HTS member kidnapped
Posted By Marc on February 7, 2010
John Stanton has just released a story at Cryptome that Issa T. Salome, a 60 year old HTT member, was kidnapped in Iraq by insurgents in January. John argues that this shows that the HTS is failing to find qualified candidates, train them properly and, then, guard them. Personally, I am not so sure about that given the lack of details surround how the kidnapping took place, but it certainly does highlight that being a member of an HTT is not a secure, restful and relaxing position.
john on 
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I thought HTS people were embedded and relied on military force protection (as was the case with Paula Loyd). Lots of contractor staff with PRTs in Iraq and afghanistan. Not clear how much anyone can blame hts for this.
Marc, by the by, I just took a job based out of phnom penh, Cambodia that will travel in Asia and Eurasia. Should be interesting. I’m looking forward to dipping my toe in to some different cultural streams (or in some cases, some familiar ones).
Hi BB,
I’m not sure about what force protection, if any, was around. Again, it’s one of those “more details would be nice” situations.
Congrats on the new job, Eric! That will be a lot of fun!
…and one reason for the lack of details? The HTS website continues to be down. I have been checking for several days, others say they have been checking for longer. As usual, when trouble explodes, they look for the nearest exit and practice something very unusual for HTS: radio silence. Otherwise, they’re all over the media like some has-been celebrity trying to promote a come back special.
Good luck to those who work for such an outfit. One thing we generally missed in our discussions about ethics is the question of putting one’s colleagues at risk.
Hi Max,
Well, I would never count on the HTS website for actual, timely news. Anyway, they are stuck in a position where everything they post takes a minimum of 2-3 weeks to get approved, cleared and up, and that is assuming that it isn’t controversial!
Now that is a really good point, Max. If the latest information from John is accurate, then we have an interesting situation. According to John’s post, it appears that Salomi was in the habit of going off base by himself which set up the potential for an easy snatch and grab. I must admit, I am surprised at this; both that he would do such a thing with no cover and that he wouldn’t carry a hazzard button with a geotracker. While I can see reasons for going out by himself, there does seem to be a touch of naivety in not having a back-up. then again, I could be wrong and he might have had one that was circumvented.
As to the ethics of putting one’s colleagues at risk, I think we both know that that is really tricky. To be a clear ethical violation, his commander would have had to have known of a) a credible risk and b) purposefully not taken any precautions. Even if the commander did take precautions, it is also possible that Salomi circumvented them.
I don’t know about how you have handled yourself in tricky field conditions, but whenever I’ve been in them I’ve always tried to have some backup even if it was only detailed, sealed notes on where I was going left with a colleague (then destroyed). I suspect that you have done similar things, since we both recognize that there is a certain amount of personal responsibility for our own safeties. One thing I do know is that if I was commanding one of the HTTs and one of my people wanted to head off by themselves, even in a “clear” area, I would have at least three backups running whether they wanted them or not!
Lets not forget: those HTTs are there to help commanders better understand their operational environments. They are not there to write their next book (and deign to inform the supported Task Force if they stumble across something interesting). Fact is “going off by yourself” is bad practice. Period. There is no ethics issue. The military leadership is accountable for everyone assigned, attached, or otherwise affiliated with their task force. There is no situation where going off into the wilderness alone and unafraid is acceptable.
HTTs are most effective when they are agnostic to the “blue” and “red” situation. By looking at the population directly and from their view, they can effectively assist a TF/BCT commander by providing a different (even contrarian) view. It may not be popular, but it will ultimately save lives, which is the bottom line. But that does not give a Social Scientist or HTA licence to just go walkabout. Sorry if it’s unfair, constraining, stifles creativity, etc.
I can tell you firsthand – HTS is a clown organization that needs a leadership overhaul. They are scary-bad and must be dealt with directly. But the AAA and fellow travelers are not advancing their cause by the strident sniping that betrays a general misunderstanding (to put it kindly) of lower intensity conflict operating environments.
AAA should be an ally in building this capability. Instead they come across as every negative stereotype of academia.
Hi LongTabSig0,
There now seems to be some indication that Salomi was off visiting his family when he was abducted. There is no indication in that brief report as to whether or not he had permission to do so or was on leave.
On your second point, I actually agree with you but, I suspect, in order to achieve that agnostic stance is very difficult and would require all members of the HTT to aim at it and the full support of the TF/BCT commander and their staff.
I think most of us following the HTS are aware of at least some of the problems they have . That these problems have been exacerbated by the actions of Anthropologists, both in the AAA and not affiliated with it, shouldn’t be surprising; they have also been exacerbated by people inside DoD and the military as well. That said, I really, REALLY want to read the HASC report when it comes out.
Does the HTS need a leadership overhaul? Maybe, but I would really like to know how many of the problems are structural vs. leader created. I know that some of the problems with the HTS are structural, but others? No idea.
The structural problems won’t be solved till proper leadership is applied. Human Terrain needs to be “of” something..it is too ephemeral a concept right now. It has value across the staff functions, so it does not fit neatly into one bucket.
Like any capability – doctrine drives its employment. Someone needs to write the doctrine. AAA could have been useful in that endeavor. That’s a bridge that will be tough to repair.
In re: Structure vs Leadership: Once leaders are found that understand the nuances of how Human Terrain study supports the full staff, then the structure can be sorted out.
One thing is for certain: the current bunch in charge ain’t it.
Sorry, I should have pulled out more of what I meant by “structure”. Certainly, some structural conditions can – and should – be fixed by a good leadership team; no question about that. Some of the other structural conditions, though, are totally beyond the ability of any program leadership to change such as, for example, the rapid shift from contractor to temporary gov’t employee status that happened as a result of the SOFA with Iraq. Could it have been handled better? Probably.
You mentioned doctrine, and you’re right – it is a real key to how any capability / program should be deployed and structured. Someone certainly does need to write the doctrine for the HTS and similar programs (and there are a lot of similar programs!). That said, there is just no way that the AAA would ever agree to do that; it is to hot a political potatoe within the discipline. It *might* be possible to bring in a group from the AAA to be involved in the doctrine writing process but, having been involved in a few of those exercises, I can tell you that it is very different from how we (Anthropologists) write and think, and that will cause more problems.
The doctrine piece would be an interesting endeavor.
LOL – now THAT is the understatement of the year
!!!!
The fight on proponency alone with be worth getting beer and popcorn.