Militarizing Culture: Essays on the Warfare State

210 Pages·2010·11.912 MB·English

by  Roberto J González

Militarizing Culture
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Militarizing Culture
Essays on the Warfare State
Roberto J. González
First published 2010 by Left Coast Press, Inc.
Published 2016 by Routledge
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
González, Roberto J. (Roberto Jesús), 1969–
Essays on the warfare state / Roberto J. González.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-59874-559-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-59874-560-3 (pbk. : alk.
paper) — ISBN 978-1-59874-561-0 (eISBN)
1. United States—Civilization—21st century. 2. War and society—United States. 3.
Popular culture—United States. 4. Afghan War, 2001—Social aspects—United States. 5.
Iraq War, 2003—Social aspects—United States. I. Title.
E169.12.G637 2010
303.6’60973—dc22
2010025902
An earlier version of chapter 3, “Towards Mercenary Anthropology?” was published in
Anthropology Today 23, vol. 3: 14–19. Copyright © 2007 by the Royal Anthropological
Institute, London.
An earlier version of chapter 5, “Human Terrain,” was published in Anthropology Today 24,
vol. 1: 21–26. Copyright © 2008 by the Royal Anthropological Institute, London.
An earlier version of chapter 7, “Going ‘Tribal’,” was originally published in Anthropology
Today 25, vol. 2: 15–19. Copyright © 2009 by the Royal Anthropological Institute, London.
Figure 0.1: Copyright © 2009 by Sean M. Haffey/San Diego Union Tribune/ZUMA Press.
Reprinted by permission.
Figure 0.3: Copyright © 2010 by Terese Hart. Reprinted by permission.
Figure 1.2: Copyright © 2008 by Trevor Paglen. Reprinted by permission.
Figure 1.3: Copyright © 2010 by Heidi Stambuck. Reprinted by permission.
Cover design by Allison Smith
Cover illustration: Children of an Iraqi farmer watch as US soldiers conduct operations
in the town of Aqur Quf (northwest of Baghdad) on March 29, 2010. (Photo courtesy of
Manhea Kim/US Department of Defense.)
ISBN 978-1-59874-559-7 hardcover
ISBN 978-1-59874-560-3 paperback
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Contents
List of Illustrations 8
Acknowledgments 11
Introduction: Militarizing Culture 13
Part I: Basic Training
Chapter 1 Spy Camp for Kids 35
Chapter 2 Shattered Taboo 57
Part II: Enlisting Culture
Chapter 3 Towards Mercenary Anthropology? 77
Chapter 4 The Arab Mind and Abu Ghraib 95
Chapter 5 Human Terrain 111
Part III: Controlling Behavior
Chapter 6 Counterinsurgency in the Colonies 135
Chapter 7 Going “Tribal” 153
Afterword: Decommissioning Culture 173
Glossary 181
References 183
Index 203
About the Author 209
Illustrations
Figure 0.1 Justin Velázquez at an advance screening of GI Joe: The Rise of
Cobra, August 2009.
Figure 0.2 The military-industrial complex includes companies and organi-
zations that have a symbiotic relationship with the Pentagon.
Figure 0.3 Although the Mbuti are avid hunters, they are a non-warring
society.
Figure 1.1 Spy agencies are aggressively recruiting minority youth.
Figure 1.2 A secret prison complex known as the Salt Pit near Kabul,
Afghanistan.
Figure 1.3 Junior high school students at a University of Arkansas summer
program.
Figure 2.1 The ancient technique of “waterboarding.”
Figure 2.2 The cast of the hit television series 24.
Figure 2.3 US military personnel guarding captives at Guantánamo Bay,
2002.
Figure 3.1 David Kilcullen briefs US Army officers in Iraq, June 2007.
Figure 3.2 British officers in Baghdad, circa 1932.
Figure 3.3 Bradley assault vehicle produced by BAE Systems.
Figure 4.1 Iraqi prisoner tortured by US military personnel at Abu Ghraib,
November 2003.
Figure 4.2 “The Snake Charmer” by Jean-Léon Gérôme.
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Figure 5.1 Human terrain team member speaks with Afghan men, June
2007.
Figure 5.2 Black Panther Party member, circa 1970.
Figure 5.3 Mapping the human terrain in Baghdad, Iraq.
Figure 6.1 Filipino insurgents detained by US forces in Manila, circa 1901.
Figure 6.2 Indigenous men from Pampanga province, Philippines,
conscripted into a native constabulary by US colonial
administrators, circa 1909.
Figure 6.3 T. E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”).
Figure 7.1 Human terrain team members talk with a village elder in
Afghanistan, August 2009.
Figure 7.2 United States and Afghan officials consult with “tribal” elders and
Islamic clergy in Khost, Afghanistan, September 2006.
Figure 7.3 General David Petraeus testifies before Congress, September 11,
2007.
Figure 7.4 US soldiers install a concrete separation barrier in Shula, Iraq,
June 8, 2008.
Figure 8.1 A US air raid on Karam, Afghanistan, severely injured these
children on October 11, 2001.
Figure 8.2 The video game America’s Army.
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