Bush in Israel as anthropologists try to clean up Iraq mess

Currently, President George W, Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert are hanging out in Jerusalem, discussing how to more efficiently decide to finish off the Palestinians once and for all, thereby achieving peace.

While Bush has there, however, he and his Administration have made some serious decisions about Iraq. Yes, now is the time to send in secret anthropologists so we can figure out how those damned Iraqis live. Being we've already seen how they die a few hundred-thousand times over.

"The latest tactic in Iraq: anthropology"

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - As David Matsuda tells it, he's probably the last person you'd expect to see in a U.S. military uniform climbing out of an armored vehicle in Iraq.

An anthropology professor from the East Bay camp us of California State University near San Francisco, he's a self-described peacenik who opposed the war in Iraq, did his academic research in Guatemala and never carries a gun.

"I'm a Californian. I'm a liberal. I'm a Democrat," he says. "My impetus is to come here and help end this thing."

Matsuda is part of the U.S. military "Human Terrain Team" (HTT) program, which embeds anthropologists with combat brigades in Iraq and Afghanistan in the hope of helping tactical commanders in the field understand local cultures.

The program is controversial: the American Anthropological Association denounced it in October, saying it could lead to ethics being compromised, the profession's reputation damaged, and worst of all, research subjects becoming military targets.

This is great news for anthropologists, who generally have no other way to make money than to teach anthropology. For the rest of us, it means that after six years, the Bush Administration has decided that "knowing your enemy" is sensible advice.

If this doesn't work, the U.S. can always try diplomacy with Iraq, in this backward-ass war of profit. Or maybe Bush and Olmert are also discussing how best to rid the world of Iran, as well. Wiping out the country next to them might get those Iraqis in line.

--WKW