Army plows ahead with troubled war-zone program

[unhappycamper]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/02/17/human-terrain-system-iraq-afghanistan/1923789/



U.S. soldiers from the 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, pass out toys to local children during a Human Terrain Team site survey mission, in Kilabeen, Iraq, on Sept. 15, 2009.(

Army plows ahead with troubled war-zone program
Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY7:28a.m. EST February 18, 2013

A $250 million Army program designed to aid U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan has been riddled by serious problems that include payroll padding, sexual harassment and racism, a USA TODAY probe has found.

As the Pentagon plans for sizable budget cuts beginning next month, the Army is planning to use the teams in other potential hot spots around the world despite the allegations outlined in an unreleased Army investigation obtained by the newspaper and in subsequent interviews.

The program, known as the Human Terrain System, sends civilian social scientists overseas to help U.S. troops better understand the societies in which they are operating, avoid bloodshed and smooth relations with local populations.

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And many commanders deemed worthless — or worse — the reports the teams produced. In one case, the commander of a brigade combat team in Iraq told the Army investigator that he "relied very little on his (Human Terrain team) and viewed them as incapable and of little value. He never looked at his team's products and believed their survey efforts actually created anxiety among the local Iraqi populace."