Human Terrain System on National Geographic

Featuring cameo performances by HTS anthropologist Montgomery McFate and HTS director Steve Fondacaro, who make up (in more ways than one) a Human Terrain Team for this National Geographic film on how the U.S. is thinking its way to victory in Afghanistan. For more on HTS, see http://zeroanthropology.net

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Human Terrain System
• HTS
• HTT
• counterinsurgency
• media
• propaganda
• David Petraeus
• John Nagl
• Montgomery McFate
• Steve Fondacaro
• human terrain teams
• Taliban
• Afghanistan

[maximilianforte]

How on earth someone can watch this video, and then twist it into an argument that war criminals and torturers ought to prolong their occupation for the sake of "all of the women and girls," is pretty much beyond me. The militarist mind is a perverse thing.

[maximilianforte]

@kristianjl No, they should not have handed over anybody when no evidence was provided. The U.S. itself harbors convicted terrorists and death squad leaders, and refuses to hand them over. If Karzai is a fool, he is America's fool. Perhaps what would be better is you getting out of Afghanistan and stop thinking you can push the rest of the world around to follow your agenda. Now that will save *you* some grief.

[kristianjl]

@maximilianforte Never supported any attack? Then I guess they should have handed over Bin Laden before the marines landed. Would have saved them some grief. As for barbarous treatment of women - western powers walk a fine line between maintaining effective allies and changing behaviors. Karzai is a fool for running a corrupt government in such an unstable situation - and perhaps it would be better to just turn Afghanistan into flyover country for the next century.

[maximilianforte]

@kristianjl Yes it would be callous, especially to ignore it when it is done by the very same war lords U.S. forces have as allies. Maltreatment of women is nowhere near a Taleban monopoly. After a decade, a marriage law (some call it a rape law), was passed, and that's with UN/NATO/US presence. So it's not a credible argument. The Taleban never supported any attack on the US either--that is just factually wrong.

[kristianjl]

@maximilianforte - You're probably right about genuine concern. And about American concerns for freedom elsewhere - not anywhere near consistent. But Al Qaeda hit the United States with Taliban support. Did not take a genius to figure out what would happen next. Still, only the most callous, most ignorant wants to see Afghani women cut up for wearing makeup.

[maximilianforte]

Is it something for Americans to decide? Americans can't sort out their own mess, and now presume to make Afghanistan part of a cultural reengineering showcase? And why just Afghanistan for that matter? Does it have some special monopoly of "lack of freedom"? Get over yourselves, and your fixations.

[maximilianforte]

@kristianjl How about we let Afghans decide their own affairs and regulate them according to their norms and preferences without Americans, who can barely sort out their own mess, deciding what is best for them. Does Afghanistan have some special monopoly on lack of freedom, or is this the 1st in a list of US planned cultural reengineering efforts? Why not focus on Uzbekistan, for example? I don't think the genuine concern here is for Afghans, but for the longevity of American empire.

[kristianjl]

@PakHonor Will the Taliban let the people live in freedom? 

[maximilianforte]

@PakHonor Agreed! And as for Obama being worse, you are right on target. Good to see someone who is awake and alert. Thanks for writing.

[PakHonor]

GET OUT OF AFGHANISTAN. STOP THE WAR. YOU ARE MAKING THINGS WORSE. IT IS SPREADING DEEPLY AND DANGEROUSLY. LET THE PEOPLE LIVE IN FREEDOM. OBAMA, WE THOUGHT YOU ARE SON OF SLAVE VICTIM. YOU WLL HAVE SOME MERCY. BUT YOU ARE WORSE.