Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Tacoma News Tribune
May 18, 2007
By Les Blumenthal, News Tribune
WASHINGTON – Navy Vice Adm. Eric Olson, a Tacoma native who has been nominated to lead the nation’s Special Operations forces, said Thursday that the U.S. Special Operations Command was not prepared to become the lead combat command for “planning and synchronizing” the war on terror after 9/11.
“Now we have our legs under us,” the Stadium High School graduate told more than 100 South Sound business and civic leaders at a meeting on Capitol Hill.
Olson was nominated last week to head the Special Operations Command, located at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. He is currently the deputy commander. His nomination requires Senate confirmation.
Utilizing sometimes “violent” night assaults, Olson said special ops missions include “rendering terrorist organizations and their leaders incapable” and interdicting and capturing weapons of mass destruction.
Olson did not mention specific missions, but he said Osama bin Laden is likely hiding in western Pakistan near the Afghanistan border. He said it was unclear how much day-to-day influence the terrorist leader has on al-Qaida operations.
With the resurgence of the Taliban, Olson said Afghanistan remains in a precarious position.
“This is a long ways from being over,” he said. “I don’t know what the trend is. I think this is a key moment in determining Afghanistan’s future.”
Olson sought to emphasize that even though “direct action” special ops missions are the stuff of Hollywood movies, there is a “softer line” that includes training indigenous forces, engaging in civil affairs programs to “remove the motivational causes” of terrorism and assisting in other government-to-government programs.
“Most of our forces work in the softer line,” he said. “We understand fully we will not kill our way to success. It is important for us to respond to the sound of guns, but it is equally important for us to be there before the sounds of guns.”
Olson delivered his remarks to the annual 9th Congressional District meeting organized by Rep. Adam Smith, D-Tacoma. Smith is chairman of the House Armed Services’ Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities, which has jurisdiction over the Special Operations Command.
After the speech, Smith’s staff gave Olson a tin of candy as a reminder of his hometown – Brown & Haley’s Almond Roca. Asked whether he liked it, Olson smiled and said he went to high school with the daughter of the one of the company’s owners.
The son of former Tacoma City Councilwoman Dawn Lucien, Olson attended the U.S. Naval Academy and qualified as a Naval special warfare officer in 1974. He is fluent in Arabic, has been stationed in Saudi Arabia and Tunisia and served with U.N. peacekeeping forces in Israel, Lebanon and Egypt.
Olson was among four Navy SEALs who received the Silver Star for their actions in the battle of Mogadishu, Somalia, which was chronicled in the book and movie “Blackhawk Down.” Under sustained small arms, automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade fire, Olson and the other SEALs helped rescue and evacuate the wounded.
Following a failed mission to rescue U.S. hostages in Iran in 1980, Congress decided to form the Special Operations Command to coordinate training and oversee joint missions of special ops forces. The command includes Navy, Army, Air Force and Marine special ops forces.
Its missions include counterterrorism, the search for weapons of mass destruction, direct action, psychological operations and civil affairs, Olson said.
It now has one more mission – fighting terrorism.
“We synchronize the global war on terror,” Olson said. “That’s the big change for us since 9/11.”
May 18, 2007
By Les Blumenthal, News Tribune
WASHINGTON – Navy Vice Adm. Eric Olson, a Tacoma native who has been nominated to lead the nation’s Special Operations forces, said Thursday that the U.S. Special Operations Command was not prepared to become the lead combat command for “planning and synchronizing” the war on terror after 9/11.
“Now we have our legs under us,” the Stadium High School graduate told more than 100 South Sound business and civic leaders at a meeting on Capitol Hill.
Olson was nominated last week to head the Special Operations Command, located at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. He is currently the deputy commander. His nomination requires Senate confirmation.
Utilizing sometimes “violent” night assaults, Olson said special ops missions include “rendering terrorist organizations and their leaders incapable” and interdicting and capturing weapons of mass destruction.
Olson did not mention specific missions, but he said Osama bin Laden is likely hiding in western Pakistan near the Afghanistan border. He said it was unclear how much day-to-day influence the terrorist leader has on al-Qaida operations.
With the resurgence of the Taliban, Olson said Afghanistan remains in a precarious position.
“This is a long ways from being over,” he said. “I don’t know what the trend is. I think this is a key moment in determining Afghanistan’s future.”
Olson sought to emphasize that even though “direct action” special ops missions are the stuff of Hollywood movies, there is a “softer line” that includes training indigenous forces, engaging in civil affairs programs to “remove the motivational causes” of terrorism and assisting in other government-to-government programs.
“Most of our forces work in the softer line,” he said. “We understand fully we will not kill our way to success. It is important for us to respond to the sound of guns, but it is equally important for us to be there before the sounds of guns.”
Olson delivered his remarks to the annual 9th Congressional District meeting organized by Rep. Adam Smith, D-Tacoma. Smith is chairman of the House Armed Services’ Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities, which has jurisdiction over the Special Operations Command.
After the speech, Smith’s staff gave Olson a tin of candy as a reminder of his hometown – Brown & Haley’s Almond Roca. Asked whether he liked it, Olson smiled and said he went to high school with the daughter of the one of the company’s owners.
The son of former Tacoma City Councilwoman Dawn Lucien, Olson attended the U.S. Naval Academy and qualified as a Naval special warfare officer in 1974. He is fluent in Arabic, has been stationed in Saudi Arabia and Tunisia and served with U.N. peacekeeping forces in Israel, Lebanon and Egypt.
Olson was among four Navy SEALs who received the Silver Star for their actions in the battle of Mogadishu, Somalia, which was chronicled in the book and movie “Blackhawk Down.” Under sustained small arms, automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade fire, Olson and the other SEALs helped rescue and evacuate the wounded.
Following a failed mission to rescue U.S. hostages in Iran in 1980, Congress decided to form the Special Operations Command to coordinate training and oversee joint missions of special ops forces. The command includes Navy, Army, Air Force and Marine special ops forces.
Its missions include counterterrorism, the search for weapons of mass destruction, direct action, psychological operations and civil affairs, Olson said.
It now has one more mission – fighting terrorism.
“We synchronize the global war on terror,” Olson said. “That’s the big change for us since 9/11.”