DOD Officials Describe Special Operations Forces' Contributions to National Security

David Vergun at the DOD News offers a piece on Special Operations Forces. 

Although U.S. Special Operations Command makes up just 3% of the joint force, it has suffered over half of all combat casualties over the past few years, said a Defense Department official.

Christopher P. Maier, acting assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, testified today at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the defense authorization request for fiscal year 2022 and the future years defense program. 

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

Officials Describe Special Operations Forces' Contributions to National Security > U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE > Defense Department News 

CIA Digs In As Americans Withdraw From Iraq, Afghanistan

Greg Miller at the Wasington Post reports on the plan to have the CIA maintain a presense in Iraq and Afghanistan after the American troops withdrawal.

The CIA is expected to maintain a large clandestine presence in Iraq and Afghanistan long after the departure of conventional U.S. troops as part of a plan by the Obama administration to rely on a combination of spies and Special Operations forces to protect U.S. interests in the two longtime war zones, U.S. officials said.

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

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-digs-in-as-americans-withdraw-from-iraq-afghanistan/2012/02/07/gIQAFNJTxQ_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines