Anthropologists in the Military?

A larger debate associated with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have anthropologists in heated debates on the ethical implications of hiring anthropologists as contractors under the military. The anthropologists, who study the social traditions and culture of the Iraq and Afghanistan civilians, are embedded in the field wearing a uniform and may also carry a weapon. The anthropology department at CSULB held a debate Wednesday about the ethical implications of sending anthropologists to war, according to the Daily 49er.

The Iraq war is a more culturally sensitive war, as many of the panelists on the debate agreed. The American Anthropology Association, however, feels that by sending anthropologists under the name of the U.S. military threatens the work and research of American anthropologists around the globe. Other ethical issues are also implied in a formal AAA statement released on Oct. 1.

"In the context of a war that is widely recognized as a denial of human rights and based on faulty intelligence and undemocratic principles, the Executive Board sees the HTS project as a problematic application of anthropological expertise, most specifically on ethical grounds. We have grave concerns about the involvement of anthropological knowledge and skill in the HTS project," the AAA statement said.

The U.S. Army claims that information from anthropologists will "help us better understand what motivates them, what is important to the host nation in which we serve, and how we can either elicit the support of the population or at least diminish their support and aid to the enemy," said Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, according to the U.S. Army website.