American special operations forces have been deployed to 135 countries this year alone
The number of countries that US special forces are deployed in has doubled since 9/11
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.American special operations forces have been deployed to 135 different countries in 2015 alone, according to reports.
As reported by Nick Turse in TomDispatch, US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) spokesman Ken McGraw says that US special operations soldiers have been dispatched to 135 countries in 2015, or around 69 per cent of all the countries in the world.
The number of countries in which US special forces operate has multiplied in the last few years.
In 2010, elite soldiers were sent to 75 different countries on various operations, including training of local forces and sometimes secret raids, similar to the raid conducted by the US Navy's Seal Team Six, which resulted in the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
By 2013, 134 nations had seen the deployment of American special forces, with this year's figure being a new record.
This increase in reach has been accompanied by a huge spike in funding - according to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), the funding given specifically to military special forces increase from £3.1 billion in 2011 to $9.8 billion in 2014.
The GAO report that revealed these figures added that this funding sum does not include funding supplied by other branches of the services, which is estimated to add up to an additional $8 billion a year.
The majority of these forces are deployed in the Middle East, but many more are in Africa, Eastern Europe and the Pacific.
Stories of special forces operatives taking out senior Isis members are currently fairly common, but the scale of American military deployment globally gives an interesting look at the reach of this secretive and powerful force.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments