Also, this wouldn’t have happened if management on the ground and in the States had a good handle on their employees. Instead, I doubt you would even be able to get a current roster of who is where and their contact information.

Spoken from someone on the ground.

You are of course very right on your last point: pointing to any failures of management, safety, etc., is not a valid basis for an argument that seeks the elimination of HTS. It is an argument for better management. I have been expanding on John Stanton’s points in this regard, much of whose writing is about management problems, and who by his own admission thinks HTS is generally a good idea but needs to be managed better.

As some of the regular readers of this blog already know, John and I differ on this point. The issue that was more in line with my own argument concerns the ethics of a program that puts researchers at such great risk. I personally do not think such a program should be allowed to exist, and if I had been the creator/manager of a program that resulted in the deaths of my colleagues then I really do not know how I could live with myself and continue to uphold the program. Some of my other arguments against HTS do not apply, certainly not with as much force, given the fact Salomi is an Iraqi…and if one’s aim is to target collaborators, then certainly local Iraqis (rather than diasporic ones) abound.

My hope is that he will be treated well, and released very soon. Being a man of a certain age, his captors ought to take into account what the stresses of this situation could do to Salomi and not take his health for granted. I am also hoping that they issued three demands, each one more difficult to satisfy than the one before, with the hope that at least one will be satisfied. The first demand simply involves the Iraqi government recommitting itself to an agreement which it had already endorsed. Otherwise, if we take their demands at face value, they are essentially promising to keep Salomi for a long time. I do not know if they have threatened to end his life if their demands are not meant, and I hope they have the wisdom, generosity, and the respect for an elder, not to even consider that as an option.

In any event, arguments about the vulnerability of employees may not add much to the critique of HTS. They are arguments for making HTS “better,” safer, etc. not eliminating the program per se.

The second point is a more difficult one, “that Salomi’s work with HTS was incidental to the circumstances of his capture,” if I follow you. It does not seem likely that Iraqis captured an Iraqi for making demands on the U.S., for example. They could have captured any other Iraqis, and in greater numbers. It does seem that his captors knew he was working for the U.S. It’s not obvious to me how much they would have known about HTS in advance of his abduction, but they may now be starting to learn much more.

There are important questions here besides those raised in the media reports and by John Stanton. One concerns the ability of the resistance to pinpoint and target this individual, which raises the question: why? It suggests that the League of the Righteous are aware of what HTS is, and who its personnel are. Whatever they knew about HTS, one thing seems certain: now they will learn even more about it.

Another question is: does Salomi’s family receive compensation during the period of his captivity? Is Salomi paid danger pay and is paid while he is a hostage?

In addition: what are HTS, the Army, etc., doing to seek his release? Will they negotiate?

Do they train their personnel to deal with situations like this? How was Salomi able to leave the base without anyone knowing, especially in a situation where a Status for Forces Agreement stipulates that U.S. forces are to be confined to their bases, except in emergency cases or where Iraqi forces seek their backup?

HTS’ silence is extreme this time, a rather irresponsible outfit that exposes its employees to great dangers. That’s also unethical of course.

This post was mentioned on Twitter by 1D4TW: New Post: Iraqi Insurgents Capture Human Terrain System Member: John Stanton: Iraqi Insurgents Capture Human Terra… http://bit.ly/a2qeuS…