Elite US Terrorist Hunters In Iraq

"Early Warning"
By William M. Arkin
On National and Homeland Security
March 28, 2007
Blog.WashingtonPost

U.S. "black" special operations forces in Iraq have conducted as many as 300 "takedown" operations, an activity that an influential retired general calls "simply magic."

The assessment appears in an eight-page trip report written by retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, an adjunct professor at West Point, consultant and frequent television commentator, who recently toured Iraq and Kuwait and met with U.S. commanders at all levels.

McCaffrey's report is covered today in The Washington Post.

Buried in the candid assessment of the war and its prospects is a rare reference to what the U.S. government euphemistically calls Other Coalition Forces-Iraq (OCF-I), the group of clandestine special operators who operate semi-independently in pursuit of high value targets.

...Adopting the name "OCF" or "other coalition forces" to mirror the CIA's paramilitary units, often innocuously referred to as "OGA" or "other government agencies," the United States has developed a cadre of terrorist-hunters in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa.

All are part of the North Carolina-based Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).

JSOC's various task forces have been known by numerous names since Sept. 11, Task Force (TF) 11, TF 121, TF 145, and TF 6-26. They have also gone by other named designations, such as Task Force Omaha.

These Task Force designations change periodically for "operational security" reasons and are used to identify specific country and/or unit deployments.

According to military sources familiar with special operations organization, the current designations are Task Force 11-9, Task Force 16, and Task Force 373.

Task Force 88 is also used as the overall designation for JSOC in Iraq, seemingly synonymous with OCF-I, except that OCF describes the headquarters element and includes non-U.S. forces such as British SAS rather than the assigned units.

The units assigned to the OCF and making up the Task Forces are Army "Delta Force" and Navy SEAL teams, as well as various Air Force special operators and specialized clandestine intelligence units (often referred to as "Gray Fox"). These are the "Tier 1" units.

Tier 2 units, those that operate in support of JSOC and the Task Forces, include Army Rangers and special operations helicopters.

The best estimate is that there are a total of some 1,000 soldiers and civilians assigned to JSOC and its subordinate units, including a large headquarters staff comprising significant intelligence analysis and mission-preparation capabilities.

(The vast bulk of special operations forces are in the "white" world of Special Forces (Green Berets), SEALs, Air Force special operations, psychological operations and civil affairs, even Army Rangers when not assigned to clandestine missions.)

Here's what Gen. McCaffrey says about the current OCF effort in Iraq:

"The US Tier One special operations capability is simply magic. They are deadly in getting their target--with normally zero collateral damage--and with minimal friendly losses or injuries. Some of these assault elements have done 200-300 takedown operations at platoon level. The comprehensive intelligence system is phenomenal. We need to re-think how we view these forces. They are a national strategic system akin to a B1 bomber. We need to understand that the required investment level in the creation of these forces demands substantial dedicated UAV systems, intelligence, and communications resources. These special operations formations cannot by themselves win the nation's wars. However, with them we have a tool of enormous and decisive strategic significance which has crucial importance in the global war on terrorists."

McCaffrey has every reason to be impressed given the small size of the U.S. "black" effort in Iraq, probably no more than 200 core operatives and intelligence personnel.

The elite cannot, as McCaffrey says "win the nation's wars" all by themselves, but we know so little about what they actually do and what it is they have actually accomplished against what targets, it is hard to assess whether an OCF and OGA effort is the future of the "war" against terrorism or whether it is just counter-terrorism on a treadmill.