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Afghanistan Raids by U.S. Commandos Almost Triple Since 2009, NATO Says

The U.S. military in Afghanistan has nearly tripled since 2009 the frequency of commando raids launched against Taliban or insurgent groups, according to NATO figures/…/ The increased raids reflect a greater number of commandos in Afghanistan as Iraq operations wind down, following the increased use of conventional forces for securing the population under President Barack Obama’s troop “surge.”

“With the surge, it made sense to have the general-purpose forces assume more responsibility for securing the population and to have more SOF released for these missions,” said Andrew Krepinevich, president of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington-based policy research group. “The missions have been generally successful -- so we keep conducting them,” he said.

Inside the Pentagon, Michael Vickers, an advocate of strikes by special operations forces, has risen in influence from a 1980s-era Green Beret and CIA paramilitary specialist to an analyst at the CSBA to assistant secretary of defense for special operations to his current position as the Defense Department’s undersecretary for intelligence.