Crisis of Trust
This is a couple months old-two months old today in fact-but I happened upon it the other day in a comment thread about the war in Afghanistan or somesuch:
A Crisis of Trust and Cultural Incompatibility [PDF]
This reminds me, kind of sideways, of a story I think I’ve told before: we were driving north through the desert of southern Iraq and talking as we did to pass the time. And somehow the topic came up of the peculiar habits of Iraqis and Arabs in general that we had learned about prior to deployment. An NCO I was friendly with asked about the unclean left hand thing. And so I told him that they use that hand to wipe, without toilet paper. And he asked, in his sensitive way, “Why the fuck would they do that?” And I said, “Well, they don’t have toilet paper.” He asks: “Why not?” And I said, “What’s toilet paper made out of?” “Trees,” he said. And I just gestured to the passing countryside.
And that’s the reality. It’s extremely difficult, on top of everything else, to conduct COIN (counter-insurgency) operations when there is such a dramatic gulf in cultural understanding. The researcher seems to have done a pretty good job of rooting out the major issues-the stuff that’s really going to cripple counter-insurgency if it’s not corrected. I saw enough of the “absolutely wrong personality type” at play in Iraq, as well, and I think that’s one of the most pernicious dangers counter-insurgency altogether. And, unfortunately, may be the toughest to correct. Finding and setting aside all of the hotheaded privates and lance corporals is one thing-though still no mean feat since many of them will be the most gung ho to “go get some” and resent being left behind-but it’s the senior NCOs and officers that have a lot of influence, and you’re going to be hard-pressed to replace, say, a Battalion Commander just because he scores the wrong way on a personality test.
At any rate, it’s a good read, either for people who want a better understanding of what it’s like Over There and why these things are far from quick and easy, or for anyone who wants to write a more realistic clash of cultures.
Mirrored from Bum Scoop.