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Human Terrain System = Military Intelligence Program
#1
4 April 2010
Human Terrain System = Military Intelligence Program:
US Army Clarifies HTS Role
by John Stanton
There has been a lot of debate over the years about HTS' part in the US Army's intelligence operations function. Critics and neutral observers have known for some time that HTS is an information collections program. HTS proponents have denied that fact at every turn. At long last, that debate is finally over. The US Army's Human Terrain System is, in fact, an intelligence gathering effort, one of many in the US Army's impressive toolkit. A February 2010 budget request document defines and places HTS' role as one of "intelligence support". It further states that "this effort also provides unique capabilities needed to find, fix, finish, exploit, analyze, and disseminate (F3EAD) critical information pertaining to targets of interest…"
Another US Army budget document indicates this: (54) Human Terrain System - Military Intelligence Program (MIP) (SAGs:121) $17,521 million.
Evidently, someone from HTS management had a hand in writing the short plug for funding justification. Who knew that the HTS Teams were "highly acclaimed". The question for many is: Acclaimed for What?
"Human Terrain System - Military Intelligence Program (MIP) $17,521 million. Funds the Human Terrain System (HTS) to provide necessary training, graduate-level education, and program management of highly acclaimed HTS Teams. These HTS team members have the requisite skills and abilities to deploy and embed with combat units for up to one year, providing social and cultural decision-making insight to operational commanders and their staffs."
According to the Wikipedia editors and HTS management this is not the case. Wikipedia's entry includes a statement that claims HTS does not "conduct military intelligence operations or kinetic targeting." It's the same over at the official HTS.mil website. "HTTs do not proactively seek or collect actionable intelligence from the local civilian population…Team members are legally prohibited from performing active intelligence collection…The role of the HTT is neither to directly assist in lethal targeting of insurgents nor the collection of actionable military intelligence."
But that's not the case according to another US Army budget documents. The Department of the Army Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 Supplemental Request and FY 2011 Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) Request dated February 2010 details the intelligence activities HTS is involved in. Quoting directly (in italics):
Description of Operations Financed: Intelligence support to Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) provides sustainment and operation of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities already operating in theater, such as Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems (TUAS), Constant Hawk Full Motion Video (FMV) platforms, DCGS-A, Imagery work stations, and MASINT Ground sensors. This effort also provides unique capabilities needed to find, fix, finish, exploit, analyze, and disseminate (F3EAD) critical information pertaining to targets of interest in OIF. Unique capabilities provided in this category include sustainment associated with critical Intelligence initiatives coordinated closely with OSD MIP and ISR Task Force. Other key activities include continued support to the Human Terrain System (HTS) teams currently in theater, Army Document and Media Exploitation (DOMEX), and sustainment of deployable TS/SCI-level communications systems such as the Joint Mobile Intelligence Communications System (JMICS).
HTS Intel Operatives
These resources are used also to selectively augment the Army intelligence workforce using government civilian or contracted personnel, as appropriate, to meet the vastly increased demand for actionable intelligence in theater. Analysts working within existing DOD and Intelligence Community (IC) organizations provide real-time or near real-time analytic products in direct support of commanders engaged in the execution of their OIF missions. This is accomplished through the collection, analysis, and fusion of multiple sources of information, including Human, Signals, Measurement and Signature, and Imagery Intelligence (HUMINT, SIGINT, MASINT, and IMINT) and Counterintelligence. Note: Classified details of the FY 2011 OCO request in support of the Army Military Intelligence Program are contained in Volume 1a of the DOD Military Intelligence Program Congressional Justification Book (MIP CJB).
Intelligence Operations and Support. Provides critical intelligence operational support capabilities to support Information Dominance Center (IDC) operations, ensuring deployed forces have real time access to sophisticated analytical and data mining tools. Also supports modification and upgrade of IDC hardware and software and the operationalization of advanced technologies. Provides tactical overwatch to deployed forces, affording engaged combat units 24/7 situational awareness and response to time-sensitive requests for information in direct support of combat forces. Army DOCEX Program provides direct support to combatant commanders, training of Soldiers and joint service personnel preparing to deploy to OIF / OEF, reach-back translation support deployable systems enhancement and tools integration.
Provides Analytic Tools and Technology for Operational Networks; identifies requirements from deployed analytic systems in the field of information technology. Blue Force Tracking provides situational awareness to Tactical HUMINT Teams (THT) through use of the Handheld Digital Reporting Devices, audio communications, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) real time videos, area maps and alert capability to warn Soldiers of threats in the CENTCOM theater of operations. Tactical Battlefield Visualization provides for sustainment of the three-dimensional, color representation of manmade and natural features and terrain. Increases situational awareness and understanding of complex terrain in the form of intelligence presentations and daily products critical for tactical planning and execution of operational missions. Provides support to deployed Human Terrain Teams in OIF/OEF in response to current CENTCOM Joint Urgent Operational Needs Statements. In addition, aids in Improvised Explosive Device detection and prevention and the integration of military forces into Army and coalition force military operations.
Genesis of HTS Program: Defense Science Board?
On 1 February 2007 the Defense Science Board (DSB) released a little noticed report titled 21st Century Strategic Technology Vectors. In the report the DSB recommended that military planners and warfighters explore, prepare/exploit the Human Terrain in which the US military operates. They also suggested that social science groups work closely with US Combatant Commanders. To do this, the DSB suggested a, then, radical approach: tap into the non-kinetic social sciences network for analytical data and marry future findings and applications to the military's warfighting toolkit. In a piece titled Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience: Dual Use Discipline for Understanding & Managing Complexity and Altering Warfare (non-footnoted version at Cryptome) the author notes the following from the DSB study conducted in the summer of 2006.
"Human, Social, cultural and behavior (HSCB) modeling…pushes the boundaries of DOD's comfort zone the farthest. However, it is an area that DOD cannot afford to ignore. The DOD needs to become much more familiar with the theories, methods, and models from psychology, sociology, cultural anthropology, cognitive science, political science and economics in order to be able to identify those with real potential to add value to DOD's toolkit. Coupling these to quantitative and computational modeling and simulation techniques from mathematics, physics, statistics, operations research, and computer science could lead to powerful new tools that represent complex human and social systems…One promising starting point for the application of HSCB models is to complement the more familiar physical network modeling with human/group behavioral models.
HSCB models are designed to help understand the structure, interconnections, dependencies, behavior, and trends associated with organizational entities. Macro HSCB models address nation states, socio-cultural regions, economies, and political systems. Micro HSCB models deal with religious and ethnic tribes, militias, insurgent and terrorist networks, and military units at the tactical level. Integrated models try to tie together the macro and micro models.
A formidable challenge in modeling social and behavioral phenomena is to integrate and make coherent micro-macro models at multiple levels of data, granularity, and analysis, and across multiple disciplines of the social sciences, and to acquire and structure data that can be used to guide and test the models."
New Casualties Reported: Incidents from 2008
"You are missing some people who got wounded. One US Army Lieutenant was shot in the chest after one month in the field", said a source. "Three HTS members were riding in an armored vehicle that rolled over after the driver took evasive action. The driver of the vehicle was listening to music on his I-Pod when the incident took place. The vehicle rolled over three times. As a result, one of the occupants had a broken neck and other serious injuries. Another had broken ribs one of which went through this liver."
Known HTS casualties now stand at 12 (including HTS hostage released).
* Paula Loyd-killed/died of wounds
* Nicole Suveges--killed
* Michael V. Bhatia--killed
* Lt Brian Brennan--(both legs amputated)
* Wesley Cureton--wounded, status unknown
* Scott Wilson--wounded, status unknown
* D. Ayala--guilty of manslaughter
* A. Salam, Afghani National killed by Ayala
* Issa Salomi--Hostage, released March 2010
* Name Unknown-shot in chest
* Name Unknown-wounded in vehicle rollover
* Name Unknown-wounded in vehicle rollover
_________
John Stanton is a Virginia based writer specializing in national security matters. Reach him at cioran123[at]yahoo.com.
John Stanton's Human Terrain System articles:
http://cryptome.org/0001/hts-stanton.htm


[URL="http://cryptome.org/0001/hts-stanton.htm"]http://cryptome.org/0001/hts-mi-spy.htm
[/URL]
"Where is the intersection between the world's deep hunger and your deep gladness?"
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#2
May 2010
US Army Generals Not Informed HTS was Spy/Intel Program: Casualty Rate Excessive

by John Stanton


http://cryptome.org/0001/hts-ignorant.htm


"Let me tell you what HTT is not. The Team is not an intelligence gathering tool which is used to target individuals." Colonel Martin Schweizter, USA, in testimony before the US Congress, April 2008.
"Deployed HTTs work solely on the non-kinetic side of the military planning and are not involved in the lethal targeting process." Steve Fondacaro & Montgomery McFate writing in Men's Journal, February 12, 2009
Sources report that there are several investigations of HTS underway in addition to the US Army's AR 15-6 effort.
Personalities that figure prominently in the life of HTS--and likely the US Army's AR 15-6 investigation/other investigations of HTS--are Lieutenant General Michael Vane, head of the US Army Capabilities Integration Center (ARCIC) at Fort Monroe, Virginia. ARCIC is an element of the US Army's Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) and, according to observers, oversees the ongoing AR 15-6. TRADOC is currently commanded by General Martin Dempsey. His desk is where the "buck stops" on all matters TRADOC.
Retired US Army Colonel Maxie McFarland is the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence for TRADOC G-2 which, like Vane's shop, is located Fort Monroe, Virginia. Retired US Army Colonel Steve Fondacaro, HTS program manager; and Mitzy Coughlin (McFate), HTS senior social scientist round out what appears to be the HTS chain of command: Dempsey-Vane-McFarland-Fondacaro---Carlough (McFate).
According to observers, the current HTS structure and mission was approved and "signed off" on as an intelligence capability. As reported previously, HTS is funded as a Military Intelligence Program (MIP).
Some in the TRADOC chain of command, according to sources, were unaware that HTS was an intelligence support operation. This has caused a significant amount of turbulence within the program, they say, as HTS management tries to figure out how to re-package and justify the program's existence as an intelligence support operation.
Observers say that McFarland, Fondacaro and Carlough (McFate) falsely advertised the HTS program as pure social science research to universities, at various social science conferences, and particularly in their recruiting and training processes. This has grave implications for universities and their researchers as many were convinced that their work-product was being used for humanitarian purposes.
The US Army could pull the funding from MIP and place it under a research function in the defense budget. But management's credibility quotient has sunk to unrecoverable depths and any attempt at claiming an error in the US Army budget process using "it was not supposed to be in the MIP, it was a mistake rationale" would be as ridiculous as hiring a horseshoer on to a Human Terrain Team.
But wait! They did! According to a Wapedia entry on the Human Terrain System, " HTS hired an unemployed and former US Marine who had been retired from the USMC for 23 years. The former US Marine had recently undergone shoulder replacement surgery and could no longer shoe horses…"
Critics of HTS such as the observers/sources for this series of articles on HTS, Dr. Max Forte, Dr. David Price, Dr. Hugh Gusterson, Dr. Alberto Gonzalez, Dr. Robert Albro, and the American Anthropological Association have made the point over and again that HTS is ethically challenged at the management level and does, in fact, operate as an intelligence support program. For stating their views they have been pilloried by McFarland, Fondacaro and Coughlin (McFate) and their supporters in and out of the military (sources report that the officer currently conducting the AR 15-6 is being "bad mouthed" by some in HTS management). Even the venerable Ben Connable who authored All Our Eggs in One Broken Basket (HTS) in TRADOC's Military Review was criticized for expressing the view that the effort was cannibalizing military funding and in-house capabilities.
The focus on preparing/shaping the Human/Cultural Terrain for warfighters originated with the Defense Science Board’s 2006 Summer Study on Strategic Vectors. HTS is-and always has been--intelligence support program and the information it produces is used to prepare/shape the human terrain and to enhances the kill/pacify chain.
Now the spin from HTS personnel appears to be that HTS is not an intelligence program in the traditional sense. They are correct: it is a "new" intelligence program based on old intelligence programs. Some believe that it is little more than a polling and community policing effort.
Answering the question Do They Want to Hug Us or Kill Us? is the responsibility of the active duty military. It must not be left to a hodge-podge of civilian contractors lured by high salaries and led by some in HTS management desperate to build a Human Terrain Agency replete with splendid offices in Kansas City. There is indeed a role for social scientists and it is inside the wire, not outside it.
Life and limb have been sacrificed in HTS management's quest to prove a point and get rich in the process. It's astonishing that a miniscule social science program like HTS should have such a high casualty rate and generate so much controversy. More repugnant is that the HTS chain of command is numb to it all.
It's always worth remembering :
* Paula Loyd-killed/died of wounds
* Nicole Suveges--killed
* Michael V. Bhatia--killed
* Lt Brian Brennan--(both legs amputated)
* Wesley Cureton--wounded, status unknown
* Scott Wilson--wounded, status unknown
* D. Ayala--guilty of manslaughter
* A. Salam, Afghani National killed by Ayala
* Issa Salomi--Hostage, released March 2010
* Name Unknown-shot in chest
* Name Unknown-wounded in vehicle rollover
* Name Unknown-wounded in vehicle rollover
__________
John Stanton is a Virginia based writer specializing in national security matters. Reach him at cioran123[at]yahoo.com.
John Stanton's Human Terrain System articles:
http://cryptome.org/0001/hts-stanton.htm
"Where is the intersection between the world's deep hunger and your deep gladness?"
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#3
5 May 2010

[B]US Army Human Terrain System Smoke & Mirrors:
Whistleblower Framed? Abu Ghraib Lite? [/B]

By John Stanton
The Human Terrain Team Leader of AF-1 who was dismissed is David Mamoux and the Brigade Commander who did the dismissing is Colonel Mike Howard (see below). Mamoux is a controversial personality in a program of colorful figures. Mamoux, according to sources, blew the whistle on the practice of falsifying time cards refusing to buy into what many claim is a common practice at HTS. Further, sources say that other members of HTT AF-1 offered daily doses of drama that the Brigade Commander grew tired of. Others within the team struggled to do their jobs but personalities and controversy trumped teamwork.
As with all else with HTS, nothing is clear cut particularly when it comes to management practices, team dynamics or HTS work-product. Sources say Mamoux is "a lightening rod" but that he is a person "of integrity." Others say "he should be dropped out of an airplane with no parachute". Whatever the case, he remains gainfully employed by HTS and is at the center of charges of overbilling the government.
Observers say HTT AF-1 had several troublesome members who continued to bring up personnel/billing issues with Howard with the intent to get Mamoux relieved. One of his sins was to refuse to sign off on time cards that were being submitted that clearly claimed a false number of hours worked. "
Howard was fed up with the shenanigans and frustrated with the performance of HTT AF-1. But it was, according to sources, Mike Warren who asked Howard to support the firing.
Observers say many have a lot to lose in this case. Allegedly some HTT AF-1 members are term civil servants team members who claimed hours not worked. Sources claim that Steve Fondacaro (HTS program manager) and Maxie McFarland (Fondacaro's superior) continued to allow this practice to go uninvestigated knowing this was "going on and did nothing until this issue was about to come to light."
According to sources, "it's similar in one way to Abu Ghraib: the little fish took the fall while the people really responsible evaded charges of wrongdoing."
Sources now say HTS management wants to stand up an Internal Review Board (see below). They also say that "it would be a joke."
As initially reported, The Human Terrain Team (HTT) Leader of AF-1, David Mamoux, was removed from his position after a US Army Brigade Commander, Colonel Mike Howard, expressed his concerns to the Human Terrain System (HTS) Program Manager-Forward- Mike Warren. Reports indicate that Warren actually solicited this outcome from Howard.
In a meeting with Warren, the US Army Brigade Commander had expressed his dissatisfaction with the performance and leadership of, Mamoux, the retired US Army officer guiding HTT AF-1. The US Army Brigade Commander went on to say, according to the letter below, that he had no trust or confidence in that individual's ability to lead the HTT AF-1.



Image: http://cryptome.org/0001/hts-smoke.jpg







Warren sent the former HTT Leader packing back to HQ at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where his fate was decided by HTS program manager Steve Fondacaro.
He was rewarded with another position in HTS.
According to sources, the disgraced Mamoux is still on the HTS payroll running what they refer to as the "Holding Company" (HC). The HC is "all the individuals waiting to be deployed or cannot be deployed. These students normally spend months in the HC. Millions of dollars are wasted each month as the students have nowhere to go and nothing to do."
Protecting Human Subjects: Depends on the Terrain
One criticism of HTS that seems to have faded from the Net and Mainstream Media is TRADOC leadership/HTS management non-adherence to 32 CFR 219 which requires, unless waived, the services of an active Internal Review Board (IRB). An IRB is an auditing group (includes review of personnel, methodology, execution and work-product) that is critical to ensuring that researchers and their organizations meet the highest ethical and professional standards available. One of the better educational publications on protecting human subjects is the US Department of Energy's Human Subject Resource Protection Resource Book. Included in the publication are guidelines for researchers and organizations that seek to use humans for social and behavioral research of the ethnographic type practiced by the US Army's HTS.
The US Department of Defense has signed on to 32 CFR 219 though there are waivers they can apply to programs like the US Army's HTS. It is not known whether TRADOC's HTS was granted a waiver by the DOD.
It certainly is easy enough to mock the presence of the words Pentagon and ethical in the same sentence (as many do). But the fact is that millions of dollars and man/woman hours are spent in and out of the Pentagon in an attempt to get the national security community to adhere to legislative guidelines, court rulings and regulatory codes designed to promote ethical behavior, particularly when it comes to drawing out information from another human being. Failure to adhere to an ethical standard in the rush to perform is always a risky undertaking-damage usually ensues.
According to observers, there is "no IRB process that has ever been associated with HTS."
32 CFR 219 does apply to HTS but management chose to ignore it. There were attempts by the American Anthropological Association to engage HTS management on ethics matters but they failed to take them up the offer.
Sources say HTS management now wants to stand up an Internal Review Board. They also say that "it would be a joke."
"HTS management knew the program would not hold up to any ethical scrutiny," they claim.
__________
John Stanton is a Virginia based writer specializing in national security matters. Reach him at cioran123[at]yahoo.com
John Stanton's Human Terrain System articles:
http://cryptome.org/0001/hts-stanton.htm


http://cryptome.org/0001/hts-smoke.htm
"Where is the intersection between the world's deep hunger and your deep gladness?"
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#4
12 May 2010

Human Terrain Teams Feared more than CIA:
Cureton Blinded for Life, Laurie Adler Returns


by John Stanton
…You have no sense about the intriguing world of intelligence gathering! I am dead scared of a Peace Corps…Team wanting to help a strategically important country affected by a natural disaster [rather] than a CIA team stationed in [an] embassy or a very safe house. These Peace Corps… Teams consist of academics, experts and intellectuals. They basically are Human Terrain Teams that have 'social scientists' who map relationships and create databases of local leaders, economic issues, social problems, castes and political disputes as well as using mapped knowledge and cultural insights to advise military commanders………How the LTTE Was Militarily Defeated: A Soldier's Point of View
As reported earlier, Sargeant Wesley Cureton, USA, was wounded while working with a Human Terrain Team in Afghanistan. A number of sources report that Cureton "is blind for the rest of his life." Cureton is located somewhere in a Texas at a medical facility still undergoing rehabilitation for injuries sustained while with an HTT. Sources say he is being visited and is also receiving telephone calls from family and friends.
Civilian antipathy for soldiers working with/for HTS has grown say observers. Some have indicated that civilians openly state that the US military/soldiers are in the way. According to one source, that this attitude prevails at HTS is not surprising as one of its senior leaders takes a Pontius Pilate approach to it all. "Montgomery [McFate] had always talked about how easy it was to dupe people in the US military and in academia. She believes she has no peers." Brilliance, it seems, is a blinding force as well.
And so the culture clash within HTS goes on.
The old Superman Comic's Bizarro World comes to mind here. It's a weird world where all is convoluted/upside down.
US politicians and military leaders repeatedly make the case that "serving your nation in uniform in the highest calling for an American." While that's debatable, what is not is that soldiers wounded while in close proximity to HTT's are ignored by US Army/HTS management. Big Press (MSM) goes to cover the exploits of HTS civilian academics-contractors alive or dead. It's a rare occasion that the sacrifice/fate of a soldier such as FLT. Brennan is told. The world may never have known about his sacrifice were it not for General David Petraeus, USA, who happened to take a liking to the young Lieutenant.
Buy a Seaplane, Get a Discount on Glevum's F2RA
An Intelligence Online headline reads thus: "Glevum, The US Army's Social Surveyor...To gain a better understanding of the 'human' terrain in combat zones where it is engaged, the U.S. Army turns to research carried out by Glevum Associates." Glevum's polling of 1,994 individuals using its Face-to-Face Research and Analysis (F2RA™) in Kandahar, Afghanistan, was widely praised and covered by the Big Press. Andrew Garfield has brought his firm to the forefront of human/cultural analysis. His client list is utterly impressive and includes the US Army's Human Terrain System. Is Glevum the go-to contractor for the US Army HTS?
A peek at Glevum's leadership team reveals that Laurie Adler (former Lincoln Group and HTS) is back in the national security game. There is one little tidbit of interest in her company bio and it is this: in addition to Glevum duties, Adler is also currently "the Senior Public Affairs Advisor for the Dornier Seaplane Company." According to the French Canadian press, Dornier Seaplane Company will be building an assembly plant in Canada and will announce the location of the plant after 17 May 2010.
At first glance, it seems odd that Adler would be working for a group like Dornier Seaplane Company that does not appear to be involved in national security. She has had an exceptional career in the national security industry and that's where her expertise seems to be. But a closer look at DSC's Seastar CD2 reveals that it is ideal for military and intelligence operations. According to the Seastar's specifications, "the target applications for this segment are coastal surveillance, search and rescue, covert operations, drug interdiction, disaster relief, humanitarian, medical and missionary work."
The aircraft has an array of features suited to stealthy water-based operations of the type required for Foreign Internal Defense, COIN, kill-capture, or even dropping off an HTT, or personnel from Glevum, to do some polling/mapping somewhere in, say, the Niger Delta or up/down a river anywhere in the world.
US Special Operations Command and Pacific Command may be interested in this type of aircraft particularly as US activity in Southeast Asia and Africa heats up.
How about the US Marine Corps which actually does information operations/human terrain analysis and mapping the right way?
USSOCOM, CENTCOM, MPRI, BAE, State Department, and Psyop Task Forces Iraq and Afghanistan are other clients of Glevum.
"Seastar has the unique capability to combine in a single operation surveillance and intervention by landing on water next to the target. On water, Seastar features the maneuverability and speed of a powerboat; the Dornier-typical sponson platforms facilitate personnel, equipment or stretcher ingress and egress on water; Seastar can mask itself from radar at sea (within sea clutter) by loitering on water remotely offshore and close to the target area for extended time periods. Thus, Seastar enables surprise interventions, paramount for the success of many operations; Seastar's capability to combine joint operations of different transport means like helicopters, vessels and fixed wing aircraft in one single mission results in drastic cost savings and increase in operational efficiency;
Routine single engine surveillance operation extends on-station endurance to up to 10 hours; Seastar is an electronically quiet aircraft because of its all-composite construction. Radome (s) can be integrated into the fuselage structure (front or side). Seastar inherently eliminates rotor modulation common with helicopters; Composite structure is highly damage tolerant. Wing and fuselage hard points can be added for external stores; Large cabin facilitates multiple sensor consoles and crew member stations. External visibility from the cockpit is well suited for Night Vision Goggles operations; and Seastar (with its high horizontal stabilizer) can be flown with a modified cabin door to deliver airdropped material."
A muddled image comes to mind here and includes flashes of HTS, HTT's, CAPS (Vietnam), Phoenix Project, Air America, incestuous networking defense contractors, social scientists for the Kill Chain, and Selous Scouts.
The image becomes clear now as well as a realization.
Full Spectrum Dominance and thus American Imperialism can only be achieved through some sort of emotionless, brutal Project Scylla. The project starts with understanding the evolutionary/social sciences, the human brain/mind, and the target culture and its geographic terrain. Then it is on to screwing with the minds of the indigenous occupants of that terrain and setting them right or alight. That's what COIN/HTS and Soft Power are all about in the end. America is on the right track. But can it afford the price?
"I am dead scared of…Human Terrain Teams."
John Stanton is a Virginia based writer specializing in national security. Reach him at cioran123[at]yahoo.com.
John Stanton's Human Terrain System articles:
http://cryptome.org/0001/hts-stanton.htm


http://cryptome.org/0001/hts-feared.htm
"Where is the intersection between the world's deep hunger and your deep gladness?"
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#5
21 May 2010

Gun Running, Drugs and Flamenco:
US Army Human Terrain System has it All.


by John Stanton
Reader's Note: Due to the gravity of the allegations/information below, I immediately submitted the information provided by sources to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI was mentioned in the information provided and so it was entirely appropriate to contact/inform them of these allegations.
"Confirmed," said sources.
A member of the US Army (TRADOC) management team in Afghanistan, according to sources, is a "gun runner." That individual is allegedly listed in an "FBI database" and has "ties to Wali Karzai and the drug business."
Another Human Terrain System leader has apparently been accused by "local nationals…of being a pedophile-touching young Afghan children while out in the field and making disturbing comments about them." Members of a US Army Stryker group in Afghanistan have made the same comments.
These comments appear outrageous but, then again, this is the US Army Human Terrain System. It's a head-shaker that the US Army (TRADOC) and Lt Gen. Lennox heaps praise upon it even as the US Congress, House Armed Services Committee, has said the program needs a good scrub, as reported by the authorities on HTS at Wired the Washington Independent.
HASC is to be applauded for this action. And it could not come at a better time.
In Other News
One team leader resigned recently "due to his team turning on him." Some members of Human Terrain Team (HTT's) have reportedly taken to wearing side arms on each leg. Another HTT leader was "dismissed due to incompetence." In one instance, an HTT member disrupted "a night patrol she should not have been on." That person quite the HTS program and ended up with a position at USAID.
Observers say that Dr. Montgomery McFate and Dr. Marilyn Mitchell are overseeing the development of anthropology training within the program. According to many, these are the "two most unqualified people" to manage the training. "This choice assures future failure and possible casualties/fatalities," they said. Management, recruitment and training continue to be the weak links in the program.
Others argue that McFate and Mitchell are qualified PhDs and are up to the task. Observer's counter that McFate and Mitchell (earns $1,200 USD a day) have no substantive field work or military experience. Those weaknesses can lead to gaps in training and, perhaps, deadly outcomes in a combat zone. Such has been the experience of HTS to date.
Speaking of qualifications one of the social scientists hired by HTS and deployed to Afghanistan, and now the butt of Wired's Caption Contest, received her PhD at the age of 25.
"Anna Maria completed her doctoral dissertation at the University of Notre Dame. Her Ph.D. was awarded in Theology with an emphasis in Latino Studies. The topic of her dissertation, however, reflected a lifetime of interdisciplinary study. Anna Maria carefully researched the early roots of today's Spanish flamenco as they are preserved in the liturgical tradition of the New Mexican Penitentes--a society whose worship presents a time-capsule of medieval Spanish spirituality. Her research yielded surprising revelations about a historically unique time and place where Islam, Judaism and Christianity flourished in community. Her work speaks both of the tragedy of the destruction of this delicately beautiful balance and the triumph of its continued survival in the arts. Surprisingly enough, Anna Maria's interest in her culture's ancient roots revealed a message of cooperation of terribly timely relevance to today's troubled world."
__________
John Stanton is a Virginia based writer specializing in national security matters. Reach him at cioran123[at]yahoo.com
John Stanton's Human Terrain System articles:
http://cryptome.org/0001/hts-stanton.htm


http://cryptome.org/0001/hts-gunrun.htm
"Where is the intersection between the world's deep hunger and your deep gladness?"
Reply
#6
13 June 2010

HTS Program Manager Dismissed: Georgia Tech Wants Out

by John Stanton
Steve Fondacaro is now the former program manager of the US Army's Human Terrain System. He was dismissed on or about 11 June 2010. Sources speculate there are many reasons that may have led to his departure to include personal issues.
His departure comes just as the HTS propaganda film Talibanistan was released by National Geographic. An excellent breakdown of the film is at Dr. Max Forte's Zero Anthropology. Somehow, Fondacaro and senior social scientist Montgomery McFate found time to star as members of a Human Terrain Team as the HTS program collapsed around them. Go figure.
At any rate, below is the good bye Fondacaro notice from Maxie McFarland, Fondacaro's boss. Note some of the details in the letter concerning temp HTS PM and "civilian hire."
The interim HTS manager Colonel Hamilton has an unenviable task not the least of which will be dealing with some colorful personalities. Sources hope Hamilton and the next PM will right the ship.
"It is with great regret that I announce the departure of Mr Steve Fondacaro from the HTS program. Steve has done a tremendous job in standing up HTS and providing our forces with this valuable capability. He is a tireless leader and we will miss his passion and superb understanding of Human Terrain. Effective 11 June 2010, Steve Fondacaro departs the G2 and the HTS program. We wish Steve the best in his future endeavors and thank him for the hard work and dedication to bring the HTS from concept to reality. COL Sharon Hamilton, Deputy G2, is the Director, HTS until further notice
We will hire a civilian Director in the near future. Until that time, I expect you to fully support COL Hamilton in her new role.
We are at an important mission transition point for HTS and I look forward to continuing our team effort to provide essential support to our deployed forces. V/R Maxie"
Lastly, the public spokesperson for Georgia Tech Research Institute, as reported earlier this month, stated that GTRI will not seek further work with HTS upon completion of it's current contract.
__________
John Stanton is a Virginia based writer specializing in national security matters. Reach him at cioran123[at]yahoo.com
John Stanton's Human Terrain System articles:
http://cryptome.org/0001/hts-stanton.htm
"Where is the intersection between the world's deep hunger and your deep gladness?"
Reply
#7
1 July 2010

General Petraeus' Magic Bag: Human Terrain System & Covert Ops

by John Stanton
So General David Petraeus is back on the COIN campaign trail arguing that pacifying the Human Terrain (HT) is his number one priority. Petraeus' model program for converting an indigenous human terrain that is opposed to US occupation to a pliant human terrain has been the troublesome US Army Human Terrain System run out of TRADOC's G-2 (Intelligence) unit.
The world has heard the term of art, HT, for nearly five years now from Petraeus and his Apostles. It has also heard President Obama (a likely one term US president) take up the COIN-HT mantra from Petraeus and make it his own. Petraeus' push to make COIN-HT the central war waging doctrine of the US Army-and National Security Strategy-- has produced truckloads of paper and likely has kept dying US paper mills in business. The number of reports, articles, briefings, transcripts, manuscripts, PhD theses, studies, power point presentations, field surveys, and books that discuss COIN-HT and the Human Terrain System would likely fill up the Washington Redskins' FEDEX field.
And now as General Petraeus dominates flat screens all over the world, it should come as no surprise that a COIN-based communications game plan is being used by Petraeus to convince the USA's Human Terrain (American people, the US Congress and influencers from every walk of life) that, like Felix the Cat, Petraeus can pull something out of his magic bag to stop the madness in Afghanistan and Iraq. Don't forget, in the COIN-HT view, the battlefield-the HT-is global and electronic. This is no silly conspiracy. It is simply part of the process and very much a marketing campaign.
But the problem is that Petraeus' magic bag holds nothing more than TRADOC's woeful Human Terrain System and a covert intelligence program. This is a global kill/capture effort designed by Petraeus and Admiral Olsson (USSOCOM)-and approved by Obama--that not only seeks to wipe out those antithetical to US interests, but also enlists US businessmen/women, academics, journalists and US troops as global intelligence gathering platforms. We are all part of the COIN-HT analysis team now.
Petraeus has nothing more to offer.
And what has Petraeus accomplished in Iraq and Afghanistan and, for that matter, in his overall area of responsibility as CENTCOM commanding general. For example, how are things in Somalia? (AFRICOM is still ramping up).
Turmoil reigns in Afghanistan at every level political, social and economic. US warfighters there and in Iraq are sick and they are tired and want to come home. US warfighters certainly do not want to babysit civilian personnel from the Human Terrain System.
Over in Iraq, it's not really that much better: power shortages, riots, over a million Iraqi's displaced, Shia and Sunni at knife's edge, Christians violently moved out of country, and unlimited corruption at the national level. The environmental situation in Iraq literally stinks as the US has left a toxic wasteland wherever it has encamped on a large scale.
Operation Iraq Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom will be remembered as Petraeus' Wars: a time when for-profit contractors outnumbered the uniformed services. A time when the reason to join the US military (besides a failing US economy) was simply an investment: training and experience that would lead to lucrative contracts in the private sector. Protecting and defending the US Constitution became little more than a Boy Scout Motto. The USA has been at war for so long that it became the new American pastime. The American lexicon is numb to the meaning of war, killed in action, maimed in action, torture, Guantanamo Bay, and rendition. Calls for a civilian warfighting cadre come from the White House. All of US government, all of society says the US Interagency Task Force on COIN. The National Security State is threatening the foundations of the democratic republic. Andrew Bacevich eloquently stated as much in a recent editorial.
Americans are now in uncharted waters.
In short, Petraeus has left a trail of destruction and controversy in his wake. And the larger issues of the direction of US democracy swirl around this General who is arguably the second most powerful-and untouchable-politician in Washington, DC. This is the portion of Petraeus' record that PSYOPS/MISO/ has been so adroit at eliminating from the theater of Senate Confirmations and Sunday talk shows on the main stream media. It is one heck of an effort!
The Human Terrain System which Petraeus' so strongly supports is a microcosm, a snapshot, of the tragicomedy of war, politics and-today--America itself. Those at the bottom suffer for the madness of those at the top. And for what? It does not have to be that way.
* Paula Loyd-killed/died of wounds
* Nicole Suveges--killed
* Michael V. Bhatia--killed
* Lt Brian Brennan--(both legs amputated)
* Wesley Cureton--wounded, status unknown
* Scott Wilson--wounded, status unknown
* D. Ayala--guilty of manslaughter
* A. Salam, Afghani National killed by Ayala
* Issa Salomi--Hostage, released March 2010
* Name Unknown-shot in chest
* Name Unknown-wounded in vehicle rollover
* Name Unknown-wounded in vehicle rollover
__________
John Stanton is a Virginia based writer specializing in national security matters. Reach him at cioran123[at]yahoo.com
John Stanton's Human Terrain System articles:
http://cryptome.org/0001/hts-stanton.htm
"Where is the intersection between the world's deep hunger and your deep gladness?"
Reply
#8
Quote:And now as General Petraeus dominates flat screens all over the world, it should come as no surprise that a COIN-based communications game plan is being used by Petraeus to convince the USA's Human Terrain (American people, the US Congress and influencers from every walk of life) that, like Felix the Cat, Petraeus can pull something out of his magic bag to stop the madness in Afghanistan and Iraq. Don't forget, in the COIN-HT view, the battlefield-the HT-is global and electronic. This is no silly conspiracy. It is simply part of the process and very much a marketing campaign.

But the problem is that Petraeus' magic bag holds nothing more than TRADOC's woeful Human Terrain System and a covert intelligence program. This is a global kill/capture effort designed by Petraeus and Admiral Olsson (USSOCOM)-and approved by Obama--that not only seeks to wipe out those antithetical to US interests, but also enlists US businessmen/women, academics, journalists and US troops as global intelligence gathering platforms. We are all part of the COIN-HT analysis team now.
Petraeus has nothing more to offer.

Yup.

The entire political/governmental/military/MSM bureaucracy has been trapped inside this illiterate, fundamentally inane, template.

Stuffed inside a banal and thanatoid frame.

McChrystal and Petraeus increasingly resemble pallid zombies out of a low budget remake of a Romero classic.

Putrefaction is setting in.

How much longer can this continue?
"It means this War was never political at all, the politics was all theatre, all just to keep the people distracted...."
"Proverbs for Paranoids 4: You hide, They seek."
"They are in Love. Fuck the War."

Gravity's Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon

"Ccollanan Pachacamac ricuy auccacunac yahuarniy hichascancuta."
The last words of the last Inka, Tupac Amaru, led to the gallows by men of god & dogs of war
Reply
#9
The Civilian Expeditionary Force:
Obama Says 'Burden' Can’t be All on the Military


By Sunlen Miller

June 30, 2010 "
ABC" -- During
his town hall in Racine, Wisconsin today President Obama spoke about the civilian expeditionary force within his National Security Strategy.

“We just got to be smart about using all the elements of American power, not just one element of American power,” he said.

The president pointed to Iraq and Afghanistan where military personnel are having to engage in work that he said really should be civilian work– like building schools and bridges -- because of under-resourcing on the civilian side

“The problem is -- is that we don't have a civilian effort that has always matched up to the military effort. So the military goes in there, they clear out everything, they're -- they're making everything secure, and now the question is, all right, can we get the civilians to come in to work with the local governments to improve the situation? And a lot of times that civilian side of it has been under-resourced.”

Mr. Obama said the burden should not be all on the military.

“Make sure that we've got a civilian expeditionary force that, when we go out into some village somewhere and the military makes it secure, let's have that agricultural specialist right there, let’s have that person who knows how to train a police force right there, let's -- let's have all those personnel and let's make sure that we are giving them the support that they need in order for us to be successful on our mission.”

The president warned that if the civilian side is shortchanged it could lead to another “very dangerous situation” if the diplomatic work is not done and “the only solution is a military solution that might cost us five times as much.”

Within the administration’s National Security Strategy – released at the end of May – one of the components is a civilian expeditionary force which the White House says is “fundamental” to national security.

“Our diplomatic personnel and missions must be expanded at home and abroad to support the increasingly transnational nature of 21st century security challenges,” the NSS writes, “And we must provide the appropriate authorities and mechanisms to implement and coordinate assistance programs and grow the civilian expeditionary capacity required to assist governments on a diverse array of issues.”

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info...e25851.htm
"Where is the intersection between the world's deep hunger and your deep gladness?"
Reply
#10
Quote:“Make sure that we've got a civilian expeditionary force that, when we go out into some village somewhere and the military makes it secure, let's have that agricultural specialist right there, let’s have that person who knows how to train a police force right there, let's -- let's have all those personnel and let's make sure that we are giving them the support that they need in order for us to be successful on our mission.”

The Talibans response.

'Welcome' for Petraeus

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/07/02-1
Published on Friday, July 2, 2010 by Al Jazeera English Taliban Attacks Afghan Aid Office


At least five people have been killed in an attack by Taliban fighters on the office of a US aid contractor in northern Afghanistan.

[Image: afghanaidoffice_taliban_0.jpg]Afghan children walk along a street as smoke rises from a building in Kunduz after a suspected militant attack in the northern Afghan city. Three people including a German security guard were killed as suicide bombers and gunmen stormed a US aid organisation in Afghanistan in an attack claimed by the Taliban. (AFP)

Armed men stormed the offices of Development Alternatives Inc (DAI) in Kunduz province early Friday morning.


The gunmen battled with Afghan police for more than five hours before police could secure the building and retrieve the bodies of the victims.

The US embassy in Kabul said that a German security guard was killed during the attack. Four other people, including two Afghan security guards, were also killed.
At least 20 other people were wounded, according to Mohammad Omar, the governor of the province.

A spokesman for the Taliban told Al Jazeera that six men took part in the attack. One of them was driving a car rigged with explosives, and blew himself up outside the gates.
Omar said a second attacker also blew himself up inside the base.
"The first suicide attacker detonated at the entrance, and the second detonated inside the premises, killing one foreign national," he said.
Foreign workers inside the compound fled to the roof to escape the fighting.

'Welcome' for Petraeus

The Taliban spokesman described the attack as a "welcome" for General David Petraeus, the new commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan. Petraeus arrived in Kabul, the Afghan capital, on Friday.
"This attack shows the insurgents' desire to prevent progress, and draws attention to their true goal of serving themselves rather than the people of Afghanistan," said Captain Jane Campbell, a spokesman for Nato.

DAI runs two aid programmes in Kunduz province, according to the US Agency for International Development. One programme provides grants for small businesses while the other works with farmers to improve agricultural technology.

The Taliban accused the company of providing intelligence and support to US troops.

Attacks on foreign aid workers are common in Afghanistan.
A 2009 report from the London-based Overseas Development Institute found that Afghanistan was one of the three most dangerous countries in the world for aid workers.

© 2010 Aljazeera.net
"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
Buckminster Fuller
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