127e programs, also known as 127 Echo programs, refers to a number of

counterterrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that Government, governments, law enforcement, business, and Intelligence agency, intellig ...

operations led by United States special operations forces under the legal authority of Section 127e of

Title 10 of the United States Code Title 10 of the United States Code outlines the role of armed forces in the United States Code. It provides the legal basis for the roles, missions and organization of each of the services as well as the United States Department of Defense. Ea ...

. According to

The Intercept ''The Intercept'' is an American left-wing news website founded by Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill, Laura Poitras and funded by billionaire eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar. Its current editor is Betsy Reed. The publication initially reported ...

, at least 23 different operations were conducted by the American military under 127e authority between 2017 and 2020, costing at least $310 million.

Legal status

Section 127e of

, titled ''Support of special operations to combat terrorism'', allows for the

United States Secretary of Defense The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclosure 2: a The s ...

to spend a maximum of $100 million a year to "support to foreign forces, irregular forces, groups, or individuals engaged in supporting or facilitating authorized ongoing military operations by United States special operations forces" engaged in

activities.

History

The authority originated in American government initiatives during the first few years of the

War on terror The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international Counterterrorism, counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campa ...

, notably the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. It was originally known as Section 1208 authority, under the

National Defense Authorization Act The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is the name for each of a series of United States federal laws specifying the annual budget and expenditures of the U.S. Department of Defense. The first NDAA was passed in 1961. The U.S. Congress o ...

, and received funding of $10 million a year. A number of 127e programmes have been conducted in Somalia, consisting of training regional forces for combat against Al-Shabaab. Other "direct action" missions involving direct combat with American forces have been conducted in Cameroon, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Niger, Somalia, Tunisia, Ethiopia, and Mauritania have been confirmed to have occurred by former American general Donald C. Bolduc. Operations under the authority have also been carried out in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. In 2017, the team ambushed in the

Tongo Tongo ambush The Tongo Tongo ambush or the Niger ambush occurred on 4 October 2017, when armed militants from the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) attacked Nigerien and US soldiers outside the village of Tongo Tongo, Niger, while they were returnin ...

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languages In 2019, the

Rapid Intervention Battalion The Rapid Intervention Battalion (''Bataillon d'Intervention Rapide'', or BIR) is an elite military force and an army combat unit of the Cameroonian Armed Forces. The unit is supported by the United States, reports directly to the president of Cam ...

(BIR) of the

Cameroon Armed Forces The Cameroon Armed Forces (french: Forces armées camerounaises (FAC)) are the military of the Republic of Cameroon. The armed forces number 40,000 personnel in ground, air, and naval forces. There are approximately 40,000 troops in the army acr ...

received American funding under 127e authority, until the programme was cut off due to accusations of human rights abuses by the BIR

Reception

In 2014, Admiral

William H. McRaven William Harry McRaven (born November 6, 1955) is a retired United States Navy four-star admiral who served as the ninth commander of the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) from August 8, 2011 to August 28, 2014. From 2015 to 2018, ...

called the programme "probably the single most important authority we have in our fight against terrorism." In 2018, General

Raymond A. Thomas General Raymond Anthony Thomas III (also known as Tony Thomas; born October 6, 1958) is a retired general officer of the United States Army and former commander of the United States Special Operations Command. He participated in numerous combat o ...

stated that the programme's "unique access and capabilities achieve results." According to General

Richard D. Clarke Richard D. Clarke Jr. (born July 23, 1962) is a retired United States Army four-star General (United States), general who last served as the 12th commander of United States Special Operations Command from March 29, 2019 to August 30, 2022. Prior ...

, "use of 127e authority has directly resulted in the capture or killing of thousands of terrorists." Elias Yousif of the

Center for International Policy The Center for International Policy (CIP) is a non-profit foreign policy research and advocacy think tank with offices in Washington, D.C. and New York City. It was founded in 1975 in response to the Vietnam War. The Center describes its mission ...

and Daniel R. Mahanty of the

Center for Civilians in Conflict The Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) is a Washington, D.C. based non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO). CIVIC was founded in 2003 by Marla Ruzicka as the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict. CIVIC works on behalf of civilians ...

have concerns about a lack of formal oversight mechanisms for the programme, saying that "the DOD has exempted 127e programs from basic human rights due diligence and vetting it applies to almost all other programs" and has allowed the Pentagon to avoid "critical questions about U.S. military involvement in foreign conflicts." Katherine Ebright of the

Brennan Center for Justice The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is a nonprofit law and public policy institute. The organization is named after Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Generally considered Modern liberalism in th ...

has said that the Pentagon has used the programmes "to engage in combat beyond the scope of any authorization for use of military force or permissible self-defense," which "would contravene constitutional principles."

References

{{reflist Title 10 of the United States Code United States federal defense and national security legislation