Special Ops

It's Andrew Bacevich again.  This time he's inveighing against the military Special Operations forces, Green Berets, Seals, etc.

Did you know that there was a Special Operations Forces industry?  Their annual conference drew 8,000 people, including the Special Ops commander, Admiral William McRaven.  I guess one should expect a conference - which is basically a sales opportunity - when the US  spends $2 billion a year on the latest devices to kill people.

What gets Bacevich is the aura of privilege and the secrecy attendant on Special Ops doings which insulates them in most cases from having to worry about politics.  We don't hear that much about the doings and never when they fail. Since 9/11, the forces have only become more prominent. Their budget has quadrupled, their staff doubled.  And our current president is in love with them, so you can only see the money and people increasing and transparency decreasing.