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Leavenworth turns to anthropologists on Iraq

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — With American troops mired in Iraq and Afghanistan, leaders at the Army post where the military’s new counterinsurgency doctrine was written are turning to cultural anthropologists for help.

The relationship rekindles one that existed between the military and academics throughout much of the nation’s modern military history but fizzled after the Vietnam War.

“You have to look at things through the lens of the people on the ground to effectively know where you are going,” said Robert Kurz, an Eurasia analyst with Fort Leavenworth’s Foreign Military Studies Office.

Fort Leavenworth conducted a roundtable discussion Thursday among anthropologists and military veterans who have experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was part of an effort to create doctrine on how to conduct military operations with some degree of cultural competence.

One of the tenets of the military’s counterinsurgency doctrine, produced last year at Fort Leavenworth, is that success hinges on the government achieving the consent of the people. By gaining an understanding of the culture, the people’s basic needs and beliefs, the military can effectively neutralize insurgents who seek to render the government illegitimate, that doctrine says.

Kurz said the goal of working with anthropologists and other social scientists is to develop a climate in which cultural awareness is taught at all levels of training.

“This is one of those things that will make it down to the guy in basic training, those in officer training,” Kurz said.

Two anthropologists from the University of Kansas, Felix Moos and Bart Dean, acknowledged they are in the minority among their peers because they are working with the military. But Dean said anthropologists through World War II had a seat at the table when leaders planned military operations.

“I’d love to have that opportunity. It’s in everybody’s interest,” Dean said.

He noted that he was attacked and tortured in Peru while studying the culture and Maoist rebels.

“I know the feeling,” he said.

During the daylong exchange, officers noted that often the tactics being used by insurgents were similar to Mafia families, using extortion against civilians to keep from being identified and stopping the spread of violence. Not until the coalition and Iraqi forces can show that they can provide reliable security will the civilians stand up to insurgents and support the government, officers said.

Lt. Charles Bartles, an Army reservist who conducted civil affairs in Iraq, said a challenge is getting Iraqis to understand that working with the military and police to root out insurgents is in the community’s best interest, not just that of their immediate family.

Bartles’ paper for the project examines efforts to reduce the threat of roadside bombs along the routes near the Anaconda forward operating base, dubbed “Operation Turkey Stomp.” Soldiers met with each shopkeeper to explain that if a bomb went off in front of their store, the stores would be closed until they found out who planted the bomb or sold the components.

Each shopkeeper and store was photographed and published in a directory. Soldiers then gathered intelligence about each store, such as what goods were sold and how quickly. Bartles said noticing how dusty some items were or weren’t — such as batteries — provided useful information.

“It explains that you need to have a long-term presence for this stuff to be effective,” Dean said, adding that such tactics are more effective in rural settings than in Baghdad.

Moos said one barrier to success is changing units in a location every 12 to 15 months, breaking critical bonds soldiers formed with locals.

“The whole concept of rotation is counterproductive to this type of warfare,” said Moos, who has taught at the university and Fort Leavenworth for more than 40 years.

His desire to work with the military stems from a sense of civic duty and belief he can affect a positive outcome, he said.

“We need to see both sides of the coin,” Moos said. “I’m doing it for the simple supposition that the country is at war. Every citizen of the republic has a stake in it.

“If the country is not mobilized in thinking about the challenge that we have to face, I don’t know that we are doing anybody any favors,” he continued. “If you don’t know where you are fighting, how can you possibly come out winning?”