Comments on: News from the Military-Academic Complex: McFate’s PhD, HTS Contracts, Minerva Grants, Afghanistan

By: Maximilian Forte

Maximilian Forte — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:40:44 +0000

I do both RYP, the actors and the play. Even in this same post, I minimize the role of McFate in favour of getting us to think about the structure that helped to produce her work. Actors also enact a script, so they are an inevitable part of the picture, their roles and their lines helping to shed light on the meaning of the play as a whole. If you’re saying the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, then of course I agree, but then again this blog is also greater than the sum of its posts (I hope).

By: RYP

RYP — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:00:49 +0000

“Brave New Anthropology: “We’re good at not killing as many people as we could.”

You can do better than that Max. :)) How about” Hi, Please tell us how you hate us so we can kill you better”

The kindest thing anthropologists can do is explain that counterinsurgency is always linked with counterterrorism. Its a ying/yang thing for the military that they always neglect to mention. The current commander in Afghanistan was famous for methodically going through Zarqawi’s laptop and killing everyone there. There is little difference in what is going on there now with a robust list of about 400 people that need to get killed. COIN is just the worm on the hook to get better intelligence. HTS is just the smiley face on the worm.

Just cuz the locals are staring at the trinkets and questionnaires in one hand doesn’t mean we shouldn’t prepare them for the slap from the other hand.

Plus although your blog is great, I don’t know if its worth going after the actors but rather the play.

RYP

By: Maximilian Forte

Maximilian Forte — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:49:48 +0000

I “like” this one, it really sits well with the outward bound & conquer ethos of HTS. Thanks also for that link.

By: CMM

CMM — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:49:45 +0000

Max, this reminds me of the bumper sticker: “Join the Army: Travel to exotic, distant lands; meet exciting, unusual people and kill them.”

http://www.carryabigsticker.com/join_army.htm

By: Maximilian Forte

Maximilian Forte — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:09:06 +0000

Given the brave thinker that McFate is (see the update above), we now have two choices for an appropriate motto for a BRAVE NEW ANTHROPOLOGY. Tell me which one you choose, or if you want to submit an alternative, and we can turn this into an online poll.

(1) Brave New Anthropology: “You’ll thank us for not killing all of you.”

(2) Brave New Anthropology: “We’re good at not killing as many people as we could.”

By: Montgomery McFate is a Fraud, Not a Brave Thinker « An American Lion

Montgomery McFate is a Fraud, Not a Brave Thinker « An American Lion — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:53:55 +0000

[...] Atlantic commits the unpardonable sin of giving failure false accolades when it names Montgomery McFate a “brave thinker” and accords her respect she does not deserve and credit for something [...]

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Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:29:18 +0000

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