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The views expressed on this podcast are those of the participants, not of Reuters News. There's a lot of very negative connotations around this phrase boots on the ground and one of the biggest things has been that special operators somehow magically don't count.

You know, the joke has always been that special operators are sneakers on the ground

and therefore you don't have to mention them.

You're listening to Reuters War College, a discussion of the world in conflict, focusing

on the stories behind the front lines. Hello, and welcome to War College. I'm your host Matthew Galt. With us today is freelance

journalist Joseph Trevithic. Joseph Trevithic writes a lot for the War Zone

where he is the master of the Freedom of Information Act request.

He spent the last few years tracking America's Shadow Wars.

Now, these are the secret operations

that the Pentagon runs to combat Islamic State

and other similar groups across the world.

Joe, thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you for having me.

All right, so I wanted to have you on the show today because we've been, you and I have

been kind of pinging back and forth and talking about the

different stuff that you've been uncovering over the past month or so so let's let's

get into some of this so America is at war in several countries across the world.

People traditionally think of Afghanistan and Iraq, but what people don't think so much

about is the secret war against the Islamic State.

...