If the JSOC actually exists and it actually is tasked with assassinating “high value” targets and it actually killed people I would like to know who they were.
It does not make sense that this kind of organization would risk the public relations nightmare to the US that would accrue if it could be proved this group was assassinating low level anti US operatives.
In any case, we already are employing military snipers to kill terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is no secret. It is being done openly and is considered a legitimate military activity.
So, Mr. Hersh, just who are these “high level” targets that have been assassinated? If you can’t name names your story is as worthless as you are.
JSOC does exist, and has existed since 1980 in one form or another. It got a big boost when the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols act provided that Special Operations got their own budget, and various units no longer had to rely on their parent services for funding.
To say that many of it's operations are classified would be the same as saying that the sun rises in the East, yet the organisation itself is well known.
Hersh's claims have been debunked. JSOC is accountable to both the SEC DEF and Congress. If any of the nonsense was going on, you can bet the farm that the more liberal members of congress would have long ago publically blown the whistle on JSOC actions.