FOR AMERICA'S SHADOW WARRIORS

Through the end of the last century, conventional and strategic nuclear forces were the instruments of national power that received the most resources and attention. The so-called "Powell Doctrine" dictated that our wars would be fought as we did in Operation Desert Storm. Before engaging in combat, we would conduct a massive build-up of conventional forces. The American attack would be preceded by a "shock and awe" air campaign—and then U.S. armored and mechanized forces would rapidly overwhelm the adversary. The one-hundred-hour war to evict Saddam Hussein's Republican Guards from Kuwait seemed to vindicate the strategy.

Then came 9-11-01.

An air campaign alone would be inadequate to unseat the Taliban and destroy al-Qaeda. There were no bases from which the U.S. could stage an attack into the foothills and deserts south of the Hindu Kush. And so the nation called on its shadow warriors.

Since then, the long campaign of "Nation Building" in Iraq and the prolonged conventional fight in Afghanistan have tested the patience and treasure of the American people. Radical Islamic terrorism has proven remarkably resilient to conventional forces—and vulnerable to small teams of highly trained and uniquely equipped unconventional forces—shadow warriors—willing to brave difficult and dangerous terrain and take on an enemy far from other "friendlies" with a minimum of attention. Notably, when the last American "combat units" were withdrawn from Iraq in August 2010, the mainstream media somehow missed the U.S. Special Operators who stayed behind, training, mentoring, and accompanying their Iraqi counterparts on dangerous missions.

U.S. Special Operations Command—and units like the CIA's Special Activities Division and DEA FAST units have proven not only less costly than conventional military force—but in many ways, unexpectedly effective. In some places, like the Horn of Africa, the periphery of the Persian Gulf, and hostile spots like Yemen, unconventional forces are the only option for projecting U.S. power without risking wider hostilities.

A decade from now, unconventional warfare—the art practiced by the American Heroes of Special Operations—is likely to be our nation's first line of defense from those who would do us grievous harm. The shadow warriors in this book are the ones who showed us how.