[lbo-talk] NYT: Army enlists anthropologists, social scientists in Afghan war zones

[Carl Remick]

On 10/5/07, B. <docile_body at yahoo.com> wrote:
> [The social sciences are kickin' ass and takin' names!
> -B.]
>
> Army Enlists Anthropology in War Zones
> By DAVID ROHDE
>
> [...]
>
> Embedding Scholars
>
> The process that led to the creation of the teams
> began in late 2003, when American officers in Iraq
> complained that they had little to no information
> about the local population. Pentagon officials
> contacted Montgomery McFate, a Yale-educated cultural
> anthropologist working for the Navy who advocated
> using social science to improve military operations
> and strategy.

First the US Navy coopts dolphins -- via the MK-6 Marine Mammal System
(MMS) -- in order to harness their biological sonar capabilities; now
the Navy is ensnaring social scientists!  Which of God's innocent
creatures will the US armed forces corrupt next in order to advance
their nefarious schemes?

BTW, that's quite a hoot -- an anthropologist named "McFate."  And
where but Yale would you find an anthropologist named "Montgomery
McFate"?

Carl