This piece is a first-person account by a journalist who spent years observing US special operations forces in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other conflict zones during the Global War on Terrorism. The author highlights three key principles guiding these elite units: prioritizing human connections over weaponry, thinking strategically rather than tactically, and training local forces to maintain long-term stability. The article argues that if broader military strategies had embraced these approaches, costly mistakes in Afghanistan and Iraq could have been avoided.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-11,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
In the days following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, American special operations forces infiltrated Afghanistan from the K2 airfield in Uzbekistan to meet up with the Northern Alliance.
asserted
forces → follow → Alliance
Over the next two decades, as a journalist and researcher, I spent years in the battlefields of the Global War on Terrorism to observe and report on US Special Operations Forces.
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I → spend → Forces
As the country reflects on the lessons of 25 years of war, several fundamental SOF Truths and hard-earned lessons carry great salience for today.
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Truths → reflect → today
The US defense machine has much to learn from SOF.
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machine → have → SOF
As I traveled with SOF units in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, I became familiar with the special operators’ shorthand for their approaches to war.
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I → travel → war
Three sayings in particular unveil how these elite soldiers relied as much on savvy and wit as on brute force.
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soldiers → unveil → force
“Humans are more important than hardware,” the first SOF truth, conveys the central principle of working with local populations to develop partnership.
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truth → convey → partnership
“Use the weapon between your ears” was the admonition to think strategically, not tactically.
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Use → use → ears
And “work your way out of a job” was the ultimate objective.
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work → work → job
In other words, their primary mission was to help the country build capable security forces to leave behind a lasting solution for peace and security.
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country → help → peace
That last objective was one reason that President Trump was re-elected — to get the country out of forever wars.
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Trump → re → wars
These three sayings reveal what really make the SOF such a powerful body: Its secret sauce is imparting expertise to indigenous forces and working with other cultures to understand what would and would not create lasting security.
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what → reveal → security
That worked in rural parts of Afghanistan, where village-level pacts were struck and sons of tribal leaders defended their homelands.
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sons → work → homelands
It worked in the Philippines’ southern Mindanao region, where Abu Sayyaf — a Jihadist militant group — gave way to the Bangsamoro Accord and peace.
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Sayyaf → work → Accord
And it worked in the late phase of the war in Iraq, where Special Forces combat advisers supported Iraqi and Syrian Kurds in the ousting of ISIS.
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advisers → work → ISIS
Had the Special Forces’ approach been enshrined in the overarching policy and strategy of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the major missteps of the long war on terrorism would have been averted.
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missteps → enshrine → terrorism
Instead, money flowed and emphasis shifted to hardware and other costly “things” that would supposedly win the war.
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that → flow → war
A focus on body count supplanted an understanding of why and how the terrorist leadership continued to regenerate.
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leadership → supplant → understanding
SOF commanders recognized that mowing down recruits was counterproductive: for every one terrorist you kill, you create a handful of new recruits out of his neighbors, friends and family.
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you → recognize → neighbors
SOF calls this COIN math — counterinsurgency math.
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SOF → call → this
In other words, “lethality” — the ability to kill — has been mistaken as a winning strategic concept.
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lethality → kill → concept
Wiser commanders know you cannot kill your way to peace.
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you → know → peace
An overreliance on sheer military power does not create lasting victory.
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overreliance → create → victory
Special-operator culture is pragmatic and solution-oriented.
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culture → orient → ?
Among the innovations introduced during the Afghan fight was the use of women in combat formations as a vital tool to understand and interact with rural Afghans.
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use → introduce → Afghans
Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, credited these women’s contributions during his confirmation testimony.
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Caine → credit → testimony
Last year, a Navy officer was selected to become the first woman promoted to lead a unit in the Naval Special Warfare command.
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officer → select → command
At the last minute, her promotion was yanked for inexplicable reasons.
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promotion → yank → reasons
Many in the Navy believed her gender was the reason for the reversal, although the Pentagon denied this.
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Pentagon → believe → this
If it is the case that her promotion was denied based on her gender, then it’s clear that senior defense leadership has no grasp on what makes SOF successful.
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SOF → deny → grasp
These and other women have served in combat with distinction, contrary to the erroneous claims that they have not met the standard.
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they → serve → standard
Many in uniform know that it’s detrimental to the US military and US national security to sideline women who are performing invaluable service on the battlefield.
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who → know → battlefield
Besides their ability to fight, their talent for working with local cultures was vital to SOF successes in the Middle East.
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talent → fight → East
That skillset is what makes SOF necessary for the country’s national security.
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SOF → make → security
But its ethic and mindset are vital to the upholding of US national security, and its value cannot be overstated.
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value → overstate → security
A new edition of “Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of the Special Forces,” will be republished on Oct. 13 by PublicAffairs Books.
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edition → republish → Books
The Aporia
