Officer who oversaw Bin Laden raid seeks new powers: Report

The plan could allow special forces to expand their presence in many regions, including Asia.


Afp February 13, 2012

WASHINGTON: The top US special operations officer, who oversaw the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, is seeking new authority to move his forces faster and outside of normal Pentagon deployment channels, The New York Times reported on Monday.

The newspaper said Admiral William McRaven, who leads the Special Operations Command, is pushing for a larger role for his elite units who have traditionally operated in the dark corners of US foreign policy.

The plan would give him more autonomy to position his forces and their war-fighting equipment where intelligence and global events indicate they are most needed, the report said.

It would also allow the special operations forces to expand their presence in regions where they have not operated in large numbers for the past decade, especially in Asia, Africa and Latin America, the paper noted.

The paper said that similar plans in the past had foundered because of opposition from regional commanders and the State Department.

The military’s regional combatant commanders have feared a decrease of their authority, and some ambassadors in crisis zones have voiced concerns that commandos may carry out missions that are perceived to tread on a host country’s sovereignty, the paper said.

COMMENTS (4)

Ambreen | 12 years ago | Reply

News or nonsense ?

Sunny | 12 years ago | Reply

Only a man with foolish confidence can think like that - the merky Abbotabad episode had killed Bin Laden along with the truth - what we have seen of Special Forces that they have been killing their fellows in friendly fires, kill childern of their allies, abuse prisioners in jails, like sports killing people, rape host countries women and when frustration does not end commit suicide.

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