Neither a Silver Bullet nor a Band-Aid

Posted: May 12th, 2016

By Michael Waltz

Congressman Michael Waltz (R) represents Florida’s 6th congressional district, which includes Flagler and Volusia counties as well as portions of Lake and St. Johns counties. Michael is a proud Florida native, combat-decorated Green Beret, former White House and Pentagon policy advisor, small business owner, and a proud father. He previously served as Vice President Cheney's Special Advisor for South Asia and Counterterrorism. Prior to his time in the White House, Michael was the Director for Afghanistan policy responsible for providing policy recommendations to the Secretary of Defense.

As the war on terror rages on, U.S. Special Forces are at the frontlines of America’s counterterrorism strategy abroad. Michael Waltz, the President of Metis Solutions and a former commander of U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan explains that U.S. Special Forces have “the lead in the global war on terror” as they play a critical role in “taking down whole networks of enemy leadership” and “building up the capacity of our allies.” However, Waltz, cautions that U.S. Special forces should not be expected to reconstruct countries’ entire armies or failed political systems.

The Cipher Brief: How effective have U.S. Special Force raids been at removing top terrorist targets?

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