Stardate 20011114.1200 (On Screen): I think that the events of the past month have made clear that most people's mental image of the special forces was completely wrong. The combination of computer games and such publicity as they have gotten tended to make us think of them as being super-soldiers, sort of the elite of the elite -- and in one sense that is true. But the other image that created is that the way they're used is as shock-troops, and that is what turned out to be completely false. These are not people you throw in to make attacks and to win miraculously where no-one else could; there are too few of them and they are too precious to waste that way. The proper image of Special Forces is that they are military spies. Their job is to go where no-one else can go, talk to who no-one else can approach, and observe what no-one else can see -- and to report all that back. They fight when they must but avoid combat if they can, and if they try to destroy something it's most likely by calling in an airstrike rather than by the more romantic image of sneaking in and laying explosive charges. (That's more risky, and it also gives away the fact that they're in the area. Bombing is largely anonymous; there's no way to know if you just got bombed because of aerial recon or because special forces fingered you.)
Now there is a group which is more like that old viewpoint, and it's the Rangers (the "Green Berets"). There are Rangers now in Pakistan who are ready to attack if need be. If a unit of Special Forces spots a target which justifies a sharp ground action, a company or more of Rangers can move in within hours to attack it. (If a much larger action is required, we 
got the Marines.) But that will only happen if bombing cannot solve the problem, and for the moment the only thing ground action could do better would be to take prisoners and capture intelligence assets. (discuss)
Update: Michael writes to tell me that I made a mistake. The Green Berets are distinct from the Rangers; apparently the Green Berets are special forces.
