A press investigation reveals secret programs of the "Pentagon" in Iraq and many countries

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[size=52]A press investigation reveals secret programs of the "Pentagon" in Iraq and many countries[/size]

[size=45]A press investigation revealed secret programs of the US Department of Defense “Pentagon”, to wage proxy wars in Iraq and a number of Arab, Middle Eastern, Asian and African countries.[/size]
[size=45]According to The Intercept's exclusive investigation, a small team of US special operations forces is fighting a proxy war at a low pace within the "127A" programs, but on a larger base than previously imagined.[/size]
[size=45]The site and a number of media organizations had revealed the use of “127i” programs in a number of African countries, but the documents obtained by the site within the Freedom of Information Act reveal 14 programs within “127i” were active in the greater Middle East and the Asian region – Pacific until 2020.[/size]
[size=45]And American commando units launched 23 operations within "127 A" in the period between the years 2017-2020.[/size]
[size=45]Iraq and Arab countries[/size]
[size=45]Meanwhile, retired General Joseph Votel, who commanded Special Operations Forces and Central Command in the Middle East, confirmed the existence of "anti-terror efforts within the 127A" in Syria, Egypt, Lebanon and Yemen.[/size]
[size=45]A former defense official, who asked not to be named, said that there was a copy of "127A" in Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]The “127A” program in Tunisia was called “Obsidian Tower” or volcanic glass, which was not recognized by the Pentagon, or appeared within the powers of the “127A” programs.[/size]
[size=45]However, he led to the participation of US forces with local proxy groups in 2017, according to a set of documents obtained by the site.[/size]
[size=45]Through "127 i", foreign forces are trained, financed, armed and provided intelligence support, but unlike other foreign support programs, these forces are sent on American missions to achieve American goals.[/size]
[size=45]“Participants in 127 Echos fill in loopholes when we don’t have enough Americans to fill them, and if someone describes 127 Echos as a proxy, it's hard to discuss,” a former defense official said.[/size]
[size=45]Generals who know the program well say that the program, known in the military language, "127 Echo", was effective in pursuing militants without endangering American lives.[/size]
[size=45]However, experts told the site that the use of a vague authority raises questions about accountability, oversight, and the possibility of violating the US Constitution.[/size]
[size=45]Hundreds of millions of dollars[/size]
[size=45]A document obtained by the website reveals that the cost of the program and its operations in the period between 2017-2020 amounted to $310 million, which is a small part of the defense expenditure budget for the same period, but a relative increase to the budget allocated to the program when it was launched under another name in 2005.[/size]
[size=45]For five years, the White House refused to discuss the program and its off-axis operations with the site, and when the National Security Council was asked about the usefulness of the program and the powers of “127A” for the counterterrorism strategy, Patrick Evans, a spokesman for the council, replied, “All of this is subject to the Department of Defense.”[/size]
[size=45]The site sees that the “127A” programs date back to America’s war in Afghanistan, where leaders and the CIA tried to find ways to support the Afghan Northern Alliance in the war against the Taliban, and the Special Operations Forces Command discovered that it did not have the authority to provide direct support to the proxy groups, and it was forced On reliance on funding from the "CIA".[/size]
[size=45]It was initially known as Branch 1208, and the authority was applied in the early years in Iraq, according to a former defense official, and the authority was embodied in US law under “USC Title 10 § 127e.”[/size]
[size=45]rapid intervention battalion[/size]
[size=45]The website previously identified the Cameroonian Rapid Intervention Brigade in which the “127A” program was implemented, and referred to an unknown company, the “G2 Strike Force”, an elite unit in the Lebanese army, with which the United States established a partnership to confront the terrorist organizations ISIS and Al-Qaeda in Lebanon. Lebanon.[/size]
[size=45]Votel confirmed that the "127A" program in Lebanon was called "Leon Hunter" or "Lion Hunter", and he recognized another program in Yemen called "Yukon Hunter", and called Egypt's program "Enigma Hunter", where US special forces cooperated with the Egyptian army to pursue ISIS fighters in the Sinai.[/size]
[size=45]Votel said that the director of military intelligence in Egypt had provided strong support to "Enigma Hunter", and that US forces had not accompanied local forces as they had done in other regions in Africa.[/size]
[size=45]The website said that the United States has a long history of supporting the Egyptian and Lebanese armies, but experts noticed with astonishment how the United States turned the two armies into proxy forces.[/size]
[size=45]Two experts said that the "G2 Strike Force" is a secret and important unit in the Lebanese army, and its selection as a partner in the "127i" program was not surprising.[/size]
[size=45]One of the experts explained that this unit, unlike other units in the Lebanese army, "is not politicized."[/size]
[size=45]Finally, the site indicates that few in Congress and the State Department are familiar with the way the “127i” programs work, in addition to the public opinion about them, and despite what the documents reveal about the extent of the programs and their work, they provide little about oversight and accountability due to the secrecy that surrounds them. out.[/size]
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