forces use in more than 70 countries today. Don’t let the “training” description of the mission fool you. These forces are intelligence enablers. They are, in the parlance of the military, effects multipliers.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-last-american-hero-108096.html#.U6dLjIlOWM9

Delta Force Commando Who Saved 'Numerous Lives' In Benghazi Seige Honored

Rowen Scarborough at the Washington Times offers a piece on the Delta Force commando who was awarded for saving lives in the Benghazi seize.

An Army Delata Force commando who infiltrated Benghazi to rescue U.S. diplomats, spies and security officers during a 2012 terrorist attack “was critical to the success of saving numerous lives,” according to a citation awarding him the military’s second-highest honor.

Delata Force's role was not disclosed in any public report or congressional testimony. The Army citation for the Distinguished Service Cross, posted on a website for Army personnel, provides the first detailed look at what one of the commandos, Master Sgt. David R. Halbruner, accomplished.

The Washington Times reported in November that two members of Delta Force, the Army's premier counterterrorism unit, were among seven U.S. personnel who went to Benghazi, Libya, on a rescue mission the night of Sept. 11, 2012. The second Delta member, a Marine, was awarded the Navy Cross for heroism, The Times reported.

The Distinguished Service Cross and the Navy Cross are the second-highest military awards in precedence, below the Medal of Honor.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/25/delta-force-commando-awarded-second-highest-milita/

More Than A Decade Of Success In Fight Against Terror, Assistant Defense Secretary Says

Claudette Roulo at the American Forces Press Servies offers the below piece:

WASHINGTON, June 6, 2013 - Al-Qaida isn't going away soon, the assistant defense secretary for special operations and low intensity conflict said today. "Those are the folks who are really committed to kill us in large numbers," Michael A. Sheehan (seen in the above DoD photo) said, adding that he expects al-Qaida to remain a threat for at least another 10-20 years. However, he said, it's important to keep in mind how successful the U.S. and its allies have been in the fight against al-Qaida over the past 12 years. Much of that success is due to the efforts of special operations forces, Sheehan said. The 9/11 terrorist attack was al-Qaida's third strategic attack against the U.S. government in 37 months, he said. Since then, they have been unable to conduct another strategic attack on the U.S. government, Sheehan said. Although there have been several tragic "lone-wolf" attacks, he said, they were isolated and not strategic. In order for al-Qaida to conduct strategic-level attacks using lone-wolf operatives they would have to maintain a much higher operational tempo or conduct much more massive attacks, Sheehan said. The distinction is significant, he said, because terrorism is intended to attack the psychology of its target. "If we exaggerate the threat, we empower them," Sheehan said. "It's important to never underestimate your foe, but it's also equally important not to over-aggrandize them in order to give them power over our communities." It's vital to acknowledge successes, he said, both to prevent terrorism from holding sway over the community, and to recognize what tactics are working as the threat and our strategy evolves. The threat posed by al-Qaida has evolved since the 1990s, Sheehan said, but only to a certain degree. The organization is generally very consistent in where and how it operates, he said. Following the 9/11 attacks, however, they found themselves under enormous pressure. Countries in which they had previously operated with impunity were no longer safe havens, Sheehan said. Their ability to move personnel, material and money was also restricted, he added. Those sanctuaries were what allowed al-Qaida to conduct three strategic attacks within 37 months, Sheehan said. "We can never allow al-Qaida again to enjoy that kind of sanctuary," he said. "After 9/11, we put enormous pressure on the network everywhere," Sheehan said. "Primarily through intelligence focus on the network, and we're going to continue to need to do that." The military, particularly special operations forces, has a central role in both denying al-Qaida sanctuary and disrupting its network, he said. As part of its 'advise and assist' mission, special operations will continue to partner with host nations to build their capacity to pursue al-Qaida, Sheehan said. "In Yemen ... we've worked with the Yemeni government to help them push al-Qaida out of its comfort zone," he said. "Remember, about two years ago they were controlling about 30 percent of Yemen's territory. That was unacceptable." "In my view, [special operations] should be thinking about how it can not only help countries with counterinsurgency and stability operations to deny sanctuary, but also its role in helping regional organizations do so," Sheehan said. Very small numbers of advisers can "bring up the game" of peacekeeping forces, he added. As the U.S. backs away from direct action, over the next ten years the advisory role of special operations forces will once again become its central focus, Sheehan noted. "It's fundamental to our mission of denying sanctuary to [al-Qaida] and other terrorist groups around the world." This combination of tactics has worked to push al-Qaida out of its bases elsewhere around the world, he said. In Somalia, through the efforts of African Union forces, al Shabab, an al-Qaida affiliate, lost control of the cities and now are left with only the most remote areas to operate out of, Sheehan said. While denying sanctuary to terrorist groups may seem like a version of Whack-a-Mole, he said, "Whack-a-Mole, in my view, works -- because terrorists aren't plastic things that pop up again. When you kill them, they don't come back. Yes, somebody else may come back, but that guy is probably less effective, less trained, and by the way, knows his buddy before him got ... killed." When a terrorist network is under pressure, it will be unable to conduct strategic operations, Sheehan said. "It's not by luck that we've been safe in the United States over the last ten years," he noted. Special operations forces have two specific skill sets that make them strategic assets, Sheehan said. "[They have] to be the best fighter -- run faster, shoot straighter, infiltrate in the hardest environments -- as an individual combat operator. At the same time [special operations forces] ... have to have language skills, cultural sensitivity, and ability to advise." "That's an art," Sheehan said. "We can teach that in courses, but it can only be honed with multiple deployments downrange," he added.

Wanted Dead Or Alive: Manhunts From Geronimo To Bin Laden: My Q & A With Author Benjamin Runkle

My Q&A with Benjamin Runkle, the author of Wanted Dead or Alive: Manhunts From Geronimo To Bin Laden, was published this week in Counterterrorism magazine.

Benjamin Runkle is a former paratrooper and presidential speechwriter with a Harvard PhD and a Bronze Star from Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Washington Times noted: "In Wanted Dead or Alive, Mr Runkle accomplishes two seemingly contradictory feats. His colorful, fast-paced accounts of each manhunt appeal to those who enjoy a good adventure story, but his keen strategic insight provides ample material for further reflection."

Former Delta Force commander "Dalton Fury" noted: "Wanted Dead or Alive is a tall-boy energy drink for our modern day specops warriors."

You can read the piece below:

Damn Few: Former Navy SEAL On Military's Top Secret Unit Coming Out Of The Shadows

ABC News offers an interview with former Navy SEAL Rorke Denver.

It used to be that Navy SEALs didn't just operate in the shadows. They trained in them too. Their whole story stayed shrouded in mystery. Their secret missions stayed secret to the rest of us.
But when they got Osama Bin Laden, snatched back an American cargo ship taken by pirates and rescued two air workers held hostage in Somalia, then suddenly, it seemed that SEALs were headline-makers.

Add to that some SEALs wrote books about SEAL adventures and even acted in a movie about the SEAL experience using live ammunition when they made "Act of Valor." They can't quite be called "the military unit that no one ever talked about" any longer.

Rorke Denver played Lt. Commander Rorke in "Act of Valor," a film that used dozens of SEALs and went on to gross $80 million at the box office. Now, with the help of a writer, Denver is doing some pretty decent storytelling in a new book, "Damn Few: Making the Modern SEAL Warrior."

You can read the piece and watch the video via the below link:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/navy-seal-us-militarys-top-secret-unit-coming/story?id=18539935

American Sniper Murdered: Former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle Fatally Shot At Texas Shooting Range

 

Foxnews.com reports on the murder of former U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and a friend at a Texas shooting range.

 

Chris Kyle, a former U.S. Navy SEAL credited with the largest number of confirmed kills, was one of two people fatally shot at a North Texas shooting range Saturday, Texas Highway Patrol confirmed to Fox News.

25-year-old Eddie Ray Routh of Lancaster was arraigned Saturday evening on two counts of capital murder.

Sgt. Lonny Haschel said Erath County Sheriff's deputies responded to a call about a shooting at the Rough Creek Lodge, west of Glen Rose, at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Police found the bodies of Kyle, 38, and Chad Littlefield, 35, at the shooting range. Glen Rose is about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

You can read the rest of the story via the below link:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/02/03/navy-seal-chris-kyle-fatally-shot-at-texas-shooting-range-report-says/

You can also watch an interview with the former Navy chief with Bill O' Reilly via the below link:

http://video.foxnews.com/v/1368144093001/factor-interview-americas-most-lethal-sniper-chris-kyle/

And you can read Joshua Sinai's Washington Times review of American Sniper via the below link:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/13/book-review-american-sniper/?page=all

U.S. Navy SEAL Killed In Rescue Operation In Afghanistan

Foxnews.com reports that a U.S. Navy SEAL was killed in action during a rescue operation in Afghanistan.

A U.S. official has told Fox News that a member of the Navy SEAL Team Six -- the same special ops group used for the raid on Usama bin Laden's compound -- was killed during a weekend rescue mission in Afghanistan that freed an American doctor abducted by the Taliban outside of Kabul five days ago.

President Barack Obama praised the special forces on Sunday, saying the mission was characteristic of U.S. troops' "extraordinary courage, skill and patriotism."

You can read the rest of the story via th below link:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/10/us-special-operations-team-member-killed-rescuing-doctor-from-afghanistan/

Details Of Bin Laden Raid Leaked First By Obama Administration Aides

Rowan Scarborough at the Washington Times reports that Obama administration officials already leaked much of the information contained in No Easy Day, an account of the bin Laden raid by a former U.S. Navy SEAL.

The Obama administration has gone to extraordinary lengths to publicize details of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, even as it threatens to file criminal charges against a former Navy SEAL because he provided the same type of mission rundown in his recently published book.

An examination by The Washington Times shows that several details in the book “No Easy Day” already have appeared in print based on interviews with administration officials and likely will be included in an upcoming movie and another book.

You can read the rest of the story via the below link:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/sep/16/details-of-bin-laden-raid-leaked-first-by-aides/?page=all#pagebreak

It's ADMIRAL McRaven, Mr. President! Obama Botches Rank Of Top Navy SEAL

Toby Harnden at the British newspaper the Daily Mail offers an interesting piece on the Commander-in-Chief's public goofs concerning the military, including his refering to Admiral McRaven as General McRaven.

Barack Obama has always been known for his silken words, soaring rhetoric and ability to use language to his advantage. Lately, however, the president seems to be losing command of the details. 

... "I'd advise that you talk to General McRaven, who's in charge of our Special Ops. I think he has a point of view in terms of how deeply I care about what these folks do each day and every day to protect our freedom."

The Difficulty with this is that William McRaven is an admiral not a general. As a SEAL, he is a member of the U.S. Navy, not the U.S. Army or U.S. Marines. Obama has made mistakes with military terminology before. In February 2010, he mispronounced 'corpsman' - as 'corpse-man' instead of 'core-man' several times.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2192643/Barack-Obama-botches-rank-Navy-SEAL-William-McRaven.html

Former Navy SEALs And Intelligence Officers 'Swift Boat' Obama Over Leaks And Taking Credit For Killing Bin Laden

Mark Hosenball at Reuters offers a 22-minute video and a short piece on the start of a media campaign by former intelligence officers and Special Operations veterans that aims to stop senior administration leaks for politcal gain.
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A group of former U.S. intelligence and Special Forces operatives is set to launch a media campaign, including TV ads, that scolds President Barack Obama for taking credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden and argues that high-level leaks are endangering American lives.

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Leaders of the group, the Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund Inc, say it is nonpartisan and unconnected to any political party or presidential campaign. It is registered as a so-called social welfare group, which means its primary purpose is to further the common good and its political activities should be secondary.

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In the past, military exploits have been turned against presidential candidates by outside groups, most famously the Swift Boat ads in 2004 that questioned Democratic nominee John Kerry's Vietnam War service.

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The OPSEC group says it is not political and aims to save American lives. Its first public salvo is a 22-minute film that includes criticism of Obama and his administration. The film, to be released on Wednesday, was seen in advance by Reuters.

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"Mr. President, you did not kill Osama bin Laden, America did. The work that the American military has done killed Osama bin Laden. You did not," Ben Smith, identified as a Navy SEAL, says in the film.
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You can watch the 22-minute video via the below link to Foxnews.com:
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http://nation.foxnews.com/navy-seals/2012/08/15/navy-seals-ready-swift-boat-obama?cmpid=NL_FiredUpFoxNation
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Note: Mark Hosenball used the term "Special Forces," which is only the U.S. Army group, when I believe the correct term for all military Special Operators is "Special Operations." 

Link Grows Between Terrorism, Organized Crime, Assistant Secretary Of Defense Says

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

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WASHINGTON, March 28, 2012 - The two missions of fighting terrorism and combating global organized crime are increasingly linked, senior Defense Department officials told Congress yesterday.

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Michael A. Sheehan (seen in the above DoD offical photo), assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict; Garry Reid, deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and combating terrorism; and William F. Wechsler, deputy assistant secretary of defense for counternarcotics and global threats, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee's emerging threats and capabilities subcommittee.

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The hearing focused on the Pentagon's role in implementing the national strategies for counterterrorism and combating transnational organized crime under the 2013 defense budget request.

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"Terrorism, drug trafficking and other forms of transnational organized crime are increasingly intertwined," Sheehan noted, adding that his office -- which is responsible for overall supervision of special operations forces -- is uniquely positioned to provide policy guidance and program oversight to the department's efforts in both missions.

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Wechsler noted four trends in terrorism and transnational crime:

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-- Terrorist groups are adopting criminal techniques, including drug trafficking, to raise funds;
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-- Criminal organizations are adopting terrorist techniques, such as beheadings;
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-- Terrorist organizations and criminal organizations that have been separate are now "working together in ways that previously we hadn't seen ... [such as] the attempted assassination of a Saudi ambassador here in the United States"; and

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-- Some countries are using criminal activity to produce revenue.

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Sheehan said that while the Defense Department plays a central role in fighting terrorism and a more supporting role battling transnational organized crime, the national strategies governing the two missions are complementary and mutually reinforcing.

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While the counterterrorism focus on al-Qaida remains, he said, the landscape is changing. As al-Qaida and other terror groups meld with international criminal networks, DOD is expanding its efforts beyond direct strikes against terrorist targets in supporting an interagency approach, Sheehan said.

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"All our national security challenges ... [are] becoming increasingly interagency," he noted.

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Fighting terrorism increasingly includes targeting the global drug trade, he said. "Nowhere is the link between transnational organized crime, insurgency and terrorism more apparent than in Afghanistan, where the Taliban continues to receive a large percentage of its revenue through heroin trade," he added.

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Fighting insurgents, prosecuting criminals and applying pressure to states profiting from terror or criminal activity involves agencies from DOD to the Drug Enforcement Agency to the State Department, Sheehan noted. And while direct strike is an important special operations capability, even purely military action often focuses on a partnering approach, he said.

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"Just as important ... are the special operations forces' efforts that build the capability and capacity of our partners to shape the global information and ideas environment, as well as train and equip the capacity of other countries," he added.

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Working with Pakistan to keep pressure on al-Qaida is essential, and Yemen serves as an important front against al-Qaida on the Arabian Peninsula, he noted.

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"DOD continues to collaborate extensively with the Yemeni forces on operational matters, and together we are closely monitoring [al-Qaida on the Arabian Peninsula] and regularly improving our understanding of its external plots," Sheehan said.

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Combating the nexus of terrorism and transnational organized crime, he said, "is a call to action to leverage all of the elements of national power to protect citizens and U.S. national security interests and to enable our foreign partners to do the same."

U.S., African Forces Mitigate Terror Group's Impact

By Lisa Daniel, American Forces Press Service

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2012 - U.S. special operations forces are helping four Central African nations reduce the size and lethality of the Lord's Resistance Army, a group that has terrorized the region for 25 years, U.S. officials said today.
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Navy Rear Adm. Brian L. Losey, commander of Special Operations Command Africa, said in a conference call with reporters that the LRA is down to about 200 core fighters. Karly Wycoff, deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, also participated in the call.

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While still under the direction of its leader, Joseph Kony, the admiral said, the group is kept on the run in the remote, shared border region of South Sudan, Uganda, Central Africa Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo -- an area about the size of California.

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President Barack Obama ordered about 100 special operations forces to deploy to Central Africa in October to train and augment the capabilities of the African militaries in the region.

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The U.S. effort to help the four-nation partnership counter the LRA is a comprehensive, multi-faceted strategy that has included training, funding, airlift, logistics, communications and intelligence support -- specifically, fusing intelligence and support to operations, Losey and Wycoff said.

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"With our support, these four military forces continue to make progress in reducing the LRA's numbers and keep them from regrouping," Wycoff said.

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U.S. forces also are working closely with the State Department, the United Nations, the African Union and nongovernmental organizations to provide humanitarian relief in the region, Wycoff said.

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"The military is only one part of a broader strategy," Wycoff said. A large part of the strategy is to entice LRA members to defect and safely return home, with the help of government and aid organizations, he said, and to publicize those defections.

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"One of the sad realities of this situation is that many of the perpetrators of these [LRA] atrocities were victims themselves, abducted in their childhood and forced to fight," he said.

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Wycoff likened Kony and his followers to a cult that has kidnapped and murdered civilians for two decades, causing an estimated 455,000 people to be displaced or to live as refugees. The LRA is not known to be involved in any money-making criminal enterprise, he said, but survives off foraging and pillaging of villages.

*

The LRA is implicated in 278 attacks and at least 300 abductions last year, which decreased at the end of the year, they said.

*

"Now they are only a small percentage of their former strength," Losey said. But the fact that the LRA is operating at all, even at reduced strength, is terrifying to people in the region, he added.

*

Losey said the removal of Kony is one of the chief objectives in a broader mission to enable the four partner nations to be fully capable to counter the LRA. Though there is no timeline for the U.S. mission, he added, it also is not open-ended.

*

"We want to make very clear that we are supporting, and not leading, this effort," he said.

*

The fact that the four African nations came together for the effort to defeat the LRA is an achievement, Losey said.

*

"This operation is at its core what U.S. Africa Command is all about," he said. "In the long run, it is the Africans who are best suited to address" their regional security challenges.

Time To Get Your Frogman On: 'Act Of Valor' Film Is The Real Deal, Navy SEALs Say

Howard Altman at the Tampa Tribune wrote an interesting piece on the upcoming film Act of Valor.

Act of Valor uses active duty Navy SEALs rather than actors and the feature film, inspired by true events, is reported to be the most realistic film made about SEALs and Special Operations.

Act of Valor" centers around a platoon of SEALs on a mission to recover a kidnapped CIA agent; in the process, the group learns about an imminent threat against the nation. But more than just an action shoot-'em-up, the movie shows the scope of special operations missions, from emotional goodbyes to jumping out of airplanes to the first time the Navy ever allowed one of its few nuclear subs to be used in a movie.

Beyond the SEALs, the film also uses other real military personnel, including sub and ship crews and Army special operations aviators.

You can read the rest of the story via the below link:

http://www2.tbo.com/news/breaking-news/2012/feb/10/act-of-valor-flick-is-the-real-deal-real-seals-say-ar-357189/

You can watch the film's trailer via the below link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnlPgo9TaGo

You can visit the Act of Valor web site via the below link:

http://actofvalor.com/  

You can also read about the 50th anniversary of the Navy SEALs via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2012/01/navy-seals-turn-50-elite-frogmen-muster.html