In recent years, U.S. special operations forces — a shadowy division of elite soldiers — have emerged as the new heroes behind some of the country’s toughest military operations, like rescuing Jessica Buchanan, an American woman who’d been kidnapped by Somali pirates, and killing Osama Bin Laden. Now Admiral William McCraven, the leader of the special operations command, is seeking new authority to deploy his forces with less Pentagon oversight.

Marc Ambinder is contributing editor at GQ and The Atlantic. He’s also author of "The Command," an eBook about the U.S. joint special operations command.