Elite Forces: An Encyclopedia of the Worlds Most Formidable Secret Armies

The invincible reputation of specialist military units such as the USA's Delta Force, Israel's IDF and, of course, Britain's SAS, has grown steadily in recent years. Thanks to a number of campaigns and successful anti-terror operations, from London's Iranian Embassy siege in 1980 to their crucial role in Afghanistan following 11 September 2001, it's now assumed that special forces units are ideal for our world of small, localised conflicts - especially George W. Bush's war on terror.
With a capacity for fast, covert response, elite forces represent the future of conflict for governments everywhere. But their operations often raise the issue of democratic accountability, by making it possible for a government to conduct a successful military campaign to completion without reference to a legislature and without a declaration of war. As well as preparing stories of individual heroism, Elite Forces examines how deserved the reputation of each elite forces unit is, and takes an objective look at what happens when things go wrong, as they did most famously during the Gulf War of 1991, and in America's disastrous intervention in Somalia in 1993.
It is the first book of its kind to examine all aspects of the overlap between elite forces and the hidden worlds of intelligence and counter-terrorism, and takes an objective look at the secret, controversial role of special forces and 'freelancers' in covert, deadly operations around the world. Fully up-to-date, it examines their relevance to the global fallout from 11 September 2001. Elite Forces is an easy-to-use reference resource.

Richard M. Bennett is a journalist and senior partner in a company that supplies information on espionage and political risk to the news media and other clients.