MICHAEL BHATIA

Venue: Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University, March 12-13, 2007. Hearing of the American Anthropological Association's Ad Hoc Commission on the Engagement of Anthropology with the US Security and Intelligence Communities, chaired by James Peacock. Michael Bhatia (31) had been working as a social scientist with the Army for seven months when he was killed, along with two American soldiers on May 7, 2008. The Humvee he was riding in was struck by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. Bhatia had been teaching at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies as well as working on a doctoral degree from Oxford University when he decided to enroll with the military's Human Terrain System. The program, run by the U.S. Army's Training and Doctrine Command, hires social scientists to collect and share information abut Afghani culture with U.S. troops. Bhatia is the first civilian in the program to die. In this video segment Bhatia appears to be asking a conflicted question about the blurring of the line between deepening American soldiers' understanding of Afghan cultures, and providing information to be used for lethal purposes.

Channel: News & Politics
Uploaded: November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am
Author: maximilianforte

Length: 02:35
Rating: N/A
Views: 501

Tags: Human  Terrain  System  Michael  Bhatia  Afghanistan  Watson  Institute  American  Anthropological  Association  

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