An American Lion

Montgomery McFate's work isn't even worth a baloney sammich, sir

The 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 she did not achieve.

The Atlantic says:

Name: Montgomery McFate
Job: Senior Social Scientist at the Human Terrain System
Why she’s brave: She taught American soldiers how to navigate the cultural terrain of Iraq.
Quote: “If you understand how to frustrate or satisfy the population’s interests to get them to support your side in a counterinsurgency, you don't need to kill as many of them.”

In the darkest days of the Iraq War, one scenario seemed constantly to replay itself: Iraqi drivers would unaccountably fail to stop when ordered to at checkpoints, and American soldiers, fearing a suicide bombing, would open fire—sometimes killing innocents. One possible reason was a devastatingly simple cultural confusion: the American gesture for “stop”—arm straight, palm out—means “welcome” in Iraq. “This and similar misunderstandings have deadly consequences,” McFate wrote in Joint Force Quarterly in 2005. The Pentagon recruited McFate, a cultural anthropologist, to help troops avoid such mistakes and learn about the cultures of those they’re ostensibly assisting. She helped develop the Human Terrain System, which provides, in a database, everything a soldier in the field might find useful to know about a foreign culture—from tribal structure, to local water issues, to regional quirks of language and mannerism. Although the social sciences have historically had an uneasy if not hostile relationship with the military, the system also embeds anthropologists, sociologists, and linguists with combat units to help them communicate and navigate tricky cultural terrain. Despite the inevitable recruitment and retention problems, and several civilian-scientist casualties, the military credits the program with a measurable decline in the need for combat operations. And though McFate has endured intense criticism from her peers in academia (the American Anthropological Association worries that the program could lead to subjects’ being studied without their “informed consent”), General David Petraeus used McFate’s work in his counterinsurgency manual and the Army now assigns social scientists to serve with all combat brigades in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The fraud perpetrated by this woman is unprecedented in our history. For background, see this:

"Let's just put the program on the ground and see if it works…" That statement from a high-level US Army official sums up the ongoing ad hoc, mercenary approach of the leaders of the US Army's (TRADOC) Human Terrain System (HTS) program. As a result, multiple sources say that the HTS program is in the crash and burn phase. One source wondered, "Why did Intelligence, Civil Affairs, PSYOP and Special Forces allow their turf to be trampled on by TRADOC DCSINT? Why allow so much money to be wasted when those elements could have used it better?" HTS program management and other principals in the Pentagon/US Army became aware of many of the program's shortcomings, including overlap with other operations, very early in 2007.

According to sources, "The West Point Trinity," along with Mr. Maxie McFarland (TRADOC, DCSINT), were primarily responsible for the ruinous turn of events in the HTS program. The West Point Trinity consisted of three USMA graduates: Ms. Karen Clark (an L3-MPRI contractor), Mr. Steve Fondacaro (Program Manager), and Mr. James Greer (Deputy Program Manager-now leaving the HTS program for the Department of Homeland Security).

The West Point Trinity and McFarland have mismanaged, or more accurately not managed at all, a program that sought to bring in the best and brightest field-qualified ethnographers to enhance US military capabilities in Afghanistan and Iraq. Advising them along the way was Mrs./Dr. Montgomery McFate/Sapone (HTS Senior Social Scientist), one of the program's creators and star marketer for the HTS program.

As reported by Mother Jones http://www.motherjones.com (There's Something About Mary published on July 30, 2008), Mrs./Dr. McFate/Sapone is now embroiled in an ethics controversy over her participation in anti-gun control efforts here in the USA. Other controversies involving Mrs./Dr. Montgomery McFate/Sapone, already widely reported in the press, should raise concerns with the appropriate HTS program officials responsible for security matters, particularly if she has been awarded Secret clearances. The HTS Program Public Affairs Office (US Army TRADOC), indicated that "since she's been with the HTS program she has been a dedicated and committed professional."

And this:

Another wave of Human Terrain System (HTS) program shortcomings has recently come to light. One of the reports alleges fraud/theft involving an US government IMPAC credit card and Mark Beattie of HTS program management. According to sources, the alleged fraud/theft was "was smoothed over by the powers that be". Those "powers" are likely the upper command/civilian-contractor elements charged with oversight of the US Army/TRADOC HTS program.

Sources charge that Steve Rotkoff, Deputy Program Manager for HTS, "does not know what's going on" in the HTS program and wants to compartmentalize/isolate the few US military elements on staff. "When I become an IPA in December 2008, I will be putting the military in its place", said Rotkoff. Another source had this to say: "The management is so into micromanagement it's unbelievable. I believe that they have come very close to breaking the law in several cases trying to control the few military personnel who are on the staff."

Rotkoff allegedly attempted to place blame for the recent assault on HTT member Paula Loyd on Loyd herself. That incident saw an Afghani national soak Loyd with fuel and set her to flames. Another HTT member subsequently shot and killed the assailant. According to sources the HTT shooter has received no guidance or contact from program management in Fort Leavenworth. It is not known whether the shooter is in US Army or Afghani custody, or what the particulars of any SOFA with Afghani authorities might be that cover a US civilian contractor executing an Afghani national.

While the US Army investigation into the incident continues, sources say that the HTT member who shot the Afghani national "tracked down the Afghan assailant who set Paula [Loyd] on fire. He not only shot him, but he allegedly shot him in the face. Apparently this was by no means self defense on the part of the HTT member as he was accompanied by U.S. Soldiers who were prepared to take the Afghani into custody. It is doubtful the leadership within HTS will go out on a limb to support him. Perhaps this incident will bring some much needed attention to this mismanaged program that has placed poorly trained/prepared individuals in harm's way."

You can also have a look at this, this [pdf alert], this, and this.

Over the years, Human Terrain’s saleswoman, anthropologist Montgomery McFate, has a adopted a policy of not answering the academic critiques of her many critics regardless of the documentation upon which these critics base their work.  This policy has allowed Dr. McFate to avoid answering some pretty serious questions; questions about her reported involvement in the surveillance of an American gun control group; questions about the unattributed writings of other anthropologists appearing in the new Counterinsurgency Field Manual; Questions about why, rather than acknowledging that Human Terrain Teams raise complex ethical issues to be negotiated, she has instead moved forward without even trying to publicly address these issues.  And while this approach works well in the political environment of Washington, D.C., where accountability and memories are short, this is the most non-academic approach imaginable—academics engage with each other when disputes arise, they answer critiques with data and arguments rather than rely on silence and professionals to spin stories in the press.  Dr. McFate’s position of leaving critiques unanswered appears to have become that of HTS, and a compliant corporate media has followed this lead as it increasingly refuses to report on the problems, corruptions, and complexities of HTS, instead only providing the public with narratives that would have them believe that HTS anthropologists are good caring people trying to lesson harm, while critics are either invisible or portrayed as ivory tower America-hating kooks.

That this woman would get any kind of accolade is impossible to fathom. The Atlantic is the new know-nothing rag now. Employ a fact-checker much? What I've quoted is just a fraction of the dirt on McFate that exists out there. This is the kind of person who has the ear of the generals and who is foisting fraudulent research onto decision makers? People are dead because of the incompetence and mismanagement of the Human Terrain System--does that not mean anything?

What I want to know is, how does being a blatant fraud make you a brave thinker?