Obama Not Talking the Talk

via AP

He said he'd pull a division or two of U.S. troops out of Iraq every month and leave only enough there to do protect the embassy and diplomats.

I find is somewhat frightening that a Senator on the Foreign Relations Committe campaigning for the job of Commander in Chief is confused as to the difference between a Division and a Brigade....or possibly confused as to how many Divisions are in Iraq(four, two in and around Baghdad, two for the rest of Iraq).

Re: Dumb People

Just about all of the past dozen posts or so validate a very strong personal conviction.

Stupid people should not be allowed to talk military.

The volcanic upswelling of idiots who attack the military for Don't Ask, Don't Tell tops my list.

I suggest a simple quiz to validate military knowledge.

.... like, what rank is this?

What country does this soldier fight for?

And is this an officer or NCO?

"Shut the hell up, hippy"

Successfully completion could be rewarded by Mrs. G sending a special milblogs HTML code declaring "I AM NOT RETARDED" for said pundit's blog template. Think of an FDA seal of approval on your meat. Only for your blog.

Gawd, this would make that "should I take this dude seriously?" question so much easier for the rest of us. What a public service. No seal, no deal... suckas.

PS- conversely, if it weren't for stupid people.... what the hell would we write about here on milblogs? I mean, Eagle would have his smart posts and stuff, but I gotta be honest.... that'd pretty much tap me out.

Re(3): Tactical Anthropology

Anthropologist's aren't just in Afghanistan. Mr Griffin is in Iraq and gives an anthropologist's perspective on Iraq. I've linked him a few times in the DP.

Here he explains what use Anthropology is:

Unfortunately not many of them seem to care to learn what Human Terrain Teams are really doing. In one case a blog entry of mine was footnoted in a recent commentary in Anthropology Today and creates the impression that I am facilitating harm. This is a convenient tar brush I suppose and meant to make the writer seem smarter than me (and could be for all I know) and what we are doing evil. This couldn’t be further than the truth. What we are doing is helping the Army understand the local population in a conflict that has resulted kinetic operations when non-kinetic solutions could have been used if a more nuanced understanding of the culture had been available. In the end, and despite critics on both sides, if anthropology as a discipline cannot promote freedom through cultural understanding in times of crisis, of what value is the discipline? Are we left with just a bunch of just-so stories? Cultural butterfly collections? Humans are known for their character by what they do in times of crisis, so should anthropology, the study of humans.

Opinion Journal talks of "Professors on the Battlefield" : and mentions Mr Griffin

Mr. Griffin, a bespectacled 39-year-old who speaks in a methodical monotone, believes that by shedding some light on the local culture-- thereby diminishing the risk that U.S. forces unwittingly offend Iraqi sensibilities--he can improve Iraqi and American lives. On the phone from Fort Benning, two weeks shy of boarding a plane bound for Baghdad, he describes his mission as "using knowledge in the service of human freedom."

The Human Terrain System is part of a larger trend: Nearly six years into the war on terror, there is reason to believe that the Vietnam-era legacy of mistrust--even hostility--between academe and the military may be eroding.

One thing's for sure Mr Griffin is getting a crash course in the Army culture.

I'm currently in transit with my team and today I was impressed at the number of people in airports that stopped the soldiers on my team and said, "Thanks for your service." I have an Army Combat Uniform (ACU) pattern rucksack that my sergeant told me to buy and in the past couple of months I have been stopped in the airport and thanked as well. I really got to thinking about this though today because while we were at the gate, the check-in staff made an announcement that there were some special guests in the waiting area who either were coming back from Iraq or on their way to Iraq and would passengers give a hand in appreciation. So most everyone clapped for a while, some stood and clapped, and my sergeant blushed self-consciously which was neat for me because he can get scary.
I was too young to remember much of the Vietnam War, a war which has been often compared to the war in Iraq. Back then soldiers coming home were sometimes called baby killers and villified. I'm glad no one has done that so far to us. We've witnessed family cry at our departure, some on my team have seen buddies die, and I've yet to meet a soldier who enjoyed death and destruction. Our program is about minimizing such misery. In the end we're just human and the humanity shown to the soldiers at the airport today was nice.

When I stepped off the bus, a warm late afternoon breeze was blowing and it felt just like a hair dryer in my face. Wow! Looking around I saw some mesh shade tents with picnic benches to get out of the dazzling bright light. After grabbing a bottle of cold water from industrial metal ice chests, I headed for the shade. To my dismay though I read the signs in front of the shade tents, “Smoking Area.” I wondered if I suddenly went back in time to the nineteen seventies when people could smoke anywhere, even classrooms and offices. Why, if pretty much everyone was American and the process was managed by American companies, were non-smokers forced to endure second hand cigarette smoke if they wanted to get out of the hot sun? Back in the States there are fewer and fewer places people can smoke in public. So what is going on culturally in this War Zone regarding smoking?

Whether Anthropologists will help in "The War on Terror" and in the "Hearts and Mind" campaign may yet to be seen, but hopefully it will help Anthropologists give a better understanding of the military culture, a subject I think is missing a few chapters in their text books. Let's see if Mr Griffin can explain it so others (civilians/ media) can understand it. It may prove to be just as vital.