The Navy SEALs: Obama's secret weapon

Obama has come to rely more and more on “special operators” for many types of missions. In an era of dwindling budgets and dispersed, hidden enemies, when Americans have become fatigued by disastrous military occupations, the value of pinprick operations by elite forces is clear. The budget for the Special Operations Command has more than doubled since 2001, reaching $10.5 billion, and the number of deployments has more than quadrupled. Now the head of that command, Adm. William H. McRaven, is calling for more resources and more autonomy. The New York Times reported on Feb. 12 that McRaven is “pushing for a larger role for his elite units who have traditionally operated in the dark corners of American foreign policy.” He wants to expand Special Operations Forces in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and have the authority to move forces and equipment as needed, assuring greater flexibility and speed…

One of the debates around such operations, then and now, concerns something called Sensitive Site Exploitation (SSE). From their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, Special Ops Forces had learned that the best intelligence often comes from sifting through after-action debris. They wanted not just to kill terror targets but to rummage through their belongings—what the spooks call “pocket litter.” “This is where the [political] fight comes,” says a Pentagon official involved. “From that day forward we wanted to put our boots on the ground to do SSE, but the president was not supportive … That would become the issue between Special Operations Forces and the administration.” An official involved in such issues says the Pentagon misinterpreted many of the questions the president had about such operations. He was not opposed—as the Nabhan case illustrates—he just wanted to do cost-benefit analysis on a case-by-case basis.

Obama has certainly been impressed with the Special Ops—their precision and their professionalism. A wooden board that hangs above the SEAL training grounds in Coronado, Calif., is inscribed with a line that all newbies internalize: “The only easy day was yesterday.” Instructors make sure “everything goes wrong” on a training mission, says Don Mann, 53, a retired SEAL and author of Inside SEAL Team Six. Mock raids include surprise booby traps, faulty equipment, and unexpected snipers. Special operators “will get off [a real] mission and say that was a piece of cake, only because they were used to difficult training,” Mann says.