A brilliant visual essay about the costs, benefits and history of the…
Human Terrain
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
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Human Terrain is two stories in one. The first exposes a new Pentagon effort to enlist the best and the brightest in a struggle for hearts and minds. Facing long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military initiates `Human Terrain Systems', a controversial program that seeks to make cultural awareness the centerpiece of the new counterinsurgency strategy. Designed to embed social scientists with combat troops, the program swiftly comes under attack as a misguided and unethical effort to gather intelligence and target enemies. Gaining rare access to wargames in the Mojave Desert and training exercises at Quantico and Fort Leavenworth, Human Terrain takes the viewer into the heart of the war machine and a shadowy collaboration between American academics and the military.
The other story is about a brilliant young scholar who leaves the university to join a Human Terrain team. After working as a humanitarian activist in the Western Sahara, Balkans, East Timor and elsewhere, and winning a Marshall Scholarship to study at Oxford, Michael Bhatia returns to Brown University to take up a visiting fellowship. In the course of conducting research on military cultural awareness, he is recruited by the Human Terrain program and eventually embeds with the 82nd Airborne in eastern Afghanistan. On the way to mediate an intertribal dispute, Bhatia is killed when his humvee hits a roadside bomb.
War becomes academic, academics go to war, and the personal tragically merges with the political, raising new questions about the ethics, effectiveness, and high costs of counterinsurgency.
'Human Terrain presents viewers with a curious axiom: the idea that 'empathy has become the new key weapon of war'...[The film] is well suited to conveying the layered ambiguity of the issue...Much of Human Terrain's strength, in this sense, lies in showing more than telling, and some of the most memorable moments are when the film's subjects' own words bring nuanced but striking contradictions to the surface...Anthropology, after all, is about knowing and dignifying the other, while war, in its essence, is about annihilating the other without question. Anthropology is curious and descriptive, while war is decisive and instrumental. Anthropology asks questions, war gets things done, often bloodily.' Kenneth MacLeish, Anthropology Now
'Human Terrain is a richly detailed, complicated, and probing investigation of debates surrounding an important subject--the U.S. military's attempts to recruit anthropologists and other social scientists to support counterinsurgency operations in what are increasingly being seen as failing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The film offers nuanced analysis of the ethical, political, and strategic issues involved from key actors in the debates, as well as a behind-the-scenes view of how social science is contributing to counterinsurgency and occupation.' David Vine, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, American University, co-Author with the Network of Concerned Anthropologists, The Counter-Counterinsurgency Manual: or, Notes on Demilitarizing American Society
'Human Terrain is useful for stimulating classroom discussion about the tension between the goals of war and understanding other cultures. Students looking for a deeper understanding will appreciate that the film presents multiple perspectives on the controversial Human Terrain System (HTS) program. In particular, the footage from Afghanistan and the personal story of HTS participant Michael Bhatia provided them with sharp insight into what the program entails, its challenges and its costs.' Dr. Misha Klein, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma
'Human Terrain collapses the barrier between academic and political worlds, revealing an unexpected and controversial role for the 'ivory tower' in the real world of 21st century counterinsurgency. Through the compelling and ultimately tragic story of late anthropologist Michael Bhatia's service with NATO forces in Afghanistan, the film portrays contending sides of a searing ethical dilemma of contemporary scholarship, in depth, nuance and with integrity.' Ned Lazarus, Visiting Professor, The Conflict Resolution Program, Georgetown University
'Presenting an even overview of the controversy about Human Terrain Teams in the US, the film provokes and engages rather than taking sides. U.S. military officials explaining their views about the goals and the importance of Human Terrain Teams are juxtaposed with live footage from HTT trainings; interviews with academic experts on security who contest the military perspective are interwoven with commentary from the academics who created the program; and the tragic story of one HTT member provides the film's narrative backbone. The point of the film is to raise questions--not only about HTT but about war as a tool of international engagement--rather than to preach conclusions.' Catherine Besteman, Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology, Colby College, a Founding Member, Network of Concerned Anthropologists
'Absolutely worth seeing, very informative...We hear the staff members' and military leaders' rhetoric justifying the need for a program that equips the military to respond to conflicts that increasingly require understanding the human, as well as geographic, terrain...We see the training and deployment of young marines...We see social scientists being trained and performing in the field. And we hear, loud and clear, critics, some of them members of the Network of Concerned Anthropologists, pointing out the flawed ethics in the Human Terrain System's ideology...A hard-hitting and moving analysis of this highly controversial program, including the ideas and assumptions behind it.' Jean Jackson, Professor of Anthropology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Founding Member, Network of Concerned Anthropologists
'Human Terrain avoids providing readymade answers...Rather, it invites viewers to make up their own minds...[and] allows us to think these major dilemmas through for ourselves...A compelling account of the current relations between socio-cultural knowledge and politico-military power and will be of interest not only to scholars and students in the Humanities and Social Sciences, but also to a much wider general audience.' Markus Kienscherf, 49th Parallel Journal
'An informative take on a phenomenon that's been largely overlooked by documentarians...Recommended.' Video Librarian
'A vivid, harrowing documentary...Human Terrain examines the fallout of blurring the line between academia and combat, giving the viewer access to wargames in the Mojave Desert and training exercises at Quantico and Fort Leavenworth...An extraordinary examination of the costs, ethics, and effectiveness of this program, and an absolutely invaluable addition to military, social science, public and college library DVD shelves.' The Midwest Book Review
'It is very welcome to see a film exploring the issue in a serious and objective manner...Human Terrain: War Becomes Academic is a valuable piece of filmmaking, and I applaud its production so soon after the implementation of the program. Anthropologists should watch and discuss it...Knowing your enemy is not a new goal in war, and as long as anthropology is or has a kind of knowledge, it will be called upon repeatedly to provide or obtain that knowledge by and for its political masters. There are obvious reasons to embrace and resist this call, and anthropologists individually and as a profession will need to struggle with it for many years to come...Suitable for high school and for college courses in cultural anthropology, anthropology of war, applied anthropology, and U.S. military studies, as well as general audiences.' Jack David Eller, Community College of Denver, Anthropology Review Database
'The documentary carefully and objectively outlines Human Terrain Systems (HTS), an initiative designed by the military to better understand native populations in hopes of reducing casualties on both sides...Highly recommended for ethics and social sciences courses, Human Terrain: War Becomes Academic illuminates the debate over whether noble intention can be reconciled with the brutality of urban warfare.' Douglas Reed, Ouachita Baptist University, Educational Media Reviews Online
'An absolutely fascinating look at the ever changing landscape of war...Riveting--my interest level was captured from the beginning and it never wandered. Perhaps it is because of the fact that we are still at war, or perhaps it is because the flow of information from the military regarding the situation in the middle east has been restrictive at best, this documentary has a very timely feeling to it. Highly Recommended.' Panic Manual
Citation
Main credits
								Udris, David (film producer)
Udris, David (film director)
Der Derian, James (film producer)
Der Derian, James (film director)
Udris, Michael (film producer)
Udris, Michael (film director)
Santos, John Phillip (narrator)
							
Other credits
Camera/editing, Michael and David Udris.
Distributor subjects
Afghanistan; American Studies; Anthropology; Asian Studies; Ethics; Foreign Policy, US; Global Issues; Human Rights; Islamic Studies; Middle Eastern Studies; National Security; Sociology; War and PeaceKeywords
WEBVTT
 
 00:00:01.100 --> 00:00:04.067
 [ethereal orchestral music]
 
 00:00:01.900 --> 00:00:09.900
 ♪ ♪
 
 00:00:30.133 --> 00:00:31.933
 - Yesterday I was going through
 my notes,
 
 00:00:31.967 --> 00:00:34.433
 and I was like, \"Well, you know,
 what are the objectives here?\"
 
 00:00:34.467 --> 00:00:36.733
 Like you said,
 \"What is the why?\"
 
 00:00:44.600 --> 00:00:46.167
 These are just a series
 of quotes.
 
 00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:49.900
 General Scales - he begins
 by sort of saying
 
 00:00:49.933 --> 00:00:51.067
 the center of gravity
 
 00:00:51.100 --> 00:00:53.900
 is the now the perception
 of civilians.
 
 00:00:53.933 --> 00:00:56.967
 And so victory is defined
 as capturing
 
 00:00:57.000 --> 00:00:58.633
 the psychocultural high ground.
 
 00:01:07.067 --> 00:01:08.333
 \"As a consequence of this,
 
 00:01:08.367 --> 00:01:11.567
 empathy is the new
 key weapon of war.\"
 
 00:01:11.600 --> 00:01:13.133
 They\'re proposing
 a Manhattan Project
 
 00:01:13.167 --> 00:01:15.233
 for the human sciences.
 
 00:01:18.267 --> 00:01:24.133
 - Sir, be advised,
 we have one urgent surgical.
 
 00:01:24.167 --> 00:01:30.200
 One urgent, three KIA.
 
 00:01:30.233 --> 00:01:31.233
 - [...].
 
 00:01:31.267 --> 00:01:32.267
 - Roger.
 Good copy.
 
 00:01:32.300 --> 00:01:33.500
 Six out.
 
 00:01:41.900 --> 00:01:43.733
 - Thanks for inviting
 the Marine Corps
 
 00:01:43.767 --> 00:01:45.167
 to come here today
 and share with you
 
 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:47.967
 how your marines
 are transforming language
 
 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:51.867
 and cultural issues within
 the Marine Corps.
 
 00:01:51.900 --> 00:01:55.333
 In part due to our heritage
 and our expeditionary nature,
 
 00:01:55.367 --> 00:01:58.600
 the Marine Corps has always been
 very interested
 
 00:01:58.633 --> 00:02:00.900
 in languages
 and cultural competence.
 
 00:02:06.100 --> 00:02:09.200
 But our experience since 9/11
 as well as our assessments
 
 00:02:09.233 --> 00:02:10.867
 of the future operational
 environments
 
 00:02:10.900 --> 00:02:13.233
 we are likely
 to be employed in
 
 00:02:13.267 --> 00:02:15.367
 has only sharpened that interest
 
 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:18.933
 and made us recognize
 that we need to do more.
 
 00:02:22.200 --> 00:02:24.167
 We need to have marines
 that are capable
 
 00:02:24.200 --> 00:02:26.733
 of navigating the human
 and cultural terrain.
 
 00:02:37.067 --> 00:02:40.067
 [wind howling]
 
 00:02:44.300 --> 00:02:46.533
 - We\'re in a different war.
 
 00:02:46.567 --> 00:02:51.533
 We are in a war that is
 as much a cultural struggle
 
 00:02:51.567 --> 00:02:58.933
 as it is a military struggle
 that demands subtlety.
 
 00:02:58.967 --> 00:03:02.067
 And where in the case
 of this sort of training,
 
 00:03:02.100 --> 00:03:05.667
 not only is the senior
 leadership
 
 00:03:05.700 --> 00:03:08.067
 need to put on the mantle
 of diplomacy,
 
 00:03:08.100 --> 00:03:10.333
 but so does the young corporal.
 
 00:03:10.367 --> 00:03:14.600
 And that is largely the intent
 of this training.
 
 00:03:14.633 --> 00:03:16.933
 [helicopter blades thudding]
 
 00:03:17.533 --> 00:03:20.967
 Junior marines will
 tend to ask me,
 
 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:23.100
 \"Sir, why the hell do I care?
 
 00:03:23.133 --> 00:03:25.167
 We do kinetic ops really well.\"
 
 00:03:25.200 --> 00:03:26.500
 And my answer to them is,
 
 00:03:26.533 --> 00:03:29.133
 \"Because you want fewer problems
 on the battlefield.\"
 
 00:03:29.167 --> 00:03:30.900
 I put up a really simple slide:
 
 00:03:30.933 --> 00:03:34.700
 \"supportive,\" \"non-hostile,\"
 \"hostile.\"
 
 00:03:35.600 --> 00:03:38.367
 yeah, we can do it kinetically,
 
 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:40.400
 but we can also do it
 with a smile and a wave,
 
 00:03:40.433 --> 00:03:41.833
 is to take them from hostile -
 
 00:03:41.867 --> 00:03:43.067
 they\'re shooting at us;
 
 00:03:43.100 --> 00:03:44.600
 they\'re trying
 to destabilize Iraq -
 
 00:03:44.633 --> 00:03:46.200
 to at least non-hostile.
 
 00:03:46.233 --> 00:03:48.400
 And I beg you to teach
 your lance corporals
 
 00:03:48.433 --> 00:03:51.067
 on the ground
 that concept.
 
 00:03:55.600 --> 00:03:59.733
 - When the 1st Marine Division
 was preparing to return to Iraq
 
 00:03:59.767 --> 00:04:02.067
 in late 2003, early 2004,
 
 00:04:02.100 --> 00:04:03.967
 the division commander
 at the time,
 
 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:05.533
 Major General Mattis,
 
 00:04:05.567 --> 00:04:07.533
 who had led the assault
 into Afghanistan,
 
 00:04:07.567 --> 00:04:09.800
 and then who had led
 the assault into Iraq,
 
 00:04:09.833 --> 00:04:12.233
 recognized the need
 for certain kinds of training
 
 00:04:12.267 --> 00:04:13.967
 that were not traditional.
 
 00:04:13.767 --> 00:04:16.467
 The earliest one was
 at March Air Reserve Base,
 
 00:04:16.500 --> 00:04:18.467
 where we had mock Iraqi towns
 
 00:04:18.500 --> 00:04:21.967
 with buildings and firm bases
 and things of that sort
 
 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:26.400
 that evolved by 2005
 to 29 Palms Marine Corps base
 
 00:04:26.433 --> 00:04:28.033
 where over time they have built
 
 00:04:28.067 --> 00:04:30.367
 a series of small
 Iraqi villages,
 
 00:04:30.400 --> 00:04:33.000
 forcing commanders to have
 to deal with issues
 
 00:04:33.033 --> 00:04:34.467
 in a more realistic way.
 
 00:04:34.500 --> 00:04:37.500
 [gunfire]
 
 00:04:46.900 --> 00:04:49.333
 - There are so many damn locks
 over there.
 
 00:04:49.367 --> 00:04:51.167
 You know, their cabinets
 are locked,
 
 00:04:51.200 --> 00:04:53.200
 their trunks are locked,
 their closets are locked,
 
 00:04:53.233 --> 00:04:54.267
 their [...] are locked.
 
 00:04:54.300 --> 00:04:55.433
 Everything is locked!
 
 00:04:55.467 --> 00:04:57.300
 Okay, now if the head
 of household is with us,
 
 00:04:57.333 --> 00:04:59.100
 he brings the keys along,
 we can just,
 
 00:04:59.133 --> 00:05:01.467
 \"Hey, sir, would you please mind
 unlocking this for us?\"
 
 00:05:01.500 --> 00:05:02.900
 All right, because if we don\'t,
 
 00:05:02.933 --> 00:05:04.733
 then we have to either
 go get him
 
 00:05:04.767 --> 00:05:06.567
 and have him unlock everything
 one at a time,
 
 00:05:06.600 --> 00:05:07.867
 or we got to break
 the lock.
 
 00:05:11.567 --> 00:05:14.567
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:05:22.300 --> 00:05:23.467
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:05:23.500 --> 00:05:25.867
 - We try to articulate
 what is the purpose
 
 00:05:25.900 --> 00:05:27.433
 of our program here.
 
 00:05:27.467 --> 00:05:31.400
 It\'s really to get
 the marines familiar,
 
 00:05:31.433 --> 00:05:35.067
 proficient, and confident
 in urban operations,
 
 00:05:35.100 --> 00:05:37.300
 operating in an urban
 environment
 
 00:05:37.333 --> 00:05:40.600
 amongst a population
 that they\'re not certain
 
 00:05:40.633 --> 00:05:42.767
 if they\'re all friendly,
 if they\'re all neutral,
 
 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:45.200
 or if they\'re all unfriendly.
 
 00:05:45.100 --> 00:05:46.633
 And using our theme
 
 00:05:46.667 --> 00:05:50.100
 of, \"No better friend,
 no worse enemy,\" learn,
 
 00:05:50.133 --> 00:05:51.200
 who can they trust?
 
 00:05:51.233 --> 00:05:52.333
 Who can they deal with?
 
 00:05:52.367 --> 00:05:54.167
 How do they deal
 with this population?
 
 00:05:54.200 --> 00:05:57.533
 How do we create a program
 that really trains marines
 
 00:05:57.567 --> 00:05:59.167
 to the current fight?
 
 00:05:59.200 --> 00:06:00.600
 You know, that
 counterinsurgency,
 
 00:06:00.633 --> 00:06:01.767
 that urban fight,
 
 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:03.700
 where tactical cultural
 awareness is important.
 
 00:06:03.733 --> 00:06:05.333
 Dealing with
 the population properly
 
 00:06:05.367 --> 00:06:08.033
 is mission essential.
 
 00:06:08.067 --> 00:06:09.433
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:06:09.467 --> 00:06:13.900
 - I do welcome you here in town,
 you and your staff.
 
 00:06:13.933 --> 00:06:16.067
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:06:16.100 --> 00:06:18.367
 - But there is a few things
 
 00:06:18.400 --> 00:06:21.167
 that I would like
 to mention to you.
 
 00:06:21.200 --> 00:06:22.300
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:06:22.333 --> 00:06:23.333
 - What do we got?
 
 00:06:23.367 --> 00:06:25.300
 What do we got?
 
 00:06:25.333 --> 00:06:27.133
 - The man over here is part
 of the insurgency.
 
 00:06:27.167 --> 00:06:28.600
 [all speaking at once]
 
 00:06:28.633 --> 00:06:31.233
 - Don\'t be vague
 in the question.
 
 00:06:31.267 --> 00:06:33.133
 - Okay, he has information
 about his neighbors.
 
 00:06:33.167 --> 00:06:35.033
 - Never pay money
 for information.
 
 00:06:35.067 --> 00:06:36.933
 It might get a little bit edgy.
 
 00:06:36.967 --> 00:06:38.600
 Don\'t take immediate notes.
 
 00:06:38.633 --> 00:06:40.200
 You shouldn\'t crack a smile.
 
 00:06:40.233 --> 00:06:41.967
 You shouldn\'t giggle and laugh
 at that stuff.
 
 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:44.567
 So just strike up
 that casual conversation,
 
 00:06:44.600 --> 00:06:47.033
 and you might get
 a better answer.
 
 00:06:47.067 --> 00:06:53.300
 Never set up specific
 future meetings.
 
 00:06:53.333 --> 00:06:55.600
 Avoid the temptation to go,
 \"No, stop, stop.
 
 00:06:55.633 --> 00:06:57.200
 Just tell me where
 the insurgents are.\"
 
 00:06:57.233 --> 00:06:59.233
 - Hey, let me know
 what\'s going on out here!
 
 00:06:59.267 --> 00:07:00.367
 Is he down?
 
 00:07:00.400 --> 00:07:01.800
 - We will be here longer,
 
 00:07:01.833 --> 00:07:05.300
 and we are here to help
 and improve the situation.
 
 00:07:05.333 --> 00:07:08.333
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:07:13.933 --> 00:07:15.733
 - My name is Gabriel Durait.
 
 00:07:15.767 --> 00:07:17.467
 I am Iraqi.
 
 00:07:17.500 --> 00:07:19.967
 I live in the United States,
 San Diego.
 
 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:23.633
 We are playing role-player
 Iraqis as back in Iraq.
 
 00:07:23.667 --> 00:07:27.367
 We give the idea, how does
 the life look like over in Iraq?
 
 00:07:27.400 --> 00:07:32.233
 so we doing the same thing here
 to get the marines trained good.
 
 00:07:32.267 --> 00:07:35.000
 So when they go back in Iraq,
 
 00:07:35.033 --> 00:07:36.600
 we make sure they know
 what they are doing
 
 00:07:36.633 --> 00:07:38.600
 and how to deal with the people.
 
 00:07:38.633 --> 00:07:41.500
 We do culture class for them,
 
 00:07:41.533 --> 00:07:44.467
 teach them how\'s the Iraqis way,
 what religion they have,
 
 00:07:44.500 --> 00:07:45.900
 what they respect
 
 00:07:45.933 --> 00:07:50.233
 and ways they not respect
 and know about disrespect.
 
 00:07:50.267 --> 00:07:52.633
 [men shouting in distance]
 
 00:07:54.467 --> 00:07:57.633
 Right now they\'re setting up
 their checkpoint operations.
 
 00:08:00.033 --> 00:08:02.133
 And then we\'ll give them more
 than one thing to deal with
 
 00:08:02.167 --> 00:08:03.367
 inside technical operations.
 
 00:08:03.400 --> 00:08:05.067
 We\'ll give them a complex thing
 to deal with,
 
 00:08:05.100 --> 00:08:06.533
 as in we\'ll have a vehicle
 blow up,
 
 00:08:06.567 --> 00:08:08.233
 or we\'ll give them
 a complex ambush,
 
 00:08:08.267 --> 00:08:09.400
 a small arms fire.
 
 00:08:09.433 --> 00:08:11.033
 - Hey, we got fire over here,
 right here.
 
 00:08:11.067 --> 00:08:12.100
 - What do you see?
 
 00:08:12.133 --> 00:08:13.500
 Do you see anything?
 
 00:08:13.533 --> 00:08:14.533
 - Negative.
 
 00:08:14.567 --> 00:08:15.967
 - A common mistake, I think,
 
 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:19.100
 inside checkpoint operations
 is the escalation of force.
 
 00:08:19.133 --> 00:08:21.367
 When is it right for them
 to actually engage a vehicle
 
 00:08:21.400 --> 00:08:22.667
 when it\'s done something wrong?
 
 00:08:22.700 --> 00:08:24.700
 Making sure that you can\'t just
 shoot somebody
 
 00:08:24.733 --> 00:08:27.033
 because they didn\'t stop
 at a stop sign.
 
 00:08:42.733 --> 00:08:44.767
 [indistinct radio chatter]
 
 00:08:44.800 --> 00:08:45.933
 - Loop around
 to the north of that.
 
 00:08:45.967 --> 00:08:46.967
 - Roger that.
 
 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:49.833
 - Don\'t fly into them.
 
 00:08:49.867 --> 00:08:51.567
 There goes one.
 
 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:54.900
 - What we\'re giving them here
 is muscle memory.
 
 00:08:54.933 --> 00:08:58.200
 Here I can go through
 ten scenarios,
 
 00:08:58.233 --> 00:08:59.233
 one right after the other,
 
 00:08:59.267 --> 00:09:01.167
 where out in that field
 
 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:03.267
 I would have only had time
 to do one.
 
 00:09:03.967 --> 00:09:06.867
 you\'re taking the 18-, 19-,
 20-year-old marine
 
 00:09:07.900 --> 00:09:09.733
 He\'s got his hands
 on the butterfly trigger.
 
 00:09:09.767 --> 00:09:11.867
 He has life and death
 in his hands.
 
 00:09:11.900 --> 00:09:13.267
 He\'s the one that has to decide,
 
 00:09:13.300 --> 00:09:17.300
 \"Is that a vehicle-born IED,
 or is that a mama and five kids
 
 00:09:17.333 --> 00:09:18.900
 just scared
 and driving erratically?\"
 
 00:09:18.933 --> 00:09:20.667
 If I show it to him enough
 in here,
 
 00:09:20.700 --> 00:09:22.767
 which is the difference
 between the two,
 
 00:09:22.800 --> 00:09:24.133
 then when he gets in country,
 
 00:09:24.167 --> 00:09:27.533
 we have less chance
 of killing the innocent.
 
 00:09:27.567 --> 00:09:28.567
 We\'re not killers.
 
 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:30.067
 We\'re professional killers.
 
 00:09:30.100 --> 00:09:32.567
 We don\'t kill women
 and children.
 
 00:09:32.600 --> 00:09:35.800
 We kill those people
 that are trying to kill us.
 
 00:09:36.133 --> 00:09:37.367
 - If you guys
 aren\'t gonna watch -
 
 00:09:37.400 --> 00:09:39.000
 there\'s three of you
 on there right now.
 
 00:09:39.033 --> 00:09:41.300
 If I\'m an insurgent and I got
 some 500-pound bombs under it,
 
 00:09:41.333 --> 00:09:42.867
 I\'ll take all three of you out
 in one shot.
 
 00:09:42.900 --> 00:09:47.467
 - At 1900, heavy fire
 from the south.
 
 00:09:47.500 --> 00:09:51.000
 [indistinct radio chatter]
 
 00:09:51.033 --> 00:09:52.400
 - Heavy gunfire in the back.
 
 00:09:52.433 --> 00:09:53.500
 Do you need assistance?
 
 00:09:53.533 --> 00:09:56.600
 [indistinct radio chatter]
 
 00:09:56.633 --> 00:09:58.300
 - Be advised.
 
 00:09:58.333 --> 00:09:59.367
 We are green, green, red.
 
 00:09:59.400 --> 00:10:01.900
 - West to eastbound on Albany.
 
 00:10:01.933 --> 00:10:03.667
 How do you want me
 to approach?
 
 00:10:03.700 --> 00:10:05.067
 Is the LT set up?
 
 00:10:05.100 --> 00:10:09.233
 - Now 300 to 400 meters ahead.
 
 00:10:09.267 --> 00:10:11.033
 - Is that the RPG gunner?
 
 00:10:11.067 --> 00:10:12.200
 - I copy.
 Over.
 
 00:10:14.433 --> 00:10:15.600
 - I will guarantee you
 
 00:10:15.633 --> 00:10:18.400
 that if you come back here
 this summer,
 
 00:10:18.700 --> 00:10:24.567
 when my next two battalions
 are undergoing this experience
 
 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:26.033
 prior to deploying,
 
 00:10:26.067 --> 00:10:31.400
 it will be that much
 more complex,
 
 00:10:31.267 --> 00:10:35.167
 and that much larger
 in scope,
 
 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:38.667
 because we have just scratched
 the surface
 
 00:10:38.700 --> 00:10:43.933
 as to what we can do
 in this very complex challenge.
 
 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:49.333
 - Essentially,
 I went to the
 
 00:10:49.367 --> 00:10:52.200
 Cultural Competency Conference
 at Air University.
 
 00:10:52.233 --> 00:10:54.300
 Now, the objective
 of the conference
 
 00:10:54.333 --> 00:10:57.733
 was to address at what level
 should cultural training occur?
 
 00:10:57.767 --> 00:11:00.733
 What should the content
 of cultural training be?
 
 00:11:00.767 --> 00:11:04.533
 There weren\'t
 the discussions over,
 
 00:11:04.567 --> 00:11:08.500
 \"You know, we need to learn
 culture in order to learn
 
 00:11:08.533 --> 00:11:10.900
 how to better target
 our opponents.\"
 
 00:11:10.933 --> 00:11:13.933
 [no audio]
 
 00:11:21.067 --> 00:11:25.633
 There were almost no references
 to the weaponization of culture.
 
 00:11:25.667 --> 00:11:28.500
 - I think there is
 a tremendous tension
 
 00:11:28.533 --> 00:11:33.200
 between old-fashioned thinking
 about war and modern conditions.
 
 00:11:33.233 --> 00:11:35.533
 I won\'t even say
 \"battlefield conditions,\"
 
 00:11:35.567 --> 00:11:39.367
 because wars are not fought
 on battlefields anymore.
 
 00:11:39.400 --> 00:11:41.467
 And this is very difficult
 
 00:11:41.500 --> 00:11:43.867
 for traditional armies
 to figure out.
 
 00:11:43.900 --> 00:11:45.900
 The United States
 is grappling with it
 
 00:11:45.933 --> 00:11:47.600
 in Iraq and Afghanistan,
 
 00:11:47.633 --> 00:11:53.367
 as it did in Vietnam
 with very limited success.
 
 00:11:53.967 --> 00:11:55.733
 - By the year 2005,
 
 00:11:55.767 --> 00:11:57.800
 the U.S. military has run
 in to big trouble
 
 00:11:57.833 --> 00:12:00.833
 in Iraq and Afghanistan.
 
 00:12:00.867 --> 00:12:02.700
 And there\'s a realization
 at that time
 
 00:12:02.733 --> 00:12:04.200
 that there needs to be
 a new approach
 
 00:12:04.233 --> 00:12:06.567
 to fighting these wars.
 
 00:12:07.467 --> 00:12:11.367
 - All of the programs
 and all of the initiatives,
 
 00:12:11.400 --> 00:12:14.267
 changes the training environment
 at 29 Palms
 
 00:12:15.067 --> 00:12:16.567
 the change to curriculum
 
 00:12:16.600 --> 00:12:19.067
 within the war colleges
 and the staff colleges,
 
 00:12:19.100 --> 00:12:22.067
 all of these things
 are part of a reform movement
 
 00:12:22.100 --> 00:12:24.400
 inside the Department of Defense
 
 00:12:24.433 --> 00:12:26.467
 that grew out first
 of this discourse,
 
 00:12:26.500 --> 00:12:29.067
 this critical discourse,
 on culture.
 
 00:12:29.100 --> 00:12:30.733
 - We started looking
 into aspects
 
 00:12:30.767 --> 00:12:34.000
 of cultural awareness
 in the military back in 2004.
 
 00:12:34.033 --> 00:12:37.367
 It was prompted by,
 really,
 
 00:12:37.400 --> 00:12:41.667
 a reaction to the press coverage
 of operations in Iraq
 
 00:12:41.900 --> 00:12:45.933
 marines going in with
 the idea that a wave
 
 00:12:45.967 --> 00:12:48.100
 would be more effective
 than a gun,
 
 00:12:48.133 --> 00:12:51.367
 handing out footballs,
 growing mustaches
 
 00:12:51.400 --> 00:12:54.933
 in order to develop rapport
 with Iraqis.
 
 00:12:54.967 --> 00:12:56.633
 All of this stuff struck us
 as interesting,
 
 00:12:56.667 --> 00:12:57.900
 because we were interested
 
 00:12:57.933 --> 00:13:00.067
 in how the military
 were thinking about culture
 
 00:13:03.867 --> 00:13:05.067
 - Each one of these balls
 
 00:13:05.100 --> 00:13:06.900
 has a fallen soldier\'s
 name on it...
 
 00:13:06.933 --> 00:13:11.033
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:13:11.067 --> 00:13:15.100
 - That have came to Iraq...
 
 00:13:15.133 --> 00:13:17.800
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:13:17.833 --> 00:13:19.200
 - Trying to help kids
 just like you.
 
 00:13:19.233 --> 00:13:21.467
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:13:24.700 --> 00:13:27.500
 - Culture was becoming
 the killer variable
 
 00:13:27.533 --> 00:13:29.100
 with a military
 that was being tasked
 
 00:13:29.133 --> 00:13:30.300
 to have war among the people,
 
 00:13:31.533 --> 00:13:33.100
 Would this somehow pacify
 the military,
 
 00:13:33.133 --> 00:13:34.933
 to bring culture into it?
 
 00:13:34.967 --> 00:13:37.567
 Or the other -
 the corollary of this,
 
 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:41.533
 would it somehow or another
 militarize peacemaking?
 
 00:13:41.567 --> 00:13:44.467
 - My sole purpose is to get you
 down range,
 
 00:13:44.500 --> 00:13:47.533
 let you whoop some butt,
 set you up for success,
 
 00:13:47.567 --> 00:13:50.300
 bring you back up range,
 and debrief you.
 
 00:13:50.333 --> 00:13:51.600
 All right?
 
 00:13:51.633 --> 00:13:54.067
 Don\'t be the platoon
 that I do this to.
 
 00:13:54.100 --> 00:13:56.200
 Don\'t make me call time-out.
 
 00:13:56.233 --> 00:13:58.400
 If I call time-out,
 that means you just get ate up.
 
 00:14:00.100 --> 00:14:02.167
 It\'s mind over matter, right?
 
 00:14:02.200 --> 00:14:03.333
 [all grunting]
 
 00:14:03.367 --> 00:14:04.567
 You don\'t mind it, what?
 
 00:14:04.600 --> 00:14:06.733
 all: It don\'t matter.
 
 00:14:06.767 --> 00:14:08.900
 [indistinct radio chatter]
 
 00:14:08.933 --> 00:14:09.933
 - How you doing?
 
 00:14:09.967 --> 00:14:14.000
 [indistinct radio chatter]
 
 00:14:14.033 --> 00:14:16.033
 - Be advised, I\'m hearing
 heavy gunfire in the back.
 
 00:14:16.067 --> 00:14:20.667
 Do you need assistance?
 
 00:14:20.700 --> 00:14:22.300
 - The enemy was always
 the enemy,
 
 00:14:22.333 --> 00:14:24.200
 and that\'s what they taught us
 to believe.
 
 00:14:24.233 --> 00:14:26.967
 And certainly to be
 in the military
 
 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:29.567
 and to be a soldier,
 a good soldier,
 
 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:31.433
 as they want you to be,
 
 00:14:31.467 --> 00:14:33.900
 there\'s an indoctrination
 process to that.
 
 00:14:33.933 --> 00:14:36.867
 And in order to storm the hill
 and risk your life,
 
 00:14:36.900 --> 00:14:40.567
 you need that sort
 of binary decision making.
 
 00:14:40.600 --> 00:14:42.200
 You need to have
 
 00:14:42.233 --> 00:14:44.033
 sort of a black-and-white
 attitude about it
 
 00:14:44.067 --> 00:14:45.500
 where, \"That\'s the enemy.\"
 
 00:14:45.533 --> 00:14:50.667
 If you have a moment to think
 in tones of gray,
 
 00:14:50.700 --> 00:14:53.167
 \"Well, that guy has a kid
 and this.
 
 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:55.067
 \"You know, well,
 maybe he\'s not so bad.
 
 00:14:55.100 --> 00:14:56.600
 I understand why he hates us,\"
 
 00:14:56.633 --> 00:14:58.133
 I mean, we\'ll never fight.
 
 00:14:58.167 --> 00:14:59.167
 It\'ll never happen,
 
 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:00.767
 and we\'ll never storm the hill,
 
 00:15:00.800 --> 00:15:02.500
 and we\'ll probably get shot
 ourselves.
 
 00:15:02.767 --> 00:15:04.067
 - The question then becomes,
 
 00:15:04.100 --> 00:15:06.067
 can you take guys
 like the marines
 
 00:15:06.100 --> 00:15:07.267
 and our airborne soldiers,
 
 00:15:07.300 --> 00:15:09.467
 who everyone knows
 are tough guys,
 
 00:15:09.500 --> 00:15:11.100
 and you can sort of say,
 
 00:15:11.133 --> 00:15:13.400
 \"We want you to be kinder
 and gentler
 
 00:15:13.433 --> 00:15:17.133
 and culturally aware.\"
 
 00:15:16.167 --> 00:15:18.100
 Yes, you can,
 to a certain extent.
 
 00:15:18.133 --> 00:15:19.833
 You can tell them,
 \"Don\'t be bullies,\"
 
 00:15:19.867 --> 00:15:21.867
 and they\'ll get that concept.
 
 00:15:21.900 --> 00:15:24.800
 But can you turn them
 into diplomats or something?
 
 00:15:24.833 --> 00:15:28.367
 No, they\'re fundamentally
 killers.
 
 00:15:28.400 --> 00:15:30.633
 They\'re professional killers,
 
 00:15:30.667 --> 00:15:33.700
 because they do it
 for the sake of the country.
 
 00:15:33.733 --> 00:15:37.100
 But when you say,
 \"Every marine is a rifleman,\"
 
 00:15:37.133 --> 00:15:39.167
 what do you do with a rifle?
 
 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:40.533
 You shoot somebody else.
 
 00:15:40.567 --> 00:15:43.567
 [gunfire]
 
 00:15:45.267 --> 00:15:46.267
 - Let\'s go.
 
 00:15:46.300 --> 00:15:47.933
 [men shouting]
 
 00:15:47.967 --> 00:15:49.567
 [gunshots]
 
 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:51.467
 - Shoot back.
 You\'re down.
 
 00:15:51.500 --> 00:15:52.500
 - It\'s a casualty drill.
 
 00:15:52.533 --> 00:15:53.667
 What\'s going to happen
 
 00:15:53.700 --> 00:15:55.433
 is that there will be
 a role-player out there
 
 00:15:55.467 --> 00:15:56.467
 who shoots at them.
 
 00:15:56.500 --> 00:15:58.300
 And then, basically,
 
 00:15:58.333 --> 00:16:01.133
 the lieutenants will enter this
 building where they find us.
 
 00:16:01.167 --> 00:16:02.433
 They were briefed in their order
 
 00:16:02.467 --> 00:16:04.133
 that they are looking
 for two lost marines.
 
 00:16:04.167 --> 00:16:06.567
 We\'re the lost Marines.
 
 00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:08.633
 The marine in there
 has got a head trauma
 
 00:16:08.667 --> 00:16:11.033
 they\'ve got to treat.
 
 00:16:11.067 --> 00:16:13.100
 And then I\'ll have
 an open tib-fib fracture
 
 00:16:13.133 --> 00:16:14.467
 with arterial bleeding
 
 00:16:14.500 --> 00:16:16.567
 and a gunshot wound
 through and through.
 
 00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:19.367
 Basically, they have to
 come in here.
 
 00:16:19.400 --> 00:16:21.200
 They have a shoot/no shoot
 scenario in there.
 
 00:16:21.233 --> 00:16:22.300
 They go in there.
 
 00:16:22.333 --> 00:16:23.967
 The prisoner
 is being interrogated.
 
 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:26.133
 They have to decide
 whether to shoot that guy
 
 00:16:26.167 --> 00:16:29.167
 or to take him EPW.
 
 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:30.333
 Then they have to treat us
 
 00:16:30.367 --> 00:16:32.600
 and get us medevaced
 out of here in time.
 
 00:16:32.633 --> 00:16:35.900
 - Let\'s go!
 Open the window.
 
 00:16:35.933 --> 00:16:38.933
 - Open the window.
 
 00:16:48.833 --> 00:16:51.267
 - Every area of operations
 is different.
 
 00:16:51.300 --> 00:16:54.533
 Every town, every village
 has a different mix.
 
 00:16:54.567 --> 00:16:56.967
 And we need to find what\'s
 the truth
 
 00:16:57.000 --> 00:16:58.933
 and what\'s the perception there,
 
 00:16:58.967 --> 00:17:00.933
 because frequently perception
 is more important
 
 00:17:00.967 --> 00:17:02.300
 than actual truth anyway,
 
 00:17:02.333 --> 00:17:05.600
 and particularly
 in the society there.
 
 00:17:05.633 --> 00:17:09.667
 We need to base our actions,
 on the truth that we find,
 
 00:17:11.333 --> 00:17:12.467
 not the truth we find
 
 00:17:12.500 --> 00:17:14.833
 from talking to each other
 as Americans
 
 00:17:14.867 --> 00:17:16.933
 but on the truth we find
 from talking to Iraqis
 
 00:17:16.967 --> 00:17:19.333
 about what they see
 and what they think.
 
 00:17:21.867 --> 00:17:24.867
 - If you talk to the young men
 and women
 
 00:17:24.900 --> 00:17:25.933
 who want to be officers
 
 00:17:25.967 --> 00:17:27.367
 in the United States
 armed forces,
 
 00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:29.200
 you will find an extraordinary
 number of people
 
 00:17:29.233 --> 00:17:32.833
 who pay very close attention
 to the language, the culture,
 
 00:17:32.867 --> 00:17:34.033
 the history, the geography,
 
 00:17:34.067 --> 00:17:39.533
 the makeup of Iraq
 and of Afghanistan,
 
 00:17:39.567 --> 00:17:41.000
 who could serve
 as anthropologists,
 
 00:17:41.033 --> 00:17:43.200
 many of them,
 as well as teachers
 
 00:17:43.233 --> 00:17:44.867
 as well as they could
 as soldiers.
 
 00:17:44.900 --> 00:17:46.533
 It\'s not just a military
 question.
 
 00:17:46.567 --> 00:17:50.067
 All our cultural
 and intellectual sinew
 
 00:17:50.100 --> 00:17:52.967
 will be required in this battle.
 
 00:17:52.567 --> 00:17:53.967
 It\'s better to do it
 than not to do it,
 
 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:57.533
 so practice and train so that
 when we\'re out there,
 
 00:17:57.567 --> 00:17:59.167
 we can do better stuff.
 
 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:02.467
 - The Arabic language
 and some of the Arabic culture
 
 00:18:02.500 --> 00:18:04.433
 helps you not to offend
 the people over there.
 
 00:18:04.467 --> 00:18:06.133
 It helps you to be able
 to tell them,
 
 00:18:06.167 --> 00:18:07.967
 you know, \"Hey, we\'re friends.\"
 
 00:18:14.500 --> 00:18:16.167
 - My name is Sergeant
 Jason Elsjon.
 
 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:17.767
 - Lance Corporal Nicholas Tift.
 
 00:18:18.700 --> 00:18:21.033
 - My name is Carl Alves,
 rank lance corporal.
 
 00:18:21.067 --> 00:18:24.067
 - My name is PFC [indistinct].
 
 00:18:24.100 --> 00:18:25.500
 My first name is [indistinct].
 
 00:18:27.100 --> 00:18:28.333
 I\'m ready.
 
 00:18:28.367 --> 00:18:29.933
 I\'ve got a bunch of good guys
 around here.
 
 00:18:29.967 --> 00:18:33.267
 Everybody, everybody that we\'ve
 been with so far is real good.
 
 00:18:33.300 --> 00:18:37.100
 And I\'ve got good thoughts
 of coming back home.
 
 00:19:22.667 --> 00:19:25.700
 [horn honks]
 
 00:19:29.867 --> 00:19:31.367
 - That\'s me sort of saying,
 you know,
 
 00:19:31.400 --> 00:19:32.967
 the shortcomings now
 are all human.
 
 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:34.333
 World War I
 was the chemists\' war.
 
 00:19:34.367 --> 00:19:36.167
 World War II
 was the physicists\' war.
 
 00:19:36.200 --> 00:19:38.067
 World War III was -
 
 00:19:38.100 --> 00:19:40.600
 I guess this is the cold war,
 the information war.
 
 00:19:40.633 --> 00:19:42.533
 And World War IV marks
 
 00:19:42.567 --> 00:19:45.600
 the end of information warfare
 and a return to Clausewitz,
 
 00:19:45.633 --> 00:19:48.600
 where the focus is again
 human beings, not technology.
 
 00:19:50.133 --> 00:19:53.133
 [no audio]
 
 00:20:00.633 --> 00:20:02.500
 - The Pentagon
 has a new strategy
 
 00:20:02.533 --> 00:20:04.233
 in Iraq and Afghanistan.
 
 00:20:04.267 --> 00:20:06.667
 An experimental
 $40 million program
 
 00:20:06.700 --> 00:20:08.300
 called the Human Terrain System
 
 00:20:08.333 --> 00:20:11.267
 has begun enlisting recruits
 of a different kind
 
 00:20:11.300 --> 00:20:13.200
 to win the battle
 of hearts and minds.
 
 00:20:13.233 --> 00:20:15.233
 They have graduate degrees
 in anthropology
 
 00:20:15.267 --> 00:20:18.400
 and serve as cultural advisors
 to the U.S. military.
 
 00:20:18.433 --> 00:20:20.633
 Some military analysts
 have hailed the program
 
 00:20:20.667 --> 00:20:23.600
 as the 21st-century equivalent
 of a Vietnam-era
 
 00:20:23.633 --> 00:20:25.800
 military project called CORDS,
 
 00:20:25.833 --> 00:20:27.533
 or Civil Operations
 
 00:20:27.567 --> 00:20:29.867
 and Revolutionary
 Development Support.
 
 00:20:29.900 --> 00:20:32.167
 But the move has
 anthropologists up in arms.
 
 00:20:32.200 --> 00:20:34.300
 They point to the ethical
 implications
 
 00:20:34.333 --> 00:20:36.100
 of renewing a program like CORDS
 
 00:20:36.133 --> 00:20:40.267
 that assassinated over 26,000
 suspected Vietcong.
 
 00:20:40.300 --> 00:20:43.067
 In September, a group
 of scholars formed a network
 
 00:20:43.100 --> 00:20:46.133
 of concerned anthropologists
 inspired by physicists
 
 00:20:46.167 --> 00:20:49.000
 who opposed the
 Reagan-era Star Wars program.
 
 00:20:49.767 --> 00:20:53.500
 [wind whistling]
 
 00:20:53.533 --> 00:20:59.333
 - We were created from an urgent
 need in the middle of a war,
 
 00:20:59.367 --> 00:21:00.567
 five years into it.
 
 00:21:00.600 --> 00:21:03.433
 It was something
 that was needed now.
 
 00:21:03.467 --> 00:21:05.233
 The focus is humanity.
 
 00:21:05.267 --> 00:21:07.733
 The focus is on the population.
 
 00:21:07.767 --> 00:21:13.067
 Terrain, when you talk
 about terrain, military people,
 
 00:21:13.100 --> 00:21:15.133
 military professionals
 are very comfortable
 
 00:21:15.167 --> 00:21:18.667
 with the idea of terrain.
 
 00:21:19.133 --> 00:21:21.033
 When you put the two together,
 
 00:21:21.067 --> 00:21:25.200
 it gives them a picture
 of the new environment
 
 00:21:25.233 --> 00:21:26.667
 that they\'re operating in.
 
 00:21:26.700 --> 00:21:29.000
 In other words,
 a human terrain
 
 00:21:29.033 --> 00:21:30.700
 that you have to understand
 
 00:21:30.733 --> 00:21:33.267
 the intricacies
 and the details of,
 
 00:21:33.300 --> 00:21:36.567
 just like you understand that
 of geographic terrain,
 
 00:21:42.667 --> 00:21:46.133
 - The goal of the program
 really is to use the knowledge
 
 00:21:46.167 --> 00:21:49.233
 and wisdom and methodologies
 of social science
 
 00:21:49.267 --> 00:21:53.767
 to enable the military
 to complete their mission
 
 00:21:53.800 --> 00:21:58.233
 more effectively
 with less loss of human life,
 
 00:21:58.267 --> 00:22:00.767
 both military and civilian,
 
 00:22:00.800 --> 00:22:05.433
 and to help the military
 to think about things
 
 00:22:05.467 --> 00:22:06.967
 from somebody else\'s
 point of view
 
 00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:11.800
 so that their activities
 are harmonized,
 
 00:22:11.833 --> 00:22:13.867
 so that they are operating
 in conjunction,
 
 00:22:13.900 --> 00:22:16.733
 in partnership,
 with those local communities.
 
 00:22:16.767 --> 00:22:19.067
 - Team one, Mike Williams,
 team leader, here, sir.
 
 00:22:19.100 --> 00:22:20.967
 And we\'ve got two others.
 
 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:23.067
 Moran, who is an analyst,
 
 00:22:23.100 --> 00:22:25.233
 and Steve,
 who is a research manager.
 
 00:22:25.400 --> 00:22:28.067
 - The U.S. military is expanding
 a program in Iraq
 
 00:22:28.100 --> 00:22:31.267
 to send teams of anthropologists
 and social scientists
 
 00:22:31.300 --> 00:22:32.467
 across the country
 
 00:22:32.500 --> 00:22:35.500
 acting as cultural analysts
 for U.S. forces.
 
 00:22:35.533 --> 00:22:38.100
 - So we go out to the villages
 and to the cities
 
 00:22:38.133 --> 00:22:40.033
 and talk to the Iraqis,
 
 00:22:40.067 --> 00:22:42.533
 get an idea of their
 perceptions, their feelings,
 
 00:22:42.567 --> 00:22:45.267
 you know, basically what they\'re
 thinking about their culture.
 
 00:22:45.300 --> 00:22:46.933
 And then we take that back
 to the military
 
 00:22:46.967 --> 00:22:48.400
 so they have
 a better understanding
 
 00:22:48.433 --> 00:22:52.867
 of the local population.
 
 00:22:52.900 --> 00:22:54.733
 - The Human Terrain teams
 have been portrayed
 
 00:22:54.767 --> 00:22:57.367
 by proponents as nothing more
 
 00:22:57.400 --> 00:23:00.133
 than a kind of hearts and minds
 campaign.
 
 00:23:00.167 --> 00:23:02.100
 If you look at internal
 discussions in journals
 
 00:23:02.133 --> 00:23:03.467
 like Military Review,
 
 00:23:03.500 --> 00:23:05.467
 you find that they\'re
 more candid
 
 00:23:05.500 --> 00:23:06.900
 about what the aims
 
 00:23:06.933 --> 00:23:09.267
 of the Human Terrain
 program are.
 
 00:23:09.300 --> 00:23:11.433
 And according to those sources,
 
 00:23:11.467 --> 00:23:14.433
 Human Terrain is really
 about counterinsurgency,
 
 00:23:14.467 --> 00:23:16.600
 really about finding out
 who the bad guys are
 
 00:23:16.633 --> 00:23:19.433
 and relating that information
 up the chain of command.
 
 00:23:19.457 --> 00:23:22.466
 You know, the strongest
 argument that people have made
 
 00:23:22.490 --> 00:23:24.490
 who want to convince
 anthropologists
 
 00:23:24.514 --> 00:23:26.514
 to help in this endeavor
 
 00:23:26.538 --> 00:23:28.538
 is that anthropologists\' help
 
 00:23:28.562 --> 00:23:30.562
 will create a more
 humane approach
 
 00:23:30.586 --> 00:23:33.386
 on the part of the U.S. military
 towards the Iraqi people,
 
 00:23:33.482 --> 00:23:34.682
 And my argument,
 
 00:23:34.706 --> 00:23:37.006
 and I think the argument
 of many anthropologists, is that
 
 00:23:37.030 --> 00:23:39.030
 that is a very seductive idea,
 
 00:23:39.054 --> 00:23:41.054
 that you would be able to help
 in a situation of crisis.
 
 00:23:41.078 --> 00:23:43.078
 What I think one has to step
 back and ask is, \"Help what?
 
 00:23:44.102 --> 00:23:46.102
 \"Help whom to do what?\"
 
 00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:48.967
 While the practice of deploying
 anthropologists
 
 00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:51.467
 is still considered
 counterinsurgency,
 
 00:23:51.500 --> 00:23:53.400
 commanders here say
 their information
 
 00:23:53.433 --> 00:23:55.167
 is not being used
 for traditional,
 
 00:23:55.200 --> 00:23:56.900
 kinetic military fighting.
 
 00:23:56.933 --> 00:23:59.500
 Anthropologists like Jean
 and Nancy are able to bring
 
 00:23:59.533 --> 00:24:02.600
 a uniquely humanist touch
 to understanding Iraqis.
 
 00:24:04.600 --> 00:24:06.267
 I think it\'s very appropriate
 
 00:24:06.300 --> 00:24:09.800
 that if academics believe
 that they understand a culture,
 
 00:24:09.833 --> 00:24:11.367
 that they help out,
 
 00:24:11.400 --> 00:24:14.067
 because we\'re all under attack
 by Al-Qaeda.
 
 00:24:14.100 --> 00:24:15.233
 And for some Americans to say,
 
 00:24:15.267 --> 00:24:16.467
 \"Oh, I\'m an academic,
 
 00:24:16.500 --> 00:24:18.067
 and therefore I\'m not involved
 in this,\"
 
 00:24:18.100 --> 00:24:19.400
 is a lot of baloney.
 
 00:24:19.433 --> 00:24:23.100
 Al-Qaeda will kill an American
 in an academic setting
 
 00:24:23.133 --> 00:24:25.600
 as fast as he\'ll kill
 an American anywhere else.
 
 00:24:25.633 --> 00:24:29.300
 So I am all in favor of people
 who are anthropologists,
 
 00:24:29.333 --> 00:24:33.300
 social scientists,
 helping our military.
 
 00:24:33.333 --> 00:24:34.700
 And it makes things better,
 
 00:24:34.733 --> 00:24:37.400
 because we\'re not out
 to oppress anybody,
 
 00:24:37.433 --> 00:24:39.767
 but we don\'t want them
 killing Americans.
 
 00:24:39.800 --> 00:24:42.633
 - I\'m sure that there are plenty
 of senior military leaders
 
 00:24:42.667 --> 00:24:44.567
 who perfectly well understand
 that the Americans
 
 00:24:44.600 --> 00:24:47.167
 are involved in an
 imperial venture in the U.S.,
 
 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:48.600
 that they\'ve stepped
 into the shoes
 
 00:24:48.633 --> 00:24:50.700
 of the British and the French
 in that region,
 
 00:24:50.733 --> 00:24:53.300
 and that they\'re trying
 to subjugate another country,
 
 00:24:53.333 --> 00:24:56.100
 because they want to secure
 American access to resources,
 
 00:24:56.133 --> 00:24:57.367
 especially oil.
 
 00:24:57.400 --> 00:24:59.267
 And they need military bases
 in that region.
 
 00:24:59.300 --> 00:25:03.233
 And they\'re
 quite pragmatic realists
 
 00:25:03.267 --> 00:25:05.367
 who know perfectly well
 what the U.S. is up to.
 
 00:25:05.400 --> 00:25:07.833
 But there is a certain kind
 of rhetoric
 
 00:25:07.867 --> 00:25:09.900
 that\'s used to gild the lily,
 
 00:25:09.933 --> 00:25:12.867
 about how Americans have
 a mission to spread democracy.
 
 00:25:12.900 --> 00:25:13.933
 Americans only have
 
 00:25:13.967 --> 00:25:17.333
 the well-being
 of other people in mind.
 
 00:25:17.367 --> 00:25:21.200
 How could anyone possibly oppose
 what the Americans are doing?
 
 00:25:21.233 --> 00:25:25.667
 So I think once you go down
 that second track,
 
 00:25:25.700 --> 00:25:28.100
 you start to assume that
 the Americans are beneficent.
 
 00:25:28.133 --> 00:25:29.600
 Then instead
 of reading resistance
 
 00:25:29.633 --> 00:25:32.933
 as inevitable resistance
 to foreign occupation,
 
 00:25:32.967 --> 00:25:34.500
 you start to think of it
 as some kind
 
 00:25:34.533 --> 00:25:36.767
 of cultural miscommunication.
 
 00:25:36.800 --> 00:25:40.133
 And you start to ask naïve,
 misshapen questions.
 
 00:25:40.167 --> 00:25:42.400
 You know, \"If we only understood
 their culture better,
 
 00:25:42.433 --> 00:25:43.600
 \"how could we make them like us?
 
 00:25:43.633 --> 00:25:44.900
 Why do they hate us so much?\"
 
 00:25:44.933 --> 00:25:46.967
 They hate us because we\'re
 occupying their country,
 
 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:48.967
 not because we don\'t understand
 their hand signals
 
 00:25:49.000 --> 00:25:51.000
 and because occasionally
 we mistreat their women.
 
 00:25:51.033 --> 00:25:52.567
 So if you ask
 the wrong question,
 
 00:25:52.600 --> 00:25:53.667
 you get the wrong answer,
 
 00:25:53.700 --> 00:25:55.900
 and more people
 on both sides will die.
 
 00:25:56.600 --> 00:26:00.433
 I want to know why they hate us.
 
 00:26:00.467 --> 00:26:01.467
 And I haven\'t been given
 
 00:26:01.500 --> 00:26:03.200
 satisfactory answers
 to that.
 
 00:26:03.233 --> 00:26:05.233
 Can you tell me
 why they hate us?
 
 00:26:05.267 --> 00:26:10.600
 And don\'t tell me it\'s because
 we\'re rich and free.
 
 00:26:10.633 --> 00:26:12.033
 I don\'t know anybody
 in the world
 
 00:26:12.067 --> 00:26:15.633
 who wouldn\'t like to be rich
 and free, by the way.
 
 00:26:15.667 --> 00:26:17.733
 Is there another answer?
 
 00:26:17.767 --> 00:26:20.033
 - Hey, you!
 
 00:26:20.067 --> 00:26:22.067
 Put the weapon down!
 
 00:26:28.367 --> 00:26:30.533
 - Military strategists would say
 that public relations
 
 00:26:30.567 --> 00:26:32.933
 is the primary weapon
 of modern war,
 
 00:26:32.967 --> 00:26:36.467
 and to be able to convince
 the U.S. public
 
 00:26:36.500 --> 00:26:41.900
 that this war is being fought
 humanely and in a smart way
 
 00:26:41.933 --> 00:26:44.533
 without repeating the mistakes
 of the past
 
 00:26:44.567 --> 00:26:46.900
 is very, very important
 to the U.S. military.
 
 00:26:46.933 --> 00:26:48.867
 Whatever anthropologists
 do in the field,
 
 00:26:48.900 --> 00:26:50.300
 they will be doing that,
 
 00:26:50.333 --> 00:26:52.567
 which is to say,
 they will be helping
 
 00:26:52.600 --> 00:26:56.900
 to convince people
 that smart PhDs with knowledge
 
 00:26:56.933 --> 00:26:58.367
 of local societies
 
 00:26:58.400 --> 00:27:03.167
 are out there making this war
 a better, kinder war.
 
 00:27:03.167 --> 00:27:06.800
 - And so what you have is,
 on the one side,
 
 00:27:06.833 --> 00:27:11.000
 an argument that this
 is unethical,
 
 00:27:11.033 --> 00:27:15.067
 that it is enabling
 flawed policies,
 
 00:27:15.100 --> 00:27:20.000
 and it is immoral
 to let it continue.
 
 00:27:20.033 --> 00:27:23.033
 And on the other side,
 you have a group of people
 
 00:27:23.067 --> 00:27:26.133
 who are saying this is
 completely within
 
 00:27:26.167 --> 00:27:28.400
 the realm of professional
 ethics -
 
 00:27:28.433 --> 00:27:31.133
 especially those
 non-anthropologists -
 
 00:27:31.167 --> 00:27:34.433
 that this is about
 changing policy.
 
 00:27:34.467 --> 00:27:37.667
 It\'s not about deciding policy,
 
 00:27:37.700 --> 00:27:43.233
 and that this is
 my moral obligation.
 
 00:27:43.267 --> 00:27:46.167
 - I kept wishing
 that I could take each soldier
 
 00:27:46.200 --> 00:27:49.867
 who talked to me to some
 of the places that I had gone.
 
 00:27:49.900 --> 00:27:52.567
 And at the same time I thought,
 
 00:27:52.600 --> 00:27:56.400
 \"Could I be a warrior,
 a fighter,
 
 00:27:56.433 --> 00:28:00.033
 if I had seen some of the things
 that I have seen?\"
 
 00:28:00.067 --> 00:28:05.000
 Their mission is to basically
 capture and secure territory
 
 00:28:05.033 --> 00:28:06.800
 and win as much as they can.
 
 00:28:06.833 --> 00:28:09.667
 We talked about the soldier
 diplomat idea, hearts and minds.
 
 00:28:09.700 --> 00:28:11.500
 It\'s a real challenge for them.
 
 00:28:11.533 --> 00:28:13.333
 I have a great friend in Tehran
 
 00:28:13.367 --> 00:28:16.267
 who said at the beginning
 of this war,
 
 00:28:16.300 --> 00:28:19.667
 \"Remember, Jackie,
 culture is not like Nescafe.
 
 00:28:19.700 --> 00:28:22.600
 It\'s not something you can just
 add water and stir.\"
 
 00:28:22.633 --> 00:28:25.633
 [people shouting]
 
 00:28:29.533 --> 00:28:32.700
 - Well, there is an Arab culture
 thing that they really,
 
 00:28:32.733 --> 00:28:34.267
 really don\'t like to be
 stripped naked
 
 00:28:34.300 --> 00:28:35.667
 and paraded in front of women
 
 00:28:35.700 --> 00:28:38.533
 who jeer at them
 for being naked.
 
 00:28:38.567 --> 00:28:39.733
 Last I looked,
 
 00:28:39.767 --> 00:28:41.967
 it applies in our culture
 as well.
 
 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:44.467
 But the fact that it was
 being presented
 
 00:28:44.500 --> 00:28:48.233
 as some peculiarity of the Arab,
 Muslim, Iraqi
 
 00:28:48.267 --> 00:28:49.400
 cultural sensibility,
 
 00:28:49.433 --> 00:28:51.967
 this was sort of a kind
 of PSYOPs
 
 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:53.400
 and that it was exploiting
 
 00:28:53.433 --> 00:28:56.933
 a vulnerability and using
 everything against your enemy
 
 00:28:56.967 --> 00:28:58.067
 that you could,
 
 00:28:58.100 --> 00:28:59.567
 including their fear
 of nakedness,
 
 00:28:59.600 --> 00:29:01.100
 their fear of dogs -
 
 00:29:01.133 --> 00:29:02.833
 Arabs don\'t like dogs.
 
 00:29:02.867 --> 00:29:04.933
 Well, nobody likes to be
 stripped naked, hooded,
 
 00:29:04.967 --> 00:29:06.600
 chained to a wall
 and have a lunging
 
 00:29:06.633 --> 00:29:08.967
 German Shepherd snapping
 at his crotch.
 
 00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:12.033
 That doesn\'t seem to me to be
 a peculiarity of the Arab mind.
 
 00:29:12.067 --> 00:29:13.967
 And so it was all about just
 
 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:15.700
 creating some idea
 of difference,
 
 00:29:15.733 --> 00:29:18.133
 vulnerability,
 and therefore license
 
 00:29:18.167 --> 00:29:19.667
 to do things to them
 
 00:29:19.700 --> 00:29:22.733
 that you would not properly
 be able to do to us.
 
 00:29:23.633 --> 00:29:25.267
 - There used to be a time
 in the \'50s
 
 00:29:25.300 --> 00:29:26.800
 when academic anthropologists
 
 00:29:26.833 --> 00:29:29.700
 thought that you could write
 a sort of cultural grammar book.
 
 00:29:29.733 --> 00:29:31.100
 Now I think the reason
 the Pentagon
 
 00:29:31.133 --> 00:29:32.600
 has become interested
 in culture
 
 00:29:32.633 --> 00:29:35.967
 is that they subscribe to that
 1950s version of culture.
 
 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:38.100
 If culture is complex,
 multilayered,
 
 00:29:38.133 --> 00:29:39.233
 shifting, contradictory,
 
 00:29:39.267 --> 00:29:41.600
 it\'s really not much use
 to them.
 
 00:29:41.633 --> 00:29:43.367
 They want culture in a wallet.
 
 00:29:43.400 --> 00:29:45.833
 They want culture that you can
 put into a computer program.
 
 00:29:45.867 --> 00:29:47.333
 So the irony is, I think,
 
 00:29:47.367 --> 00:29:49.467
 that the military is interested
 in a version of culture
 
 00:29:49.500 --> 00:29:50.900
 that doesn\'t exist.
 
 00:29:50.933 --> 00:29:52.433
 They\'re on a fool\'s errand.
 
 00:29:52.467 --> 00:29:57.967
 - Welcome to Tactical Language
 & Culture Training Systems.
 
 00:29:58.000 --> 00:30:00.167
 The courses teach how
 to communicate
 
 00:30:00.200 --> 00:30:02.467
 in foreign languages
 and cultures
 
 00:30:02.500 --> 00:30:06.800
 by playing immersive,
 interactive, 3-D video games
 
 00:30:06.833 --> 00:30:09.500
 that simulate real-life
 communications
 
 00:30:09.533 --> 00:30:13.667
 involving spoken dialogues
 and cultural protocols.
 
 00:30:13.700 --> 00:30:17.567
 The game does not follow
 a narrowscript.
 
 00:30:17.600 --> 00:30:22.833
 Its dialogue evolves
 based on what you say and do.
 
 00:30:22.867 --> 00:30:25.667
 If you develop rapport
 with the Iraqis,
 
 00:30:25.700 --> 00:30:28.467
 they cooperate with you.
 
 00:30:28.500 --> 00:30:29.633
 If you are rude,
 
 00:30:29.667 --> 00:30:31.833
 they are hostile
 and uncooperative.
 
 00:30:31.867 --> 00:30:35.600
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:30:35.633 --> 00:30:40.600
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:30:40.633 --> 00:30:43.367
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:30:43.400 --> 00:30:46.867
 - Green pluses indicate
 that the Iraqis\' opinion of you
 
 00:30:46.900 --> 00:30:48.100
 just went up,
 
 00:30:48.133 --> 00:30:53.800
 because you showed
 cultural sensitivity.
 
 00:30:53.833 --> 00:30:55.667
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:30:55.700 --> 00:31:01.733
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:31:01.767 --> 00:31:08.267
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:31:08.300 --> 00:31:11.500
 [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:31:11.533 --> 00:31:14.533
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:31:17.300 --> 00:31:20.300
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:31:24.533 --> 00:31:25.767
 - Bad move.
 
 00:31:25.800 --> 00:31:28.767
 You did not have any reason
 to detain this man.
 
 00:31:28.800 --> 00:31:30.900
 He had no connections
 to militias,
 
 00:31:30.933 --> 00:31:34.367
 but he may now consider joining.
 
 00:31:37.100 --> 00:31:40.100
 - [laughing]
 
 00:32:15.067 --> 00:32:19.900
 - We wanted to show that we were
 good people,
 
 00:32:19.933 --> 00:32:21.800
 and we\'re here to help rebuild.
 
 00:32:21.833 --> 00:32:23.367
 And look what we\'re doing
 for you.
 
 00:32:23.400 --> 00:32:28.200
 And we brought a duffle bag
 full of money
 
 00:32:28.233 --> 00:32:29.500
 that we were going
 to distribute
 
 00:32:29.533 --> 00:32:32.600
 in order to build
 or to refurbish initially
 
 00:32:32.633 --> 00:32:34.667
 a children\'s school building.
 
 00:32:34.700 --> 00:32:37.733
 And of course we were doing
 a good thing.
 
 00:32:37.767 --> 00:32:39.567
 Now you, if you\'re the person
 
 00:32:39.600 --> 00:32:42.067
 that I was trying to do this
 good deed for,
 
 00:32:42.100 --> 00:32:46.800
 I expected some gratitude,
 
 00:32:46.833 --> 00:32:48.933
 again, to reinforce
 that I\'m a good guy,
 
 00:32:48.967 --> 00:32:50.800
 because I am trying to help you.
 
 00:32:50.833 --> 00:32:53.033
 Well, we got
 the opposite response.
 
 00:32:54.900 --> 00:32:57.300
 - I have a close friend
 that was in Abu Ghraib.
 
 00:32:57.333 --> 00:33:01.433
 We served in the army together,
 
 00:33:01.467 --> 00:33:04.333
 and he\'s got a lot of problems.
 
 00:33:04.367 --> 00:33:06.833
 He\'s suffering from
 post-traumatic stress disorder.
 
 00:33:06.867 --> 00:33:09.333
 He\'s on 100% disability now.
 
 00:33:09.367 --> 00:33:12.267
 And I\'ve watched him crumble
 as a person
 
 00:33:12.300 --> 00:33:17.067
 and never be the same.
 
 00:33:17.100 --> 00:33:19.167
 It\'s sad.
 
 00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:21.300
 I think he knew it would happen.
 
 00:33:21.333 --> 00:33:23.167
 I knew it would happen.
 
 00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:24.933
 He was a great interrogator,
 
 00:33:24.967 --> 00:33:26.400
 and he wasn\'t a great
 interrogator
 
 00:33:26.433 --> 00:33:29.433
 because he knew how to,
 you know, twist a person\'s arm.
 
 00:33:29.467 --> 00:33:30.567
 He was a great interrogator
 
 00:33:30.600 --> 00:33:32.300
 because he understands
 human nature,
 
 00:33:32.333 --> 00:33:38.767
 and he understands what you
 feel like on the other side,
 
 00:33:38.800 --> 00:33:41.200
 and therefore he has
 a great sense of empathy.
 
 00:33:41.233 --> 00:33:44.900
 And it was that empathy that\'s
 destroying him as a person,
 
 00:33:44.933 --> 00:33:47.967
 because he was put
 into a situation
 
 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:51.767
 where he felt bad
 for the Iraqi people,
 
 00:33:51.800 --> 00:33:55.033
 he felt bad
 for the American soldiers,
 
 00:33:55.067 --> 00:33:57.100
 and he wanted
 to fix everybody,
 
 00:33:57.133 --> 00:33:59.100
 and he couldn\'t fix anybody.
 
 00:34:13.633 --> 00:34:15.133
 - I think this was
 part and parcel
 
 00:34:15.167 --> 00:34:18.600
 of the general tone
 at the conference was,
 
 00:34:18.633 --> 00:34:20.033
 their goal should now be
 
 00:34:20.067 --> 00:34:25.367
 about making better human beings
 and how this applies to warfare.
 
 00:34:25.400 --> 00:34:27.133
 They\'re proposing
 a Manhattan Project
 
 00:34:27.167 --> 00:34:28.967
 for the human sciences.
 
 00:34:29.000 --> 00:34:30.333
 And I think -
 
 00:34:30.367 --> 00:34:31.967
 [laughing]
 
 00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:35.833
 - Michael first came
 to my office,
 
 00:34:35.867 --> 00:34:37.333
 and he already had started
 
 00:34:37.367 --> 00:34:40.033
 with the Humanitarianism
 and War Project.
 
 00:34:40.067 --> 00:34:43.133
 He - and I suppose like me,
 
 00:34:43.167 --> 00:34:46.300
 we\'re both people who came
 from mixed backgrounds,
 
 00:34:46.333 --> 00:34:47.967
 mixed cultures.
 
 00:34:48.000 --> 00:34:51.833
 And when you\'re a child,
 you have different options.
 
 00:34:51.867 --> 00:34:54.933
 You have the option of choosing
 one culture over another,
 
 00:34:54.967 --> 00:34:57.000
 which is the simpler option.
 
 00:34:57.033 --> 00:34:58.267
 Or you have the option of trying
 
 00:34:58.300 --> 00:35:00.667
 to reconcile
 very powerful forces.
 
 00:35:00.700 --> 00:35:02.833
 And from the earliest stages,
 
 00:35:02.867 --> 00:35:05.667
 in a way not rejecting either
 your mother or your father,
 
 00:35:05.700 --> 00:35:08.933
 you have to contend
 with bringing things together.
 
 00:35:08.967 --> 00:35:12.600
 And I think out of that you get
 a seriousness of purpose,
 
 00:35:12.633 --> 00:35:16.033
 and more importantly, really,
 a curiosity.
 
 00:35:16.067 --> 00:35:19.100
 - When we started the Military
 Cultural Awareness Project,
 
 00:35:19.133 --> 00:35:21.300
 he was the first guy
 I reached out to,
 
 00:35:21.333 --> 00:35:22.700
 because he was one
 of the few people
 
 00:35:22.733 --> 00:35:24.767
 who had the expertise
 in Afghanistan
 
 00:35:24.800 --> 00:35:26.667
 but also had
 the theoretical chops
 
 00:35:26.700 --> 00:35:29.433
 to understand why
 this was something new
 
 00:35:29.467 --> 00:35:31.067
 and something that needed
 to be studied
 
 00:35:31.100 --> 00:35:33.533
 to understand this
 transformation of the military.
 
 00:35:33.567 --> 00:35:35.967
 He was working against
 two different codes.
 
 00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:37.933
 One, the code he had learned
 as a scholar,
 
 00:35:37.967 --> 00:35:40.033
 of objective distance,
 
 00:35:40.067 --> 00:35:44.000
 and then one he had learned
 as a concerned activist,
 
 00:35:44.033 --> 00:35:46.000
 that you need to get in
 and get dirty.
 
 00:35:46.033 --> 00:35:49.733
 You need to get up close
 to the war machine.
 
 00:35:49.767 --> 00:35:51.467
 - What\'s essentially
 happening is,
 
 00:35:51.500 --> 00:35:53.633
 is people are adopting
 anthropology\'s methods
 
 00:35:53.667 --> 00:35:55.100
 for studying the other
 
 00:35:55.133 --> 00:35:58.333
 without adopting either their
 ethics or their perspectives.
 
 00:35:58.367 --> 00:36:00.900
 If you are involved,
 
 00:36:00.933 --> 00:36:05.033
 to what extent can you
 dictate a freedom
 
 00:36:05.067 --> 00:36:08.233
 or an ability not
 to provide information?
 
 00:36:08.267 --> 00:36:09.567
 And what I mean by that is,
 
 00:36:09.600 --> 00:36:11.867
 if you are engaged with military
 actors on the ground,
 
 00:36:11.900 --> 00:36:14.733
 and that space between
 reducing otherness
 
 00:36:14.767 --> 00:36:17.333
 and potentially being involved
 in targeting
 
 00:36:17.367 --> 00:36:19.833
 starts to get blurred,
 when can you say,
 
 00:36:19.867 --> 00:36:22.700
 \"I\'m not simply going to provide
 that information to you,\"
 
 00:36:22.733 --> 00:36:28.400
 and whether that\'s a space
 that can actually be negotiated,
 
 00:36:28.433 --> 00:36:30.700
 or is that just naïve?
 
 00:36:30.733 --> 00:36:32.767
 - And then we know the rest.
 
 00:36:32.800 --> 00:36:37.567
 He became less of a researcher
 and more of a practitioner.
 
 00:36:49.400 --> 00:36:50.933
 - Yesterday I was going through
 my notes,
 
 00:36:50.967 --> 00:36:53.367
 and I was like, \"Well, you know,
 what are the objectives here?\"
 
 00:36:53.400 --> 00:36:57.800
 Like you said,
 \"What is the why?\"
 
 00:36:57.833 --> 00:36:59.633
 The center of gravity
 is now
 
 00:36:59.667 --> 00:37:02.467
 the perception of civilians,
 
 00:37:02.500 --> 00:37:04.300
 and so victory is defined
 
 00:37:04.333 --> 00:37:06.767
 as capturing the psychocultural
 high ground.
 
 00:37:06.800 --> 00:37:09.000
 As a consequence of this,
 
 00:37:09.033 --> 00:37:11.200
 empathy is the new key weapon
 of war.
 
 00:37:14.233 --> 00:37:15.867
 - \"JC, So I\'ve been asked
 
 00:37:15.900 --> 00:37:17.567
 \"to go out to Afghanistan
 with the army
 
 00:37:17.600 --> 00:37:20.600
 \"as part of a \'Human Terrain\'
 advising unit.
 
 00:37:20.633 --> 00:37:23.033
 \"I indicated I wasn\'t available
 until September,
 
 00:37:23.067 --> 00:37:24.833
 \"finishing the dissertation.
 
 00:37:24.867 --> 00:37:26.600
 \"Instead, they\'ve asked me
 to serve
 
 00:37:26.633 --> 00:37:29.800
 \"as a Subject Matter Expert
 while here at Watson.
 
 00:37:29.833 --> 00:37:32.833
 Thoughts?\"
 
 00:37:32.867 --> 00:37:35.433
 - He had a sense
 of romantic history.
 
 00:37:35.467 --> 00:37:36.667
 At the same time,
 
 00:37:36.700 --> 00:37:38.967
 he didn\'t particularly want
 to hurt anybody,
 
 00:37:39.000 --> 00:37:43.200
 and peacekeeping offered a very
 good solution to that dilemma.
 
 00:37:43.233 --> 00:37:46.533
 In his case, there was
 the possibility of a transition
 
 00:37:46.567 --> 00:37:50.033
 from a peacekeeping context
 into another context.
 
 00:37:50.067 --> 00:37:51.600
 There was a path already laid,
 in a way.
 
 00:37:51.633 --> 00:37:57.100
 And, in a sense, that romantic
 history of his
 
 00:37:57.133 --> 00:38:02.200
 enabled him to accept
 doing this particular job.
 
 00:38:02.233 --> 00:38:04.133
 And I think that played into it,
 
 00:38:04.167 --> 00:38:10.600
 the ability to put on
 a uniform and join a side.
 
 00:38:12.300 --> 00:38:14.800
 - \"Bhatia, sorry I\'ve been
 out of contact
 
 00:38:14.833 --> 00:38:16.267
 \"since we were last in contact.
 
 00:38:16.300 --> 00:38:19.500
 \"The army option you passed on
 is an interesting one,
 
 00:38:19.533 --> 00:38:23.200
 \"though it is helping
 a disastrous process.
 
 00:38:23.233 --> 00:38:26.467
 \"I had the same problem
 at the end in Israel-Palestine,
 
 00:38:26.500 --> 00:38:28.033
 \"work with the U.S. military
 
 00:38:28.067 --> 00:38:30.100
 \"to take sides amongst
 Palestinians
 
 00:38:30.133 --> 00:38:33.667
 \"and contribute to the conflict,
 or not.
 
 00:38:33.700 --> 00:38:35.033
 \"I didn\'t.
 
 00:38:35.067 --> 00:38:37.500
 \"So if one can get over
 the moral qualms,
 
 00:38:37.533 --> 00:38:40.767
 \"at an operational level,
 it would be interesting.
 
 00:38:40.800 --> 00:38:44.433
 \"Do have a sense of what they
 would do with the information?
 
 00:38:44.467 --> 00:38:45.967
 \"As for the army,
 
 00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:48.267
 \"it would be in Afghanistan
 rather than Iraq.
 
 00:38:48.300 --> 00:38:50.700
 \"I would not go to Iraq.
 
 00:38:50.733 --> 00:38:53.200
 \"Afghanistan is
 a quasi-just war,
 
 00:38:53.233 --> 00:38:55.633
 \"often unjustly conducted.
 
 00:38:55.667 --> 00:38:57.233
 \"The parliament
 and the presidency
 
 00:38:57.267 --> 00:38:58.433
 \"are beginning to push back
 
 00:38:58.467 --> 00:39:00.767
 \"in trying to limit coalition
 operations
 
 00:39:00.800 --> 00:39:04.000
 \"and to induce negotiations
 with the Taliban.
 
 00:39:04.033 --> 00:39:06.933
 \"I think the army is beginning
 to question the use of force
 
 00:39:06.967 --> 00:39:08.833
 \"but not entirely.
 
 00:39:08.867 --> 00:39:12.167
 \"Do you think Afghanistan
 is as morally suspect?
 
 00:39:12.200 --> 00:39:13.967
 \"They will use the information
 to understand
 
 00:39:14.000 --> 00:39:15.300
 \"the negative effects,
 
 00:39:15.333 --> 00:39:17.733
 consequences,
 of their operation.\"
 
 00:39:18.833 --> 00:39:22.833
 - He and I had like an eight-,
 nine-month email exchange
 
 00:39:22.867 --> 00:39:24.200
 after he discovered us,
 
 00:39:24.233 --> 00:39:25.867
 before he ever committed to
 
 00:39:25.900 --> 00:39:29.100
 or ever even asked
 to join the program.
 
 00:39:29.133 --> 00:39:31.733
 It took him to help me
 understand
 
 00:39:31.767 --> 00:39:33.933
 just how complex it was.
 
 00:39:33.967 --> 00:39:35.567
 - He didn\'t necessarily say
 
 00:39:35.600 --> 00:39:41.133
 that he was going to be embedded
 with military.
 
 00:39:41.167 --> 00:39:44.033
 He sort of spoke of it
 as a desk job
 
 00:39:44.067 --> 00:39:46.600
 and that it was research.
 
 00:39:46.633 --> 00:39:48.500
 My concern was that it was -
 
 00:39:48.533 --> 00:39:51.100
 he was going there not
 as an independent researcher,
 
 00:39:51.133 --> 00:39:53.800
 not with an NGO
 as he had done in the past.
 
 00:39:53.833 --> 00:39:55.367
 And this time it was military,
 
 00:39:55.400 --> 00:39:59.300
 and again, I just deferred
 to his judgment.
 
 00:39:59.333 --> 00:40:01.600
 - Well, there\'s no substitute
 for being there,
 
 00:40:01.633 --> 00:40:02.700
 which, I think, is something
 
 00:40:02.733 --> 00:40:07.467
 that Michael understood
 completely.
 
 00:40:07.500 --> 00:40:11.133
 Culture at a distance is -
 it\'s second best.
 
 00:40:11.167 --> 00:40:14.800
 It\'s not something
 that you want to do.
 
 00:40:14.833 --> 00:40:17.033
 It\'s something that
 the situation
 
 00:40:17.067 --> 00:40:19.967
 sometimes makes you do.
 
 00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:21.100
 - \"Hello all.
 
 00:40:21.133 --> 00:40:23.233
 \"My greetings from Fort Benning,
 Georgia.
 
 00:40:23.267 --> 00:40:25.733
 \"After two intense months
 at Fort Leavenworth
 
 00:40:25.767 --> 00:40:29.267
 \"and a brief foray down
 to the JRTC at Fort Polk,
 
 00:40:29.300 --> 00:40:32.700
 \"I head out this evening
 for Kuwait and then Afghanistan.
 
 00:40:32.733 --> 00:40:34.333
 \"I\'ll be joining
 the Human Terrain Team
 
 00:40:34.367 --> 00:40:37.433
 \"in Khost, Afghanistan,
 as a social scientist.
 
 00:40:37.467 --> 00:40:39.233
 \"I will be spending
 a good amount of time
 
 00:40:39.267 --> 00:40:41.533
 \"over the next several days
 in what the military calls
 
 00:40:41.567 --> 00:40:43.067
 \"\'hurry up and wait.\'
 
 00:40:43.100 --> 00:40:46.800
 \"I expect I\'ll be in Afghanistan
 for at least nine months.
 
 00:40:46.833 --> 00:40:48.000
 \"While the program has proven
 
 00:40:48.033 --> 00:40:50.267
 \"to be controversial
 and widely reported,
 
 00:40:50.300 --> 00:40:53.233
 \"I am optimistic that
 given the right participants,
 
 00:40:53.267 --> 00:40:54.667
 \"the program has a real chance
 
 00:40:54.700 --> 00:40:58.067
 \"of reducing both the Afghan
 and American lives lost.
 
 00:40:58.100 --> 00:40:59.700
 \"Contrary to some
 of the criticism,
 
 00:40:59.733 --> 00:41:02.767
 \"I am not involved in covert
 research or activities
 
 00:41:02.800 --> 00:41:05.767
 \"or in lethal targeting
 or interrogation.
 
 00:41:05.800 --> 00:41:08.800
 \"To no doubt, I will confront
 many challenges there,
 
 00:41:08.833 --> 00:41:10.033
 \"as I am already preparing
 
 00:41:10.067 --> 00:41:13.333
 \"for both the real
 and ethical minefields.
 
 00:41:13.367 --> 00:41:14.567
 \"I look forward
 
 00:41:14.600 --> 00:41:16.333
 \"to hearing from everyone
 over the next year
 
 00:41:16.367 --> 00:41:17.700
 \"and welcome any message
 
 00:41:17.733 --> 00:41:22.100
 of criticism, inquiry,
 or support.\"
 
 00:41:22.733 --> 00:41:24.300
 - Most people become
 anthropologists
 
 00:41:24.333 --> 00:41:29.600
 because they want
 to reach out to the other.
 
 00:41:29.633 --> 00:41:31.267
 They want to understand
 the other.
 
 00:41:31.300 --> 00:41:32.833
 They think that understanding
 the other
 
 00:41:32.867 --> 00:41:35.867
 enhances the dignity
 of the other, right?
 
 00:41:36.967 --> 00:41:39.167
 Once cultural knowledge
 becomes commodified,
 
 00:41:39.200 --> 00:41:41.067
 once it becomes objectified,
 
 00:41:41.100 --> 00:41:43.733
 it becomes a way of manipulating
 those cultural others,
 
 00:41:43.767 --> 00:41:45.933
 you\'ve moved away
 from the original motivation
 
 00:41:45.967 --> 00:41:48.800
 that most anthropologists have
 for understanding culture,
 
 00:41:48.833 --> 00:41:52.100
 and you can only feel ambivalent
 about that.
 
 00:41:52.133 --> 00:41:54.133
 - \"Just arrived in Bagram
 last night,
 
 00:41:54.167 --> 00:41:57.333
 \"trying to catch a C-130
 down to Khost today.
 
 00:41:57.367 --> 00:41:59.233
 \"Will be off on the first
 long-term
 
 00:41:59.267 --> 00:42:00.967
 \"research mission shortly.
 
 00:42:01.000 --> 00:42:03.800
 \"The commander really
 gets it here, minimum force,
 
 00:42:03.833 --> 00:42:06.000
 \"extending the reach
 of the central government,
 
 00:42:06.033 --> 00:42:08.400
 \"negotiating away the Taliban,
 
 00:42:08.433 --> 00:42:11.233
 \"supporting the police
 and the rule of law, et cetera.
 
 00:42:11.267 --> 00:42:13.133
 \"All the more reason
 to join up right now
 
 00:42:13.167 --> 00:42:14.567
 \"and support those commanders
 
 00:42:14.600 --> 00:42:17.233
 \"who are trying
 to change strategy.
 
 00:42:17.267 --> 00:42:19.267
 \"Hard day for the 82nd.
 
 00:42:19.300 --> 00:42:21.600
 \"Yesterday a company commander
 and driver
 
 00:42:21.633 --> 00:42:24.300
 \"were killed by an IED attack
 in Paktika.
 
 00:42:24.333 --> 00:42:27.133
 \"Anyway, I don\'t think
 I\'m expected to duck,
 
 00:42:27.167 --> 00:42:31.100
 but to protect myself.\"
 
 00:42:31.133 --> 00:42:34.300
 - We had come back
 from a mission in Zormat.
 
 00:42:34.333 --> 00:42:36.200
 We\'d come back from Chura.
 
 00:42:36.233 --> 00:42:39.400
 Here was a small team,
 individual Michael,
 
 00:42:39.433 --> 00:42:42.300
 you know, that\'s sitting
 on the ground
 
 00:42:42.333 --> 00:42:47.300
 with elders in this open space,
 
 00:42:47.333 --> 00:42:50.167
 trying to find out what
 the root of the problems is,
 
 00:42:50.200 --> 00:42:51.700
 you know, how can we fix it?
 
 00:42:51.733 --> 00:42:53.533
 How can we make things better?
 
 00:42:53.567 --> 00:42:55.500
 - Hello.
 
 00:42:55.533 --> 00:42:58.533
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:43:19.633 --> 00:43:24.567
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:43:24.600 --> 00:43:25.833
 - So we were talking about
 
 00:43:25.867 --> 00:43:29.367
 the controversy
 around the program
 
 00:43:29.400 --> 00:43:34.033
 and how we just couldn\'t
 understand how people
 
 00:43:34.067 --> 00:43:37.133
 could make a decision about us
 and not be a part of us,
 
 00:43:37.167 --> 00:43:39.633
 you know, not even be in country
 with us,
 
 00:43:39.667 --> 00:43:42.533
 you know, not do any research
 on that to see what we are.
 
 00:44:17.367 --> 00:44:20.367
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:44:23.467 --> 00:44:26.433
 - \"My greetings
 from FOB Salerno.
 
 00:44:26.467 --> 00:44:30.367
 \"It\'s been an interesting almost
 two months out here so far.
 
 00:44:30.400 --> 00:44:33.200
 \"While I do not take the
 professional, ethical dilemmas
 
 00:44:33.233 --> 00:44:35.200
 \"in participating
 in the program lightly,
 
 00:44:35.233 --> 00:44:37.967
 \"and in fact appreciate
 any discussion of dilemmas
 
 00:44:38.000 --> 00:44:40.733
 \"in order to ensure
 ethical practice,
 
 00:44:40.767 --> 00:44:43.667
 \"I\'m struck by the fact
 that the strong response
 
 00:44:43.700 --> 00:44:45.967
 \"to this program partly reveals
 
 00:44:46.000 --> 00:44:49.833
 \"an exercise in anthro
 \'group formation.\'
 
 00:44:49.867 --> 00:44:51.200
 \"In doing so, some academics
 
 00:44:51.233 --> 00:44:53.800
 \"have created a polemical
 enemy image,
 
 00:44:53.833 --> 00:44:56.067
 \"focusing on naming, labeling,
 
 00:44:56.100 --> 00:44:59.467
 \"rather than actual learning
 what the HTT does.
 
 00:44:59.500 --> 00:45:03.333
 \"We\'re not involved
 in lethal targeting at all.
 
 00:45:03.367 --> 00:45:05.233
 \"I\'m more involved in SSR,
 
 00:45:05.267 --> 00:45:08.000
 \"governance,
 and development issues.
 
 00:45:08.033 --> 00:45:09.733
 \"Those issues directly related
 
 00:45:09.767 --> 00:45:15.700
 to what we\'ve been studying
 for all of those years.\"
 
 00:45:15.733 --> 00:45:18.200
 - Michael said he never served
 in the military
 
 00:45:18.233 --> 00:45:20.733
 and that on some level
 he sort of regretted that.
 
 00:45:20.767 --> 00:45:24.500
 And I told him,
 I looked at him and told him,
 
 00:45:24.533 --> 00:45:26.433
 I said \"What do you think
 you\'re doing now?
 
 00:45:26.467 --> 00:45:31.900
 \"You know, you may not be
 a sworn soldier,
 
 00:45:31.933 --> 00:45:33.367
 \"but you\'re right
 in the middle of it,
 
 00:45:33.400 --> 00:45:34.867
 and you\'re with everybody else,\"
 
 00:45:34.900 --> 00:45:37.400
 And I said,
 \"Talk about being dirty.\"
 
 00:45:37.433 --> 00:45:39.500
 I said, \"You\'re getting dirty.\"
 
 00:45:39.533 --> 00:45:44.533
 - I\'ve spent my career both
 in academia and in the field,
 
 00:45:44.567 --> 00:45:46.800
 and I\'m not sure the need
 
 00:45:46.833 --> 00:45:52.967
 to get one\'s hands dirty
 explains away intentions
 
 00:45:53.000 --> 00:45:55.867
 and what you are
 setting out to do,
 
 00:45:55.900 --> 00:45:57.500
 whether in the academic world
 
 00:45:57.533 --> 00:46:00.100
 or whether in
 the practical world.
 
 00:46:00.133 --> 00:46:03.033
 And I think that you find
 in both worlds
 
 00:46:03.067 --> 00:46:06.500
 good people and people
 who are poorly intentioned.
 
 00:46:06.533 --> 00:46:08.600
 And whether you\'re getting
 your hands dirty
 
 00:46:08.633 --> 00:46:13.100
 or not getting your hands dirty
 is not the difference.
 
 00:46:13.133 --> 00:46:17.033
 To me the difference is,
 what are you out to achieve?
 
 00:46:17.533 --> 00:46:19.400
 - He felt that,
 
 00:46:19.433 --> 00:46:24.633
 \"Why am I different than
 any other young American man
 
 00:46:24.667 --> 00:46:27.300
 \"and young American woman
 that is serving?
 
 00:46:27.333 --> 00:46:30.867
 \"And I have this knowledge
 that they don\'t have
 
 00:46:30.900 --> 00:46:34.267
 \"or the military doesn\'t have
 or someone doesn\'t have
 
 00:46:34.300 --> 00:46:35.500
 that I can help.\"
 
 00:46:36.267 --> 00:46:40.967
 He probably was pursuing
 what I would know of him
 
 00:46:41.000 --> 00:46:44.500
 in terms of trying to do good,
 I mean, essentially.
 
 00:46:44.533 --> 00:46:47.000
 How he reconciled that
 
 00:46:47.033 --> 00:46:50.000
 with being part of a forward
 unit with all of the things
 
 00:46:50.033 --> 00:46:52.333
 that go along with being part
 of a forward unit,
 
 00:46:52.367 --> 00:46:54.967
 I don\'t know.
 
 00:47:10.267 --> 00:47:13.267
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:47:27.700 --> 00:47:30.700
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:47:33.733 --> 00:47:36.733
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:47:53.800 --> 00:47:56.800
 - [speaking Arabic]
 
 00:47:59.400 --> 00:48:01.033
 - \"Hello, everyone.
 
 00:48:01.067 --> 00:48:02.900
 \"My apologies
 for the mass email.
 
 00:48:02.933 --> 00:48:05.800
 \"I\'ll be back for 15 days
 of leave in July,
 
 00:48:05.833 --> 00:48:08.833
 \"spending my time between
 upstate New York, Toronto,
 
 00:48:08.867 --> 00:48:11.400
 \"and Massachusetts, Providence.
 
 00:48:11.433 --> 00:48:14.133
 \"Thought I\'d forward
 the now departed 82nd Brigade
 
 00:48:14.167 --> 00:48:16.100
 \"Commander\'s Congressional
 testimony
 
 00:48:16.133 --> 00:48:20.000
 \"on the impact of this team
 on U.S. activity in Afghanistan.
 
 00:48:20.033 --> 00:48:22.800
 \"Some of the statement
 may be a bit exaggerated.
 
 00:48:22.833 --> 00:48:25.733
 \"Other parts don\'t fully account
 for what our impact has been
 
 00:48:25.767 --> 00:48:28.100
 \"over the last six months.
 
 00:48:28.133 --> 00:48:30.133
 Looking forward
 to seeing everyone soon.\"
 
 00:48:33.700 --> 00:48:38.033
 - I guess it was around 10:30
 in the morning, I suppose.
 
 00:48:38.067 --> 00:48:39.700
 We had all gotten our mission
 assignments,
 
 00:48:39.733 --> 00:48:42.400
 so we had each of us staggered
 throughout the trucks.
 
 00:48:44.467 --> 00:48:46.700
 We were coming up the -
 
 00:48:46.733 --> 00:48:49.667
 kind of the back road
 to an area that we felt,
 
 00:48:49.700 --> 00:48:51.000
 everybody felt, I think,
 
 00:48:51.033 --> 00:48:54.400
 was the root of a lot
 of the problems and violence
 
 00:48:54.433 --> 00:48:56.900
 in that particular location.
 
 00:48:56.933 --> 00:49:00.000
 And as we were coming up,
 
 00:49:00.033 --> 00:49:05.033
 there was a -
 just this horrific explosion.
 
 00:49:07.633 --> 00:49:10.500
 After the IED exploded
 
 00:49:10.533 --> 00:49:14.500
 and we were waiting
 for the helicopter to come,
 
 00:49:14.533 --> 00:49:17.933
 you know, it turned really cold.
 
 00:49:17.967 --> 00:49:23.367
 The wind started blowing,
 
 00:49:23.400 --> 00:49:24.633
 and it just started -
 
 00:49:24.667 --> 00:49:26.500
 it kind of started raining
 from out of nowhere.
 
 00:49:28.300 --> 00:49:30.200
 - Sir, be advised.
 
 00:49:30.233 --> 00:49:34.500
 We have one urgent surgical,
 
 00:49:34.533 --> 00:49:40.200
 one urgent, three KIA.
 
 00:49:40.233 --> 00:49:41.367
 - [...].
 
 00:49:41.400 --> 00:49:42.500
 - Roger.
 Good copy.
 
 00:49:42.533 --> 00:49:43.533
 Six out.
 
 00:50:15.300 --> 00:50:17.467
 [gunshots]
 
 00:50:23.900 --> 00:50:26.700
 - He was always doing something
 greater than himself.
 
 00:50:26.733 --> 00:50:28.933
 Why this as opposed
 to the other things?
 
 00:50:28.967 --> 00:50:32.567
 That\'s the difficult question
 we\'re having to answer.
 
 00:50:32.600 --> 00:50:33.767
 And I think this also relates
 
 00:50:33.800 --> 00:50:36.700
 to how other people see
 this death,
 
 00:50:36.733 --> 00:50:38.367
 the politicization of his death,
 
 00:50:38.400 --> 00:50:40.567
 because a lot of people
 will say,
 
 00:50:40.600 --> 00:50:42.833
 \"Another fallen comrade
 on the front lines
 
 00:50:42.867 --> 00:50:44.633
 in the War on Terror.\"
 
 00:50:44.667 --> 00:50:48.933
 But he was not a nationalist.
 
 00:50:48.967 --> 00:50:50.333
 He was an internationalist,
 
 00:50:50.367 --> 00:50:54.300
 ideologically, philosophically,
 culturally,
 
 00:50:54.333 --> 00:50:55.733
 and it would be
 a misunderstanding,
 
 00:50:55.767 --> 00:50:58.033
 a misinterpretation
 of what he stood for,
 
 00:50:58.067 --> 00:50:59.667
 what he was about
 
 00:50:59.700 --> 00:51:03.033
 if he is viewed through the lens
 of nationalism.
 
 00:51:20.433 --> 00:51:22.900
 - \"In that empire,
 the art of cartography
 
 00:51:22.933 --> 00:51:24.900
 \"reached such perfection
 
 00:51:24.933 --> 00:51:26.633
 \"that the map
 of one province alone
 
 00:51:26.667 --> 00:51:28.400
 \"took up the whole of a city,
 
 00:51:28.433 --> 00:51:32.200
 \"and the map of the empire
 the whole of the province.
 
 00:51:32.233 --> 00:51:36.433
 \"In time those unconscionable
 maps did not satisfy,
 
 00:51:36.467 --> 00:51:38.533
 \"and the colleges
 of cartographers
 
 00:51:38.567 --> 00:51:40.400
 \"set up a map of the empire
 
 00:51:40.433 --> 00:51:43.033
 \"which had the size
 of the empire itself
 
 00:51:43.067 --> 00:51:46.067
 \"and coincided with it
 point by point.
 
 00:51:46.100 --> 00:51:48.767
 \"Less addicted to the study
 of cartography,
 
 00:51:48.800 --> 00:51:51.067
 \"succeeding generations
 understood
 
 00:51:51.100 --> 00:51:53.867
 \"that this widespread map
 was useless
 
 00:51:53.900 --> 00:51:55.633
 \"and not without impiety.
 
 00:51:55.667 --> 00:51:57.633
 \"They abandoned it
 to the inclemencies
 
 00:51:57.667 --> 00:52:00.600
 \"of the sun and of the winters.
 
 00:52:00.633 --> 00:52:02.100
 \"In the deserts of the West
 
 00:52:02.133 --> 00:52:05.267
 \"some mangled ruins
 of the map lasted on,
 
 00:52:05.300 --> 00:52:07.867
 \"inhabited by animals
 and beggars.
 
 00:52:07.900 --> 00:52:09.267
 \"In the whole country
 
 00:52:09.300 --> 00:52:13.233
 there are no other relics
 of the discipline of geography.\"
 
 00:52:16.767 --> 00:52:18.167
 - Armed conflict involves
 
 00:52:18.200 --> 00:52:23.400
 both physical violence
 and also a negotiation,
 
 00:52:23.433 --> 00:52:25.433
 a sort of war over words.
 
 00:52:25.467 --> 00:52:28.833
 And that partly is over
 the legitimacy of violent acts
 
 00:52:28.867 --> 00:52:31.267
 and a legitimacy
 of violent actors.
 
 00:52:31.300 --> 00:52:33.867
 - To achieve our goals,
 we need a stronger,
 
 00:52:33.900 --> 00:52:37.867
 smarter,
 and comprehensive strategy.
 
 00:52:37.900 --> 00:52:41.200
 I\'ve already ordered
 the deployment of 17,000 troops
 
 00:52:41.233 --> 00:52:43.333
 that have been requested
 by General McKiernan
 
 00:52:43.367 --> 00:52:45.033
 for many months.
 
 00:52:45.067 --> 00:52:46.433
 These soldiers and marines
 
 00:52:46.467 --> 00:52:47.900
 will take the fight
 to the Taliban
 
 00:52:47.933 --> 00:52:49.233
 in the South and the East.
 
 00:52:49.267 --> 00:52:51.333
 - Our efforts in Afghanistan
 
 00:52:51.367 --> 00:52:54.967
 have appropriately focused
 on protecting the population.
 
 00:52:55.000 --> 00:52:57.900
 This is, needless to say,
 of considerable importance,
 
 00:52:57.933 --> 00:53:00.033
 for in counterinsurgency
 operations,
 
 00:53:00.067 --> 00:53:03.100
 the human terrain
 is the decisive terrain.
 
 00:53:03.333 --> 00:53:06.233
 - How do you make war
 less likely
 
 00:53:06.267 --> 00:53:07.933
 rather than more humane?
 
 00:53:07.967 --> 00:53:09.667
 When you start
 with that question,
 
 00:53:09.700 --> 00:53:12.500
 then you proceed to some
 very different conclusions
 
 00:53:12.533 --> 00:53:14.400
 about where we should put
 our research efforts.
 
 00:53:14.433 --> 00:53:16.367
 - For me personally,
 what I should do
 
 00:53:16.400 --> 00:53:18.067
 as an anthropologist
 in the military
 
 00:53:18.100 --> 00:53:19.667
 is ask questions
 about the culture
 
 00:53:19.700 --> 00:53:21.133
 within the national security
 state
 
 00:53:21.167 --> 00:53:24.067
 that enabled us to get into
 this mess in the first place.
 
 00:53:24.133 --> 00:53:25.700
 So for me personally,
 
 00:53:25.733 --> 00:53:27.600
 the interesting questions
 have to do
 
 00:53:27.633 --> 00:53:29.400
 with investigating the hubris
 
 00:53:29.433 --> 00:53:30.800
 and mistaken cultural
 assumptions
 
 00:53:30.833 --> 00:53:33.267
 of American military planners,
 rather than helping
 
 00:53:33.300 --> 00:53:35.033
 to sort of grease the wheels
 for occupation.
 
 00:53:35.067 --> 00:53:37.233
 - After the Vietnam War,
 
 00:53:37.267 --> 00:53:40.067
 the Joint Chiefs of Staff
 dismantled a lot of programs
 
 00:53:40.100 --> 00:53:42.100
 and capabilities that they had
 created for Vietnam.
 
 00:53:42.133 --> 00:53:45.300
 And I am personally concerned
 
 00:53:45.333 --> 00:53:48.900
 that the same thing
 might happen now.
 
 00:53:48.933 --> 00:53:52.233
 In which case,
 everything we\'ve done now,
 
 00:53:52.267 --> 00:53:55.000
 not just HTS, but I mean across
 the Department of Defense,
 
 00:53:55.033 --> 00:53:56.833
 will simply be dismantled.
 
 00:53:56.867 --> 00:53:58.600
 And then next time
 
 00:53:58.633 --> 00:54:00.967
 we\'ll have to build it all
 again from scratch
 
 00:54:01.000 --> 00:54:02.467
 during the middle of a war.
 
 00:54:02.500 --> 00:54:03.633
 [chuckles]
 
 00:54:03.667 --> 00:54:06.100
 You know, too little
 too late.
 
 00:54:06.133 --> 00:54:07.400
 - This is a growth industry.
 
 00:54:07.433 --> 00:54:09.933
 This is not something
 that\'s going to drop off
 
 00:54:09.967 --> 00:54:14.133
 the face of the military\'s
 to-do list
 
 00:54:14.167 --> 00:54:16.033
 because of a change
 in administration.
 
 00:54:16.067 --> 00:54:19.233
 The U.S. won\'t be out of Iraq
 and Afghanistan
 
 00:54:19.267 --> 00:54:21.333
 as quickly as a lot
 of people want.
 
 00:54:21.367 --> 00:54:24.733
 So we\'re going to have to deal
 with it as best we can.
 
 00:54:24.767 --> 00:54:27.433
 - I think the idea
 that there can be a kinder,
 
 00:54:27.467 --> 00:54:31.733
 gentler counterinsurgency war
 is a myth.
 
 00:54:32.067 --> 00:54:34.033
 It\'s a kind of dream
 
 00:54:34.067 --> 00:54:37.800
 that they can somehow
 do things differently.
 
 00:54:38.567 --> 00:54:40.567
 - The road ahead will be long,
 
 00:54:40.600 --> 00:54:42.800
 and there will be
 difficult days ahead.
 
 00:54:42.833 --> 00:54:44.333
 But we will seek
 lasting partnerships
 
 00:54:44.367 --> 00:54:46.433
 with Afghanistan and Pakistan
 
 00:54:46.467 --> 00:54:48.700
 that promise a new day
 for their people.
 
 00:54:48.733 --> 00:54:51.633
 And we will use all elements
 of our national power
 
 00:54:51.667 --> 00:54:52.867
 to defeat Al-Qaeda.
 
 00:54:58.167 --> 00:55:01.700
 - I wrote in a memorial
 to Michael
 
 00:55:01.733 --> 00:55:03.667
 that just because you can\'t
 change the world,
 
 00:55:03.700 --> 00:55:06.433
 it doesn\'t mean that the world
 has to change you.
 
 00:55:06.467 --> 00:55:07.633
 When you\'re young,
 
 00:55:07.667 --> 00:55:11.300
 you think everything
 is up for negotiation,
 
 00:55:11.333 --> 00:55:12.767
 up for change.
 
 00:55:12.800 --> 00:55:14.833
 And when you look back,
 
 00:55:14.867 --> 00:55:20.833
 it feels like
 
 00:55:20.867 --> 00:55:22.833
 the rules of the game
 are set.
 
 00:55:22.933 --> 00:55:26.467
 And as we\'re unable
 to change the rules of the game,
 
 00:55:26.500 --> 00:55:29.433
 does that mean that what we
 aspire to do ought to change?
 
 00:55:29.467 --> 00:55:31.967
 I think that\'s precisely
 the test.
 
 00:55:38.100 --> 00:55:41.067
 [Wolf Parade\'s You are a Runner
 and I am My Father\'s Son]
 
 00:55:41.100 --> 00:55:49.100
 ♪ ♪
 
 00:56:01.433 --> 00:56:04.367
 - ♪ I got a number on me ♪
 
 00:56:04.400 --> 00:56:07.133
 ♪ I got a number ♪
 
 00:56:07.167 --> 00:56:12.700
 ♪ Won\'t make it through
 the high noon sun ♪
 
 00:56:12.733 --> 00:56:15.500
 ♪ I am my father\'s son ♪
 
 00:56:15.533 --> 00:56:18.333
 ♪ And I am my father\'s son ♪
 
 00:56:18.367 --> 00:56:22.767
 ♪ His bed is made ♪
 
 00:56:22.800 --> 00:56:28.633
 ♪ But I was a hero
 early in the morning ♪
 
 00:56:28.667 --> 00:56:35.600
 ♪ I ain\'t no hero
 in the night ♪
 
 00:56:35.633 --> 00:56:40.700
 ♪ ♪
 
 00:56:40.733 --> 00:56:46.367
 ♪ I am my father\'s son ♪
 
 00:56:46.400 --> 00:56:49.000
 ♪ And I\'ll build a house
 inside of you ♪
 
 00:56:49.033 --> 00:56:51.733
 ♪ I\'ll go in through
 the mouth ♪
 
 00:56:51.767 --> 00:56:57.500
 ♪ I\'ll draw three figures
 on your heart ♪
 
 00:56:57.533 --> 00:56:59.967
 ♪ One of them will be me
 as a boy ♪
 
 00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:02.933
 ♪ And one of them will be me ♪
 
 00:57:02.967 --> 00:57:07.500
 ♪ And one of them will be me
 watching you run ♪
 
 00:57:07.533 --> 00:57:13.067
 ♪ Watching you run
 into the high noon sun ♪
 
 00:57:13.100 --> 00:57:18.733
 ♪ Watching you run
 farther than guns will go ♪
 
 00:57:18.767 --> 00:57:20.600
 ♪ You are a runner ♪
 
	 
		 
		