I don't think I've seen BAE Systems advertise in the Chronicle of Higher Education before, and I may be wrong -- and a quick Google search shows places like Monster.com, Job.com, and Intelligencecareers.com, all places I don't frequent -- but lo and behold, it showed up in the Anthropology listings this week (though it was on the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology job site almost a month ago):
The Human Terrain System (HTS) is a new Army program, designed to improve the military's ability to understand the local socio-cultural environment in Iraq and Afghanistan. Knowledge of the local population provides a departure point for a military staff's ability to plan and execute its mission more effectively using less kinetic force.Unlike the other postings, this job description specifically mentions Iraq and Afghanistan. And despite the deliberate vagueness of "less kinetic force," this statement is probably as close to saying (and excuse the bluntness), "Having an anthropologist or two around makes it less likely that we'll have to waste some Iraqis." I suppose if you put it that way, it makes the job a little more attractive. Kind of.
The whole topic has been discussed in academic circles for a while now, but has only recently hit the mainstream press (in particular, a high-profile article in the New York Times). See Savage Minds for a primer and links to other articles, dating from as early as 2005. (For something earlier, Eric Wakin's out-of-print Anthropology Goes to War: Professional Ethics and Counterinsurgency in Thailand will fit the bill.)
Posted by the wily filipino at November 25, 2007 03:40 PM