Kevin Ellson
LTC, FA

The message above was interesting.

First, the phone number is part of the U.S. military’s DEFENSE SWITCHED NETWORK (DSN). The only way you can call that number is with another DSN phone.

Secondly, if you take (318) 847-3062 as a regular phone number, it traces to Sarepta, Louisiana, where there is no Fayiz Nalu in the phone directory.

Thirdly, the person who posted the message — sure, let’s call him “Fayiz Nalu” — uses a satellite provider for Internet access, so that the IP resolves to somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Gabon.

Fourth, and much more interesting is SOSi — or SOS International Ltd:

SOS International, Ltd. (SOSi) is a privately owned operations support company now in its 20th year, providing information engagement, intelligence solutions and stability operations support to U.S. government and commercial clients. A team of more than 1,100 professionals supports operations on nearly every continent and spans the widest spectrum of professional, linguistic and cultural backgrounds. SOSi is dedicated to understanding, engaging and shaping audience perspectives by offering expertise founded on real-world lessons learned. Our deliverable: support of the U.S. defense, intelligence, law enforcement and diplomatic agencies framed by an insightful cultural awareness, extensive foreign-language expertise and unparalleled on-the-ground capabilities.

They have offices in Afghanistan and Iraq. Their mission is in some ways very similar to that of the Human Terrain System, which is not surprising then that Nalu would be seeking employment with them. (As is the Naval Postgraduate School’s Program for Culture and Conflict Studies).

Now why Nalu would post here is still the mystery. Clearly the message is not intended for me, unless Fayiz Nalu thinks that by posting John Stanton’s article on HTS, that makes me part of HTS. Interesting assumption Mr. Nalu, but with those information gathering skills let me politely suggest that your chances of gaining employment where you seek are probably nil.

Please Advice

Fayiz Nalu
SOSi LTD
DSN 318 847 3062

My heart goes out to Dr. Dudley-Flores and the other ladies of the HTAT in Afghanistan. There’s another line I’d like to borrow, this one from Jerry “the Ice Man” Butler: “Only the Strong Survive.”

http://openanthropology.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/some-breaking-news-on-the-human-terrain-system-death-threats/

There are many HTS members who have ‘puffed-up’ their resumes…big time. There is one female linguist who carries around a folder with supposedly xerox of her Bronze Star Medal and other made up creditials while a linguist in Iraq. Sounds to good to be true…..well it isn’t. She has never been in the military so she could not have gotten a Bronze Star Medal. As of October 2000 no civilian can/will receive a Bronze Star Medal. The BSM is for military only. She also tried to sell classified information she supposedly was privy to while working as a linguist with Gen. Odierno. She too was sent back to Kansas after only a few weeks in-theater for non-performance (when the commander asked for information on a particular tribe, she handed them a post-it piece of paper with a website to the tribe info on it, lol) and for trying to ‘frantinize’ with the top military and top Iraqi officials. Some say she was even off base without permission. She also was always looking for some excuse to sue HTS….for discriminating against Muslims, etc. When no one discriminated against Muslims at all. It was her they didn’t care for because she too was always causing problems in class. Trying to get attention all the time with silliness. She lied and said she was hired as a social scientist when in fact she was hired as a linguist. Many others did the same thing.

And what did HTS/BAE do after she was sent back to Kansas? They’ve kept her on the payroll doing nothing at $85,000 + expenses (since last Nov.), because of this silly/phony folder she carries around with a xerox of her ‘Bronze Star Medal’.

HTS is a circus, with Fondacaro as the ring master and all the rest are clowns and jugglers, getting paid with taxpayers money to do nothing and to get drunk day after day at the High Noon. Most people on the outside can’t believe it, but those of us who have been in the program know it is true.

John Stanton concludes with what is at least an implicitly positive assessment of the 101st report. If this happened in Canada, I would want to see an independent, non-military, and non-government organization conducting the investigation, rather than this in-house approach that necessarily favours certain assumptions, ideals, and outcomes in advance, not to mention one that may be using certain research methodologies that are inappropriate for an understanding of gender conflict and sexual harassment.

I agree with John that the “civilian surge” idea is deeply flawed, not just because it means air dropping civilians into a meat grinder (by the way, what happened to the “human shields” argument?), but because the only NATO surge should be one that leads out of Afghanistan. They should try ‘surging’ into New Orleans, repair it, and reverse the kind of ethnic and class cleansing that resulted. They can also ‘surge’ into U.S. tent cities, and help to rebuild the lives of the millions whose lives have already been devastated by this economic meltdown. Since I view the intervention in Afghanistan as something that exists between pathology and ideological fanaticism, I am hardly likely to endorse anything that perpetuates the situation.