One hears that the worst of the Snowden documents (from the perspective of the USG) have not yet been released, and one wonders what that might mean. Yesterday’s story that “most of the documents he took concerned current military operations” might provide the beginning of an answer (though I expect that another part of the answer is that Snowden took documents concerning even more sensitive and surprising intelligence relationships than have yet been disclosed). Representatives Rogers and Ruppersberger, referencing a classified DIA report, say that “Snowden stole approximately 1.7 million intelligence files that ‘concern vital operations of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force.’” I would guess that a good number of these 1.7 million files concern the activities of Special Operations Forces.

JSOC has a presence in many dozens of countries, and according to Mark Mazzetti, has in the past been authorized “to kill, capture, and spy in more than a dozen countries.”