Project Pushback

(Fox News) - University anthropologists who are helping the U.S. military learn more about tribal customs in Iraq and Afghanistan — in order to save both American lives and those of the natives — are under attack from fellow academics.

The Boston Globe reports the members of what are called "human terrain teams" are being accused in blogs and academic journal articles of "prostituting science" and presiding over "the militarization of anthropology". A professor at the University of Kansas says colleagues have called him a "killer for hire."

But one anthropologist says critics need to get beyond the stereotypes and take a close look at the program. Canadian researcher Brian Selmeski says — "I don't want to help them kill people. What I want to do is help them avoid conflict."