Congress is currently evaluating and considering the expansion of the
Pentagon's Human Terrain System (HTS) program, in which anthropologists have
been recruited to assist with counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan and
Iraq. Please join us in expressing our firm opposition to the program and
any expansion by agreeing to add your signature to the
"Anthropologists' Statement on the Human Terrain System Program." Modeled after a well-publicized 2008 statement written by
economists to oppose the Bush administration's first TARP program, this statement
aims to clearly and concisely state the factual grounds for our
opposition.
Unlike our previous year-long effort to compile signatures for the Network of
Concerned Anthropologists' "Pledge of Non- participation in
Counterinsurgency," we want to collect the signatures of as many
professional anthropologists as possible (including students!) as soon as possible so that our voice can be heard in the debate
about HTS.
Please encourage other professional anthropologists to sign as well. Thank you very much for your support!
ON THE HUMAN TERRAIN SYSTEM PROGRAM
To
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President pro tempore of the
Senate, and the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Armed
Services and Appropriations Committees:
We,
the undersigned anthropologists, want to express to Congress our profound
opposition to the Human Terrain System (HTS) program and its proposed
expansion. We are heartened and encouraged by the Pentagon’s interest in
expanding its cultural knowledge, and we believe that anthropologists have an
important role to play in shaping military and foreign policy. However,
we believe that the HTS program is an inappropriate and ineffective use of
anthropological and other social science expertise for the following reasons:
1) There is no evidence that HTS is effective. There is no
evidence, as some supporters have claimed, that the program saves lives.
In fact, a special commission of the American Anthropological Association
(AAA)—the largest professional anthropology society in the US—concluded in
December 2009 that “there exist no publicly available independent evaluations
of the effects of HTS's activities, either positive or negative. Whether, or
how, HTS might reduce conflict, in short, has yet to be evaluated.”
2) HTS is dangerous and reckless. To date, three embedded social
scientists assigned to Human Terrain Teams have been killed in theaters of war.
According to the journal Nature, “some scientists who have joined the
program have complained about inadequate training,” while some military
personnel reportedly complain that protecting Human Terrain Team members puts
the lives of their soldiers at risk.
3) HTS wastes taxpayer money. In addition to its human costs, HTS
has been costly. According to one report, approximately $250 million has
been allocated to HTS since its creation in 2006.
4) HTS is unethical for anthropologists and other social scientists.
In 2007, the Executive Board of the AAA determined HTS to be “an unacceptable
application of anthropological expertise.” Last December, the AAA
commission found that HTS “can no longer be considered a legitimate
professional exercise of anthropology” given the incompatibility of HTS with
disciplinary ethics and practice. Like medical doctors, anthropologists
are ethically bound to do no harm. Supporting counterinsurgency
operations clearly violates this code. Moreover, the HTS program violates
scientific and federal research standards mandating informed consent by
research subjects.
For these reasons, we ask Congress to halt further appropriations to the HTS
program, to cancel plans for expansion of the program, and to carefully
consider alternative courses of action for securing peace in Afghanistan, Iraq,
and beyond.
Signed,
UPDATES: NCA Statement on Changes to the AAA Ethics Code
Concerns about DOD's Minerva Project, including May 28, 2008 AAA Letter
New International Version of the Pledge!
U.S. Army Spies on NCA at AAA Meeting
AAA Executive Board Expresses Disapproval of "Human Terrain System"
Human Terrain Teams and NCA on YouTube!
"Human Terrain Team" Named Most Euphemistic Phrase of 2007 (see American Dialect Society, p. 3)
SPEAK OUT!: AAA Blog
We, the undersigned, believe that anthropologists should not engage in research and other activities that contribute to counter-insurgency operations in Iraq or in related theaters in the “war on terror.” Furthermore, we believe that anthropologists should refrain from directly assisting the US military in combat, be it through torture, interrogation, or tactical advice.
US military and intelligence agencies and military contractors have identified “cultural knowledge,” “ethnographic intelligence,” and “human terrain mapping” as essential to US-led military intervention in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East. Consequently, these agencies have mounted a drive to recruit professional anthropologists as employees and consultants. While often presented by its proponents as work that builds a more secure world, protects US soldiers on the battlefield, or promotes cross-cultural understanding, at base it contributes instead to a brutal war of occupation which has entailed massive casualties. By so doing, such work breaches relations of openness and trust with the people anthropologists work with around the world and, directly or indirectly, enables the occupation of one country by another. In addition, much of this work is covert. Anthropological support for such an enterprise is at odds with the humane ideals of our discipline as well as professional standards.
We are not all necessarily opposed to other forms of anthropological consulting for the state, or for the military, especially when such cooperation contributes to generally accepted humanitarian objectives. A variety of views exist among us, and the ethical issues are complex. Some feel that anthropologists can effectively brief diplomats or work with peacekeeping forces without compromising professional values. However, work that is covert, work that breaches relations of openness and trust with studied populations, and work that enables the occupation of one country by another violates professional standards.
Consequently, we pledge not to undertake research or other activities in support of counter-insurgency work in Iraq or in related theaters in the “war on terror,” and we appeal to colleagues everywhere to make the same commitment.
SPEAK OUT: Tell the American Anthropological Association (AAA) what you think about anthropologists collaborating with the "war on terror" by posting on the AAA's Blog.
Code of Ethics of the American Anthropological Association