Obama’s Shadow Wars

Missile-wielding drones and elite Special Forces units are the new face of American power, and the White House is increasingly relying on them to fight terror in the farthest corners of the globe.

MARCH/APRIL 2012

Above, the USS Boxer departs from Naval Air Station North Island on Jan. 14, 2004. Carrying 200 marines and 900 sailors, the USS Boxer is an amphibious assault vessel on permanent station in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen's coast, with a squadron of Harrier aircraft to fly strike-missions against targets in-country identified either by the CIA, Special Forces on the ground, or drones. 

Tiffini M. Jones/U.S. Navy via Getty Images