Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has a soft spot for US Special Operations Command, so much so that he continues to push the command to take a larger role in the Global War on Terror. According to a Tampa Tribune, during Rumsfeld’s recent visit to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, home to SOCOM, he urged an even more forceful strategy for combating the threat. According to the Tribune, Rumsfeld may ask retired Army Gen. Wayne Downing, a former SOCOM commander, to undertake a review of the command and offer recommendations to improve operations. Air Force types will recall what a whiz-bang job Downing did leading the Pentagon’s inquest into the June 25, 1996, Khobar Towers bombing. Among other things, he missed the size of the truck bomb blast by 400 percent and also wound up blaming the one US military officer who actually tried to increase the security of his troops.
The U.S. began extensive air and artillery strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria on Dec. 19 in retaliation for the killing of three Americans on Dec. 13 by a gunman affiliated with ISIS, U.S. officials said.
