The Dearing Dialogue

Edward Said’s book, Orientalism, is a description of the way the West (Occident) studies and analyzes the East (Orient).  His thesis is that the Occident ultimately frames all analysis of the Orient in a critical paradigm relating differences as inferiority to the West.  According to Said, Orientalism is a deeply rooted, subconscious thought process that exists within most studies of the East (language, arts, literature, politics, etc).  He explains that all cultures appear mystical in foreign eyes, but that the relation is one ultimately rationalized and described by the bearer of power and authority, and in the relationship between the East and West, it has most often been the latter.

Said presents his arguments with historical analysis of a variety of subjects involving relationships between East and West.  His examples show bitter racism and misunderstanding on the side of the West towards the East, with the West often applying a broad stroke in describing cultural differences or behaviors.  The mystical descriptions applied to the East ultimately perpetuated themselves and became their own logical means of defining the perceived absence of reason.  They also provided justification for imperialist institutions and policies and part of the reasoning to “civilize” the East.

Said’s arguments can be criticized in that he limits his analysis to West on East, where plenty of historical examples of Eastern, Russian, or African Orientalism exist.  It is a thesis that could be applied to all cultures and all in power or not.  In this sense, the study is left somewhat incomplete. 

Packer writes a bit on the use of Human Terrain Teams in Iraq and Afghanistan in his New Yorker blog on July 20th.  He sees a growing relationship between social scientists and soldiers, a mixture typically considered taboo in the past.  The professionalization of both sides of the spectrum, coupled with theoretical and practical “antagonisms” led to what Packer explains as “isolated American sub-culutres”. 

This year, the Army is actually deploying teams of social scientists with units in Baghdad and Afghanistan (…) The best soldiers I met in Iraq were eager to share critical views with professors and journalists. This past spring, when McMaster led a group of officials and private citizens to Iraq to assess progress there, he picked as one member an anti-war British political-science professor who happens to know a great deal about the country. Desperate times breed desperate measures. 

While the disconnect between American culture and military culture has often caused the military to be shunned from college campuses in the past, and created contempt amongst the military community (as international relations professor Andrew Bacevich often writes about), the divisions are becoming less prominent.  Both sides are beginning to realize the utiliy of the other and that moral and political compromises are essential towards forging a coherent plan of success in US foreign policy.  Packer is indeed correct when he ends: 

But a superpower can hardly afford to have its thinkers and its warriors despise and avoid one another.

Also see:  DNI Conference

On the other side of the connection between war and drugs is the case in New York, where federal prosecutors are trying to convict 8 Samalis for possession of Khat (Making a Federal Case of an Obscure Leaf).  Khat is a shrub chewed in Africa and the Middle East that acts much like an espresso does.  The idea is to link the possession to terrorism in Somali.  This is a hard sell, primarily since Khat was banned by the Islamic government that was in power and recently collapsed, and the primary dealers in Khat are warlords supported by the US.  Are you shaking your head yet?

“Hell hath no fury like a zealous federal prosecutor on a mission,” said Tim Gresback, a Moscow, Idaho, defense attorney who has been following the federal cases. “If your ideology impels you to conclude that an expensive prosecution of Somalis for chewing on a shrub will somehow reduce terrorism, common-sense financial considerations become irrelevant. When obsessed with terrorism you see it everywhere, even hiding in a shrub.”

The irrationality of how this so-called “War on Terror” has been fought is mind-boggling.  This is a good example of the unwarranted effects of the Patriot Act.

James Risen’s article in the NY Times (Poppy Fields Are Now a Front Line in Afghanistan War) has given a greater perspective on the urgent need to confront the drug trade in Afghanistan.  The drug trade inevitably fuels the insurgency as Taliban commanders profit off of the trade of poppy for international arms.  More so, as Risen points out, many in the Afghan government leadership also profit off of the drug trade (one regional governor being caught with a stash of 9 tons in his office).  The US leadership is slow to react to the poppy economy, which fuels roughly 50% of Afghan exports.  The current operation is slow and disoriented.  Their is no plan to transition farmers from poppy to another profitable crop.  The US can not use another Columbian effort that has yet to curb the flow of cocaine from Columbia after 20 years. 

The current export revenue of poppy in Afghanistan is 3 billion a year.  We could easily purchase the entirety of poppy, use it for morphine production in the US, and offer incentives for the growth of new crops (how about corn?).  Instead, the DEA is thinking of flying crop dusters over Afghan farms.  Imagine the cultural implications. 

In the meantime, Afghans are picking and choosing farms to destroy based on tribal loyalties.  They send out a hundred or so men to destroy poppy plants by hand while US contractors provide security from Taliban reprisals.  However, the growth of poppy production is scheduled to grow.  It is currently producing at levels above global demand.  A new, logical alternative is needed for farmers and for the Afgan government.

A week ago I went to New Orleans for the first time.  My friend Justin and I decided to meet up as we do on a roughly annual basis in order to catch up on things.  We’ve been friends since high school and tend to think alike and thus make for good travel companions.  The first night in New Orleans we found a place to stay, a cheap, but nice hotel (Place d’Armes) in the French Quarter.  It was right in the middle of everything there is to do in the French Quarter, and seemed like a good starting point.  Let me say now, our aim was to get a feel of New Orleans and see how things have progressed since Hurricane Katrina almost two years ago.  I even brought my video camera, anticipating I would shoot some video and conduct an interview or two.  I found out later how naïve that was. 

The French Quarter is known as the tourist trap of New Orleans.  Walking along the gas lamp lit streets one can see why.  Some parts are very reminiscent of my strolls through the cobble stoned streets of Kiev or Zurich.  In the day time, one can meander through shops with private art collections, ancient maps, or rare books.  One can have their palms or tarots read by a street psychic or have a balloon tied by a clown.  The French Quarter certainly regained the warm atmosphere I imagine it always had. 

In the evening, the smells of boiled crawfish, fried shrimp, and simmering gumbo seep throughout the narrow streets and alleys.  One can not leave the French Quarter without gaining a few extra pounds.  The amicable nature of drinking is such that alcohol can be carried around the streets or into other bars or restaurants.  In fact, drinking is encouraged more than not in the French Quarter.  On every corner there are hustlers attempting to coerce you into their pub, restaurant, or “gentlemen’s club”.  Their efforts are sometimes countered by the few religious zealots that remind the young and old of the waywardness of their actions. I realized it is not without coincidence that along one of the French Quarter streets, one can see in the distance the shadow of Jesus Christ reflected off of the “Old Cathedral” off Jackson Square.  It’s a rather ominous image at night, making one second-guess the intentions of the statue.

The first evening ended rather late and we didn’t make it out onto the streets again till 11 am or so.  We started off towards Jackson Square, an open area where artisans, peddlers, and gypsies congregate.  We were looking for some good coffee and heard Café Dumond was the place to get it.  While it is well-known for its long history of coffee and doughnuts, I was not pleased with the atmosphere.  It was like an outdoor cafeteria and it took a very long time to be served.  When served, our waitress was not very nice, so we decided to find somewhere else.  Besides, sitting down for coffee was going to slow us down, not speed us up.  Today we planned on seeing the other side of New Orleans, so with a simple map and a few street names we headed off.

We drove throughout New Orleans, particularly Lower Ninth Ward and were quite shocked with the damage still present.  Just driving on the freeway, one notices the numerous homes without a roof, covered with blue tarps.  Driving down the countless streets of Lower Ninth, it reminded me of the drives I been on in Africa – more pothole than asphalt, mounds of garbage in yards or on the street, dilapidated homes, and just a resounding lack of development.  But while the homes were wrecked, the human condition was not.  We found many people working on their homes, or helping others out.  We saw Habitat for Humanity working on more than one residence.  We also saw others resting on their porch, collecting a few moments of shade before they reconvene their business.  It was difficult to continue driving around like this.  Part of me wanted to stop, get out, and pick up a hammer.  Another part, wanted to just go away from it all, back to the convenient and manicured life in the French Quarter.  But I certainly could not abuse them by documenting their struggle.  It would be pure exploitation of their situation, and in my opinion, wrong to do.  Speaking with some victims of the disaster, we heard many tourists find the Lower Ninth Ward a part of their travel itinerary.  Like colonialists in the Serengeti that point and gawk at the wild creatures from the safety of their jeep…it is a sad reality that faces New Orleans residents struggling to rebuild. 

With that dilemma broiling over in our heads, we went to a local seafood market in the Lower Ninth and discussed the social and political implications of Hurricane Katrina.  After a hearty lunch of boiled crab and fried shrimp we drove around a bit more finally making our way to an interesting coffee shop outside of downtown New Orleans.  Fuel Coffee shop is a one franchise business that is run on the lower level of a duplex house.  It has a nice homely feel to it.  We sat on the front porch for about 2 hours or so, just watching the passer-bys, chatting with a few locals, and conversing a bit on the politics of war and the philosophy of the human condition.  We began to notice something unique with New Orleans.  The culture is more social the further away from corporate control you get.  Inside the city, everyone is driven with purpose to either produce or consume something (i.e. work or have fun).  Outside, within the residential areas, time goes slower and purpose is less apparent.  Instead of consuming television or whatever people do inside their homes, people tend to reside on the porch and talk more often.  People talk with their neighbors, their family, their friends, passer-bys, you name it – and thus a community actually exists.  It was something I found myself extremely envious of.

We spent another night doing a lot of the same stuff in the French Quarter we did the night prior.  This time though we went to a few more bars.  I had a huge bowl of boiled spiced crawfish that barely even pinched my hunger, and then later a huge plate of fried shrimp, clams, and oysters that I couldn’t come close to finishing.  We went to a country bar where we played a few games of billiards and watched a few guys try to impress their girlfriends on the electric bull.  It was actually the girls that wound up out riding and impressing the guys though. 

The next morning we were out by 11am, check out time, after only a few hours sleep.  My suggestion for party people is to do as we did – get an internal room with no windows, that way sunlight won’t enter and you won’t know the difference between night and day.  We got a few souvenirs – an alligator head, canned alligator meat, and a few other nonessential things and headed off to the airport.  New Orleans has indeed regained its fire, though it will be a different place than what it was.  It continues to develop as many are still awaiting loans to rebuild their homes.  Whether you go to help rebuild a home, or spend your money in the Quarter, it will be a benefit to the community and you will enjoy it.

So says Senator Harry Reid, as quoted by the NY Times.  I agree with him.  Of course, it was lost years ago when we failed to take account of thousands of years of history and culture.  It is not an indictment on our servicemen and women who spill blood everyday, rather one on the incompent administration in Washington.  Dwelling on this matter is of little consequence.  What will come about with a collapsed state of Iraq?  That is more important. 

• A clash of cultures.  Shia and Sunnis will battle it out in the streets.  It does not help that both sides are funded by outside sources.  The Sunnis by America, Saudia Arabia, and Pakistan.  The Shia by Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah in Lebanon.  Iraq is thus a proxy war, much like Vietnam was between the Americans and Soviets.
• The inevitable rise of an Islamic state.  No matter which side wins out the bloodfest, an Islamic state will materialize.  That is what any democratic vote would bring today or any long-fought battle.  With Shiia representing the majority (60%) in Iraq, and making up the vast majority in Iran - the dawning of a Shiia empire has already shown its light.
• The Fall of Saudi Arabia.  The Saudi regime has called for the war in Iraq since the 90s since it provides their Wahhabi extremists an outlet.  The regime is corrupt to the bone and every Saudi outside the regime knows it and despises it.  A Shiia Iraq will likely bring strength to the Shiia minority in Saudi Arabia.  All of those weapons the Saud family purchases from Boeing for its personal protection would not likely stop an all out rebellion. 
• Worldwide Recession.  Robert Baer in the first chapter of Sleeping with the Devil  paints a picture of a virtual plug to the oil spigots if the Al Jubayl oil field were taken out.  A rebellion in Saudi Arabia would send oil prices through the roof and cut-off supplies to world markets in a way that would send us into one of the deepest recessions we’d ever see.  The US economy thrives due to a constant and steady flow of Saudi crude.  If that were suddenly stopped due to instability in Saudi Arabia, I can only imagine what would happen.

Of course all of this could have been prevented if Americans actually paid more attention and were more active in the administration of their government.  Instead we were governed by fear, and like sheep, led over the cliff. 

This tragedy at Virginia Tech is being corrupted by the mastermind murderer himself, Mr. Cho, who was smart enough to realize how easily the media could be bought.  His face has been splashed on every commercial news outlet throughout the day, giving him effectively the monument he so desired.  The media does not seem to care what impact this will have on other copycat kids who are ready to pop.  What’s worse, NPR’s Marketplace reported the sale of advertisement on internet space was up significantly for search items such as “Virginia Tech shooting”.  Yes, there is opportunity in tragedy, but that is just downright spineless.

One area of the current global war on terror I’m finding intriguing is a rather unfamiliar but controversial idea of exploiting culture in order to achieve desired results.  This is not necessarily something new.  In fact, unconvential and even conventional wars have in some way used culture as a “weapon”.  The best modern example of this is the Abu Ghraib method of torture where inmates were subjected to sexual activities they found unacceptable in their Islamic culture.  This was used as a means to coerce inmates to give in to interrogation by breaking their will to resist.  An article I recently read: Anthropology in the Military  provided a brief history on culture as a weapon and argued for a more active involvment of anthropologists in the service of the state.  Of course, this runs contrary to the anthropologists moral creed against using the culture of another people.  Such an action by your typical academic anthropologist would not only break the bond of trust between the studied culture and the academic, but also prevent future academics from regaining the trust of other cultures.  One can see the dilemma for both researcher and state operative.  While the lack of cultural understanding has certainly prevented the US from gaining lasting political compromises, the exploitation of it could equally undermine such political gains.  A balance is needed.

This year the US military may have found a way to bypass the anthropologist dilemma by creating its own source of cultural intelligence gatherers, otherwise known as Human Terrain Teams (HTT).  They are 5 man teams whose mission will consist of collecting cultural, ethnographic data on specific geographical regions in the Middle East.  What will be done with this data presents an important question.  Another look at the Human Terrain System