Story began in 1980 as Ronald Reagan rose to Presidency in USA. Cold War was at peak. Soviet forces entered Afghanistan to "assist" Afghan Government. General Zia Ul Haq ruled neighbouring Pakistan. A plan was hatched to indoctrinate Afghans opposed to their government and Soviets into extremist and highly intolerant Salafi / Wahabi strain of Islam. Saudi money opened Madrasas in areas of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan.Afghan refugees were trained in hordes in violent Jihadist ideology. Osama Bin Laden was drafted by Saudi-USA to organise Islamist resistance. Taliban was born. To teach innocent Afghan children the "fine" points of violent Jihad, Center for Afghan Studies, University of Nebraska, was drafted to produce "suitable" schoolbooks with enough content of militarist Jihad. The books were distributed through USAID. Rest was history. Soviet Union had to hobble out of Afghanistan and disintegrated within couple of years. However, same textbooks were still being redistributed in Afghanistan after George Bush attacked it in October 2001, though UNESCO had prepared schoolbooks really suited to Afghan children's needs rather than that of US administration's. Even a photo of Laura Bush standing in front of a display of the Nebraska books had appeared in American newspapers with the announcement that USAID would pay for "Jihadi" textbooks for Afghan students.
{Qatar{^🚀^(+971558539980**}})Abortion Pills for Sale in Dubai. .abu dhabi, sh...
University of Nebraska Prepares Jihadi Schoolbooks for Afghan Kids, USAID Distributes.
1. Page 1
1 of 9 DOCUMENTS
The Middle East Journal
Summer 2010
CULTURE-Simple Gestures: A Cultural Journey into the Middle
East
BYLINE: Torstrick, Rebecca.
Rebecca Torstrick, Professor of Anthropology, Indiana University South Bend
SECTION: Pg. 494 Vol. 64 No. 3 ISSN: 0026-3141
LENGTH: 897 words
ABSTRACT
[...] they were defeated not by actions within Pakistan, but by the American
government's decision to suddenly suspend assistance to Pakistan. A similar effort
to develop appropriate educational curricula in Afghanistan, spearheaded by UN
Children's Fund (UNICEF), also ended in complete disaster when USAID pulled rank with
Afghan officials to keep books developed by the University of Nebraska in the 1980s
in Afghan schools.
FULL TEXT
CULTURE-Simple Gestures: A Cultural Journey into the Middle East, by Andrea B. Rugh.
Washington, DC: Potomac Books, Inc., 2009. xiii + 311 pages. $29.95.
Reviewed by Rebecca Torstrick
First as a diplomat's wife and mother of three sons, and later as a professional
anthropologist, Andrea Rugh spent her adult life coming to know the people and
cultures of various Middle Eastern countries. She socialized with the elite as an
ambassador's wife and worked among the very poor as an anthropologist on various
development projects. She vividly shares her own painstaking journey to knowledge
as she negotiated varying roles and relationships across Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen,
Syria, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
They show her interest and willingness to learn more about local culture and move
outside of the comfortable expatriate circle. In time, this curiosity led her to
enroll in and complete her doctorate in anthropology while home between her husband's
diplomatic postings.
They show her interest and willingness to learn more about local culture and move
outside of the comfortable expatriate circle. In time, this curiosity led her to
enroll in and complete her doctorate in anthropology while home between her husband's
diplomatic postings.
After completing her PhD and back in Egypt, she applied to the US Agency for
International Development (USAID) for contract work so that she could put her training
to good use. Her first contract work there focused on the educational system and led
her to become an expert on educational development. Her descriptions of the vagaries
of development in the region are some of the best - and most tragic - parts of this
2. Page 2
CULTURE-Simple Gestures: A Cultural Journey into the Middle East The Middle East
Journal Summer 2010
work. In Egypt, a need for big and costly projects led to a plan to build schools
and provide materials for "basic" education (i.e., teaching home economics,
carpentry, electricity, or agriculture). The schools that were built ended up costing
more and were often poorly constructed; over time, they were not maintained and so
began to fall apart. The "practical education" courses were ill-conceived; parents
wanted their children to gain an education that would lead to a good job.
Rugh's descriptions of her work on educational reform in Pakistan and Afghanistan
are compelling. In Pakistan, she details the painstaking work of beginning a major
reform in basic education in the North-West Frontier Province and Balochistan.
Slowly, she and her colleagues were able to introduce a focus on actual student
learning into the schools where they were working. We share in their struggles to
create meaningful textbooks, to transform the teacher training process, to change
classroom pedagogy, to develop a culture of evaluation of what students were learning.
We also learn of the numerous abuses they uncovered and the fine line they had to
tread in order to keep their program moving forward. In the end, they were defeated
not by actions within Pakistan, but by the American government's decision to suddenly
suspend assistance to Pakistan. The program, which should have continued for six more
years in order to be fully realized, ended abruptly four years after it began, and
as Dr. Rugh notes, " in the space of a year everything was gone" (p. 244).
A similar effort to develop appropriate educational curricula in Afghanistan,
spearheaded by UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), also ended in complete disaster when USAID
pulled rank with Afghan officials to keep books developed by the University of
Nebraska in the 1980s in Afghan schools. The Nebraska books were not very effective
for student learning, filled as they were with militaristic images. Working with
international curriculum experts and Afghan teachers and staff members, UNICEF had
developed an appropriate Afghan curriculum that addressed the particular cir-cumstances
facing their system. The books included instructions for teachers and
lesson formats that could be used by a literate person anywhere in the country to
teach students. Just as the UNICEF books were ready for publication, USAID intervened.
A photo of Laura Bush standing in front of a display of the Nebraska books had appeared
in American newspapers with the announcement that USAID would pay for textbooks for
Afghan students. No compromises could be reached; both the UNICEF books and the
Nebraska books were sent to Afghan schools. Within a short time, the UNICEF books
were dropped from the public schools and used only informally. Once again, an
opportunity to provide quality education to children was aborted.
This work could easily be used in a number of different courses. It is rich with details
about women's lives and struggles, contains concrete examples of the ins and outs
of government-sponsored development, and vividly paints a portrait of life in the
Middle East through the eyes of a sympathetic outsider who came to understand so much
more about her own culture because of her experiences there.
LOAD-DATE: August 17, 2010
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ACC-NO: 28343
DOCUMENT-TYPE: Book Review-Favorable
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Magazine
JOURNAL-CODE: GMEJ
Copyright 2010 ProQuest Information and Learning
3. Page 3
CULTURE-Simple Gestures: A Cultural Journey into the Middle East The Middle East
Journal Summer 2010
All Rights Reserved
Copyright 2010 Middle East Institute
4. Page 4
Afghan studies center is its own hot spot; Critics say the Nebraska academic institute
has gone too far in its cooperation with the U.S. military and even the Taliban. Los
Angeles Times March 28, 2010 Sunday
2 of 9 DOCUMENTS
Los Angeles Times
March 28, 2010 Sunday
Home Edition
Afghan studies center is its own hot spot;
Critics say the Nebraska academic institute has gone too far
in its cooperation with the U.S. military and even the
Taliban.
BYLINE: Kate Linthicum
SECTION: MAIN NEWS; National Desk; Part A; Pg. 21
LENGTH: 1003 words
DATELINE: OMAHA
On the dusty plains of Afghanistan, a surprising number of people are said to know
the word "Nebraska."
It began as a fluke in the early 1970s, when administrators at the University of
Nebraska at Omaha launched the Center for Afghanistan Studies. They wanted to
distinguish the school as an international institution, and no other university was
studying the then-peaceful nation half a world away.
As Afghanistan became a central battleground in the Cold War and then in the war
against terrorism, the center -- and its gregarious, well-connected director, Thomas
Gouttierre -- were fortuitously poised.
Equal parts research institute, development agency and consulting firm, the center
has collected tens of millions of dollars from the U.S. military, the State Department
and private contractors for its programs at home and in Afghanistan.
Like much of America's involvement in that nation, it has not been without con-troversy.
The center has come under fire from some academics who say it has not generated the
kind of scholarly research needed to help solve Afghanistan's problems. It has also
been criticized by women's rights groups for its dealings with the Taliban.
Most frequently it has been targeted by peace activists, who say the center's past
and current collaborations with U.S. war efforts in Afghanistan are unethical.
"I don't think the University of Nebraska has any business teaching kids anywhere
in the world how to be killers," said Paul Olson, president of Nebraskans for Peace,
an activist group that has been calling on the university to close the center for
the last decade.
As evidence, Olson points to the center's $60-million contract with the U.S.
government in the 1980s to educate Afghan refugees who were living in Pakistan during
the Soviet occupation.
5. Page 5
Afghan studies center is its own hot spot; Critics say the Nebraska academic institute
has gone too far in its cooperation with the U.S. military and even the Taliban. Los
Angeles Times March 28, 2010 Sunday
It printed millions of textbooks that featured material developed by the mujahedin
resistance groups -- including images of machine guns and calls for jihad against
the Soviets.
Gouttierre says criticisms of the center are "revisionist" and fail to acknowledge
the challenges of working in a society that has been at war for three decades. The
center's aim, he says, has been to build cultural understanding and empower the Afghan
people.
"Our interest is humanitarian," he said. "They are victims who lost years of their
lives on earth."
Few Americans know more about Afghanistan than Gouttierre, who fell in love with the
country as a Peace Corps volunteer there in the 1960s.
He and his wife, Mary Lou, arrived during the "golden age" of Afghanistan, a time
before the Soviet invasion, the rise of the Taliban and the widespread production
of opium.
In a mud house in Kabul, he wrote love poems in the Afghan language of Dari. At the
high school where he taught English, he built a basketball court (he later coached
the Afghan national basketball team).
And he met a collection of people who would later figure largely in Afghanistan's
history -- future Marxists, anti-Soviets and ministers of the current government of
Hamid Karzai.
In 1973, after nearly 10 years in Afghanistan, Gouttierre was invited by the
University of Nebraska to lead the newly launched Afghanistan program, with the title
dean of international studies.
Gouttierre moved to Omaha and set up an exchange program with Kabul University. He
recruited Afghans to come teach and helped organize a large library of donated Afghan
materials.
The U.S. funded its educational projects in Afghanistan and Pakistan until the 1990s,
when the Taliban took power and the contracts dried up.
That left the center to do "whatever was necessary" to continue its programs,
Gouttierre said.
In 1997, that meant signing a contract to train workers for Unocal, a California
company that was trying to build a natural gas pipeline in Afghanistan. That year,
several Taliban ministers came to Nebraska for a tour of the campus. Several women's
groups, angry over the Taliban's repressive policies against women, protested.
It was the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that launched Gouttierre -- and the center
-- onto the international stage.
The morning of the attacks, Gouttierre showed up to teach his Introduction to
International Studies lecture and found half a dozen reporters sitting in the center
aisle.
Over the next 10 months, he said, he gave more than 2,000 interviews to journalists
from around the globe who wanted to learn about the rise of the Taliban and about
Osama bin Laden, whom Gouttierre had researched while on a United Nations peacekeeping
mission to Afghanistan in the 1990s.
The center's newfound prominence helped garner more funding.
In 2002, the State Department gave the center a $6.5-million contract to print 15
million textbooks. Images of AK-47s were absent in these books, but they included
phrases from the Koran, prompting criticism that U.S. funds were inappropriately
6. Page 6
Afghan studies center is its own hot spot; Critics say the Nebraska academic institute
has gone too far in its cooperation with the U.S. military and even the Taliban. Los
Angeles Times March 28, 2010 Sunday
being used to print religious material. The following year, the government did not
renew the book contract.
The university has defended the center. Terry Hynes, senior vice chancellor for
academic and student affairs, called it "a superb asset" to the school.
These days, the center leads a Department of Defense-funded literacy training program
for the Afghan army. It also hosts a program for social scientists who are being
trained to accompany U.S. military teams in Afghanistan to help facilitate cultural
understanding. Eighteen such groups, known as "human terrain teams," have come to
Omaha over two years before shipping overseas.
Gouttierre stood before a cramped class of trainees one morning this winter. In a
lecture that lasted several hours, he talked about the history of Afghanistan and
about U.S. involvement there since Sept. 11.
"We under-sourced the military and we outsourced redevelopment," Gouttierre said,
his voice rising. What Afghanistan needs, he said, is rebuilding. And the stakes could
not be higher.
"If we succeed, it's going to be seen as an American success," Gouttierre said. "And
if we fail, it's going to be an American failure."
--
kate.linthicum@ latimes.com
LOAD-DATE: March 28, 2010
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: DIRECTOR: Thomas Gouttierre has no apologies for the center's work:
"Our interest is humanitarian." PHOTOGRAPHER:Chris VanKat For The Times PHOTO: BACK
WHEN: Gouttierre, second from right, went to Afghanistan as a Peace Corps volunteer
in the 1960s and later coached the national basketball team. PHOTOGRAPHER:
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2010 Los Angeles Times
All Rights Reserved
7. Page 7
Organizer of foreign U.S. Military Academy speaks Athens Daily Review (Texas)
September 10, 2010 Friday
3 of 9 DOCUMENTS
Athens Daily Review (Texas)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
September 10, 2010 Friday
Organizer of foreign U.S. Military Academy speaks
BYLINE: Rich Flowers, Athens Daily Review, Texas
SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS
LENGTH: 476 words
Sept. 10--ATHENS -- There's nothing like being given a seemingly impossible task with
no money to get it gone.
Retired U.S. Army Reserve Col. James Wilhite, Tuesday, described to the Athens Kiwanis
how he was recalled to active duty and stationed in Afghanistan where he drew the
task of building a military university, patterned after the U.S. Military Academy
at West Point.
Drawing on his more than 30 years in the military, and decades in education, Wilhite
and his colleges established the school, which celebrated its first graduating class
in 2009.
Wilhite was able to negotiate a spot for the school, then began to whittle the list
of 2,000 names down to the number needed for the academy.
"We interviewed 200 people for 25 positions," Wilhite said. "There were primarily
two places where the Afghans were educated. One was Russia, and the other was the
University of Nebraska at Omaha."
Of the original list of student applicants, 115 were chosen for the first class. Then,
Wilhite was faced with the task of getting textbooks, which he found at a price of
about $30 per student, a fraction of what they would cost in the U.S.
"So I did an adopt an Afghan," Wilhite said. "I told them at the base that I didn't
want their money. I just want their pledge"
Wilhite took the list of soldiers pledging $30 dollars per student to the Afghan
minister of finance.
"I said you should be paying for these books," Wilhite said.
Wilhite left the office with about the Afghani equivalent of more than $3,000 U.S.
dollars.
Wilhite said the task of funding the academy took a lot of salesmanship.
"I had to sell a dream," Wilhite said. "I went to the engineers, because they have
all the money. Chief Petty Officer Clint Rainey just went nuts. He just thought
it was fantastic.
"With Rainey's help, the Afghan Military was built for $3.7 million, instead of the
projected $65 million."
8. Page 8
Organizer of foreign U.S. Military Academy speaks Athens Daily Review (Texas)
September 10, 2010 Friday
On Jan. 24, 2009, 84 cadets graduated, and were commissioned as second lieutenants,
each with a 10-year service obligations. The enrollment has increased each year, and
the academy now has women among the ranks of cadets.
Wilhite tells the story of the academy project in his book, "We Answered the Call:
Building the Crown Jewel of Afghanistan." The book is available through Tate
Publishing.
Copyright 2010 Athens Review, Athens, Texas. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
To see more of the Athens Daily Review or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.athensreview.com/. Copyright (c) 2010, Athens Daily Review, Texas
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about
the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit
www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail services@mctinfoservices.com, or call 866-280-5210
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Copyright 2010 Athens Daily Review
9. Page 9
9/11 ANALYSIS: From Ronald Reagan and the Soviet-Afghan War to George W Bush and
September 11, 2001 LiberalPro September 10, 2010 Friday 10:55 PM EST
4 of 9 DOCUMENTS
LiberalPro
September 10, 2010 Friday 10:55 PM EST
9/11 ANALYSIS: From Ronald Reagan and the Soviet-Afghan War
to George W Bush and September 11, 2001
BYLINE: Timothy V. Gatto
LENGTH: 5573 words
Sep. 10, 2010 (LiberalPro delivered by Newstex) --
9/11 ANALYSIS: From Ronald Reagan and the Soviet-Afghan War to George W Bush and
September 11, 2001
By Michel Chossudovsky
URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=20958
Global Research, September 9, 2010
This article summarizes earlier writings by the author on 9/11 and the role of Al
Qaeda in US foreign policy. For further details see Michel Chossudovsky, America's
"War on Terrorism", Global Research, 2005
"The United States spent millions of dollars to supply Afghan schoolchildren with
textbooks filled with violent images and militant Islamic teachings....The primers,
which were filled with talk of jihad and featured drawings of guns, bullets, soldiers
and mines, have served since then as the Afghan school system's core curriculum. Even
the Taliban used the American-produced books,..", (Washington Post, 23 March 2002)
"Advertisements, paid for from CIA funds, were placed in newspapers and newsletters
around the world offering inducements and motivations to join the [Islamic] Jihad."
(Pervez Hoodbhoy, Peace Research, 1 May 2005)
"Bin Laden recruited 4,000 volunteers from his own country and developed close
relations with the most radical mujahideen leaders. He also worked closely with the
CIA, ... Since September 11, [2001] CIA officials have been claiming they had no direct
link to bin Laden." (Phil Gasper, International Socialist Review, November-December
2001)
-Osama bin Laden, America's bogyman, was recruited by the CIA in 1979 at the very
outset of the US sponsored jihad. He was 22 years old and was trained in a CIA sponsored
guerilla training camp.
-The architects of the covert operation in support of "Islamic fundamentalism"
launched during the Reagan presidency played a key role in launching the "Global War
on Terrorism" in the wake of 9/11.
10. Page 10
9/11 ANALYSIS: From Ronald Reagan and the Soviet-Afghan War to George W Bush and
September 11, 2001 LiberalPro September 10, 2010 Friday 10:55 PM EST
- President Ronald Reagan met the leaders of the Islamic Jihad at the White House
in 1983
-Under the Reagan adminstration, US foreign policy evolved towards the unconditional
support and endorsement of the Islamic "freedom fighters". In today's World, the
"freedom fighters" are labelled "Islamic terrorists".
-In the Pashtun language, the word "Taliban" means "Students", or graduates of the
madrasahs (places of learning or coranic schools) set up by the Wahhabi missions ffrom
Saudi Arabia, with the support of the CIA. Education in the years preceding the
Soviet-Afghan war war largely secular in Afghanistan. The number of CIA sponsored
religious schools (madrasahs) increased from 2,500 in 1980 to over 39,000.
The Soviet-Afghan war was part of a CIA covert agenda initiated during the Carter
administration, which consisted in actively supporting and financing the Islamic
brigades, later known as Al Qaeda. The Pakistani military regime played from the
outset in the late 1970s, a key role in the US sponsored military and intelligence
operations in Afghanistan. in the post-Cold war era, this central role of Pakistan
in US intelligence operations was extended to the broader Central Asia- Middle East
region.
From the outset of the Soviet Afghan war in 1979, Pakistan under military rule actively
supported the Islamic brigades. In close liaison with the CIA, Pakistan's military
intelligence, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), became a powerful organization,
a parallel government, wielding tremendous power and influence.
America's covert war in Afghanistan, using Pakistan as a launch pad, was initiated
during the Carter administration prior to the Soviet "invasion":
"According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the Mujahideen began during
1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, 24 Dec 1979. But
the reality, secretly guarded until now, is completely otherwise Indeed, it was July
3, 1979 that President Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the
opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. And that very day, I wrote a note to
the president in which I explained to him that in my opinion this aid was going to
induce a Soviet military intervention." (Former National Security adviser Zbigniew
Brzezinski, Interview with Le Nouvel Observateur, 15-21 January 1998)
In the published memoirs of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who held the position
of deputy CIA Director at the height of the Soviet Afghan war, US intelligence was
directly involved from the outset, prior to the Soviet invasion, in channeling aid
to the Islamic brigades.
With CIA backing and the funneling of massive amounts of U.S. military aid, the
Pakistani ISI had developed into a "parallel structure wielding enormous power over
all aspects of government". (Dipankar Banerjee, "Possible Connection of ISI With Drug
Industry", India Abroad, 2 December 1994). The ISI had a staff composed of military
and intelligence officers, bureaucrats, undercover agents and informers, estimated
at 150,000. (Ibid)
Meanwhile, CIA operations had also reinforced the Pakistani military regime led by
General Zia Ul Haq:
"Relations between the CIA and the ISI had grown increasingly warm following [General]
Zia's ouster of Bhutto and the advent of the military regime... During most of the
Afghan war, Pakistan was more aggressively anti-Soviet than even the United States.
11. Page 11
9/11 ANALYSIS: From Ronald Reagan and the Soviet-Afghan War to George W Bush and
September 11, 2001 LiberalPro September 10, 2010 Friday 10:55 PM EST
Soon after the Soviet military invaded Afghanistan in 1980, Zia [ul Haq] sent his
ISI chief to destabilize the Soviet Central Asian states. The CIA only agreed to this
plan in October 1984." (Ibid)
The ISI operating virtually as an affiliate of the CIA, played a central role in
channeling support to Islamic paramilitary groups in Afghanistan and subsequently
in the Muslim republics of the former Soviet Union.
Acting on behalf of the CIA, the ISI was also involved in the recruitment and training
of the Mujahideen. In the ten year period from 1982 to 1992, some 35,000 Muslims from
43 Islamic countries were recruited to fight in the Afghan jihad. The madrassas in
Pakistan, financed by Saudi charities, were also set up with US support with a view
to "inculcating Islamic values". "The camps became virtual universities for future
Islamic radicalism," (Ahmed Rashid, The Taliban). Guerilla training under CIA-ISI
auspices included targeted assassinations and car bomb attacks.
"Weapons' shipments "were sent by the Pakistani army and the ISI to rebel camps in
the North West Frontier Province near the Afghanistan border. The governor of the
province is Lieutenant General Fazle Haq, who [according to Alfred McCoy] . allowed
"hundreds of heroin refineries to set up in his province." Beginning around 1982,
Pakistani army trucks carrying CIA weapons from Karachi often pick up heroin in Haq's
province and return loaded with heroin. They are protected from police search by ISI
papers."(1982-1989: US Turns Blind Eye to BCCI and Pakistani Government Involvement
in Heroin Trade See also McCoy, 2003, p. 477) .
Front row, from left: Major Gen. Hamid Gul, director general of Pakistan's
Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI), Director of Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA)
Willian Webster; Deputy Director for Operations Clair George; an ISI colonel; and
senior CIA official,
Milt Bearden at a mujahedeen training camp in North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan
in 1987.
(source RAWA)
Osama Bin Laden
Osama bin Laden, America's bogyman, was recruited by the CIA in 1979 at the very outset
of the US sponsored jihad. He was 22 years old and was trained in a CIA sponsored
guerilla training camp.
During the Reagan administration, Osama, who belonged to the wealthy Saudi Bin Laden
family was put in charge of raising money for the Islamic brigades. Numerous charities
and foundations were created. The operation was coordinated by Saudi intelligence,
headed by Prince Turki al-Faisal, in close liaison with the CIA. The money derived
from the various charities were used to finance the recruitment of Mujahieen
volunteers. Al Qaeda, the base in Arabic was a data bank of volunteers who had enlisted
to fight in the Afghan jihad. That data base was initially held by Osama bi n Laden.
The Reagan Administration supports "Islamic Fundamentalism"
Pakistan's ISI was used as a "go-between". CIA covert support to the Mujahideen in
Afghanistan operated indirectly through the Pakistani ISI, --i.e. the CIA did not
channel its support directly to the Mujahideen. In other words, for these covert
operations to be "successful", Washington was careful not to reveal the ultimate
objective of the "jihad", which consisted in destroying the Soviet Union.
12. Page 12
9/11 ANALYSIS: From Ronald Reagan and the Soviet-Afghan War to George W Bush and
September 11, 2001 LiberalPro September 10, 2010 Friday 10:55 PM EST
In December 1984, the Sharia Law (Islamic jurisprudence) was established in Pakistan
following a rigged referendum launched by President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. Barely a
few months later, in March 1985, President Ronald Reagan issued National Security
Decision Directive 166 (NSDD 166), which authorized "stepped-up covert military aid
to the Mujahideen" as well a support to religious indoctrination.
The imposition of The Sharia in Pakistan and the promotion of "radical Islam" was
a deliberate US policy serving American geopolitical interests in South Asia, Central
Asia and the Middle East. Many present-day "Islamic fundamentalist organizations"
in the Middle East and Central Asia, were directly or indirectly the product of US
covert support and financing, often channeled through foundations from Saudi Arabia
and the Gulf States. Missions from the Wahhabi sect of conservative Islam in Saudi
Arabia were put in charge of running the CIA sponsored madrassas in Northern Pakistan.
Under NSDD 166, a series of covert CIA-ISI operations was launched.
The US supplied weapons to the Islamic brigades through the ISI. CIA and ISI officials
would meet at ISI headquarters in Rawalpindi to coordinate US support to the
Mujahideen. Under NSDD 166, the procurement of US weapons to the Islamic insurgents
increased from 10,000 tons of arms and ammunition in 1983 to 65,000 tons annually
by 1987. "In addition to arms, training, extensive military equipment including
military satellite maps and state-of-the-art communications equipment" (University
Wire, 7 May 2002).
Ronald Reagan meets Afghan Mujahideen Commanders at the White House in 1985 (Reagan
Archives)
VIDEO (30 Sec.)
With William Casey as director of the CIA, NSDD 166 was described as the largest covert
operation in US history:
The U.S. supplied support package had three essential components-organization and
logistics, military technology, and ideological support for sustaining and en-couraging
the Afghan resistance....
U.S. counterinsurgency experts worked closely with the Pakistan's Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI) in organizing Mujahideen groups and in planning operations inside
Afghanistan.
... But the most important contribution of the U.S. was to ... bring in men and material
from around the Arab world and beyond. The most hardened and ideologically dedicated
men were sought on the logic that they would be the best fighters. Advertisements,
paid for from CIA funds, were placed in newspapers and newsletters around the world
offering inducements and motivations to join the Jihad. (Pervez Hoodbhoy, Afghanistan
and the Genesis of the Global Jihad, Peace Research, 1 May 2005)
Religious Indoctrination
Under NSDD 166, US assistance to the Islamic brigades channeled through Pakistan was
not limited to bona fide military aid. Washington also supported and financed by the
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the process of religious in-doctrination,
largely to secure the demise of secular institutions:
13. Page 13
9/11 ANALYSIS: From Ronald Reagan and the Soviet-Afghan War to George W Bush and
September 11, 2001 LiberalPro September 10, 2010 Friday 10:55 PM EST
... the United States spent millions of dollars to supply Afghan schoolchildren with
textbooks filled with violent images and militant Islamic teachings, part of covert
attempts to spur resistance to the Soviet occupation.
The primers, which were filled with talk of jihad and featured drawings of guns,
bullets, soldiers and mines, have served since then as the Afghan school system's
core curriculum. Even the Taliban used the American-produced books,..
The White House defends the religious content, saying that Islamic principles
permeate Afghan culture and that the books "are fully in compliance with U.S. law
and policy." Legal experts, however, question whether the books violate a con-stitutional
ban on using tax dollars to promote religion.
... AID officials said in interviews that they left the Islamic materials intact
because they feared Afghan educators would reject books lacking a strong dose of
Muslim thought. The agency removed its logo and any mention of the U.S. government
from the religious texts, AID spokeswoman Kathryn Stratos said.
"It's not AID's policy to support religious instruction," Stratos said. "But we went
ahead with this project because the primary purpose . . . is to educate children,
which is predominantly a secular activity."
... Published in the dominant Afghan languages of Dari and Pashtun, the textbooks
were developed in the early 1980s under an AID grant to the University of Nebraska
-Omaha and its Center for Afghanistan Studies. The agency spent $ 51 million on the
university's education programs in Afghanistan from 1984 to 1994." (Washington Post,
23 March 2002)
The Role of the NeoCons
There is continuity. The architects of the covert operation in support of "Islamic
fundamentalism" launched during the Reagan presidency played a key role in role in
launching the "Global War on Terrorism" in the wake of 9/11.
Several of the NeoCons of the Bush Junior Administration were high ranking officials
during the Reagan presidency.
Richard Armitage, was Deputy Secretary of State during George W. Bush first term
(2001-2004). He played a central key role in post 9/11 negotiations with Pakistan
leading up to the October 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. During the Reagan era, he
held the position of Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security
Policy. In this capacity, he played a key role in the implementation of NSDD 163 while
also ensuring liaison with the Pakistani military and intelligence apparatus.
Richard Armitage
Meanwhile, Paul Wolfowitz was at the State Department in charge of a foreign policy
team composed, among others, of Lewis Libby, Francis Fukuyama and Zalmay Khalilzad.
Wolfowitz's group was also involved in laying the conceptual groundwork of US covert
support to Islamic parties and organizations in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Paul Wolfowitz
Zalmay Khalilzad.
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Bush Secretary of Defence Robert Gates also was also involved in setting the
groundwork for CIA covert operations. He was appointed Deputy Director for In-telligence
by Ronald Reagan in 1982, and Deputy Director of the CIA in 1986, a position
which he held until 1989. Gates played a key role in the formulation of NSDD 163,
which established a consistent framework for promoting Islamic fundamentalism and
channeling covert support to the Islamic brigades. He was also involved in the Iran
Contra scandal. .
The Iran Contra Operation
Richard Gates, Colin Powell and Richard Armitage, among others, were also involved
in the Iran-Contra operation.
Armitage was in close liaison with Colonel Oliver North. His deputy and chief
anti-terrorist official Noel Koch was part of the team set up by Oliver North.
Of significance, the Iran-Contra operation was also tied into the process of
channeling covert support to the Islamic brigades in Afghanistan. The Iran Contra
scheme served several related foreign policy:
1) Procurement of weapons to Iran thereby feeding the Iraq-Iran war,
2) Support to the Nicaraguan Contras,
3) Support to the Islamic brigades in Afghanistan, channeled via Pakistan's ISI.
Following the delivery of the TOW anti-tank missiles to Iran, the proceeds of these
sales were deposited in numbered bank accounts and the money was used to finance the
Nicaraguan Contras. and the Mujahideen:
"The Washington Post reported that profits from the Iran arms sales were deposited
in one CIA-managed account into which the U.S. and Saudi Arabia had placed $250 million
apiece. That money was disbursed not only to the contras in Central America but to
the rebels fighting Soviet troops in Afghanistan." (US News & World Report, 15
December 1986).
Although Lieutenant General Colin Powell, was not directly involved in the arms'
transfer negotiations, which had been entrusted to Oliver North, he was among "at
least five men within the Pentagon who knew arms were being transferred to the CIA."
(The Record, 29 December 1986). In this regard, Powell was directly instrumental in
giving the "green light" to lower-level officials in blatant violation of Con-gressional
procedures. According to the New York Times, Colin Powell took the decision
(at the level of military procurement), to allow the delivery of weapons to Iran:
"Hurriedly, one of the men closest to Secretary of Defense Weinberger, Maj. Gen. Colin
Powell, bypassed the written ''focal point system'' procedures and ordered the
Defense Logistics Agency [responsible for procurement] to turn over the first of 2,008
TOW missiles to the CIA., which acted as cutout for delivery to Iran" (New York Times,
16 February 1987)
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was also implicated in the Iran-Contra Affair.
The Golden Crescent Drug Trade
The history of the drug trade in Central Asia is intimately related to the CIA's covert
operations. Prior to the Soviet-Afghan war, opium production in Afghanistan and
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Pakistan was directed to small regional markets. There was no local production of
heroin. (Alfred McCoy, Drug Fallout: the CIA's Forty Year Complicity in the Narcotics
Trade. The Progressive, 1 August 1997).
Alfred McCoy's study confirms that within two years of the onslaught of the CIA
operation in Afghanistan, "the Pakistan-Afghanistan borderlands became the world's
top heroin producer." (Ibid) Various Islamic paramilitary groups and organizations
were created. The proceeds of the Afghan drug trade, which was protected by the CIA,
were used to finance the various insurgencies:
"Under CIA and Pakistani protection, Pakistan military and Afghan resistance opened
heroin labs on the Afghan and Pakistani border. According to The Washington Post of
May 1990, among the leading heroin manufacturers were Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Afghan
leader who received about half of the covert arms that the U.S. shipped to Pakistan.
Although there were complaints about Hekmatyar's brutality and drug trafficking
within the ranks of the Afghan resistance of the day, the CIA maintained an uncritical
alliance and supported him without reservation or restraint.
Once the heroin left these labs in Pakistan's northwest frontier, the Sicilian Mafia
imported the drugs into the U.S., where they soon captured sixty percent of the U.S.
heroin market. That is to say, sixty percent of the U.S. heroin supply came indirectly
from a CIA operation. During the decade of this operation, the 1980s, the substantial
DEA contingent in Islamabad made no arrests and participated in no seizures, allowing
the syndicates a de facto free hand to export heroin. By contrast, a lone Norwegian
detective, following a heroin deal from Oslo to Karachi, mounted an investigation
that put a powerful Pakistani banker known as President Zia's surrogate son behind
bars. The DEA in Islamabad got nobody, did nothing, stayed away.
Former CIA operatives have admitted that this operation led to an expansion of the
Pakistan-Afghanistan heroin trade. In 1995 the former CIA Director of this Afghan
operation, Mr. Charles Cogan, admitted sacrificing the drug war to fight the Cold
War. "Our main mission was to do as much damage to the Soviets. We didn't really have
the resources or the time to devote to an investigation of the drug trade," he told
Australian television. "I don't think that we need to apologize for this. Every
situation has its fallout. There was fallout in terms of drugs, yes, but the main
objective was accomplished. The Soviets left Afghanistan." (Alfred McCoy, Testimony
before the Special Seminar focusing on allegations linking CIA secret operations a nd
drug trafficking-convened February 13, 1997, by Rep. John Conyers, Dean of the
Congressional Black Caucus)
Lucrative Narcotics Trade in the Post Cold War Era
The drug trade has continued unabated during the post Cold war years. Afghanistan
became the major supplier of heroin to Western markets, in fact almost the sole
supplier: more than 90 percent of the heroin sold Worldwide originates in Afghanistan.
This lucrative contraband is tied into Pakistani politics and the militarization of
the Pakistani State. It also has a direct bearing on the structure of the Pakistani
economy and its banking and financial institutions, which from the outset of the
Golden Crescent drug trade have been involved in extensive money laundering op-erations,
which are protected by the Pakistani military and intelligence apparatus:
According to the US State Department International Narcotics Control Strategy Report
(2006) (quoted in Daily Times, 2 March 2006),
"Pakistani criminal networks play a central role in the transshipment of narcotics
and smuggled goods from Afghanistan to international markets. Pakistan is a major
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September 11, 2001 LiberalPro September 10, 2010 Friday 10:55 PM EST
drug-transit country. The proceeds of narcotics trafficking and funding for terrorist
activities are often laundered by means of the alternative system called hawala. ...
.
"Repeatedly, a network of private unregulated charities has also emerged as a
significant source of illicit funds for international terrorist networks, the report
pointed out. ... "
The hawala system and the charities are but the tip of the iceberg. According to the
State Department report, "the State Bank of Pakistan has frozen more twenty years]
a meager $10.5 million "belonging to 12 entities and individuals linked to Osama bin
Laden, Al Qaeda or the Taliban". What the report fails to mention is that the bulk
of the proceeds of the Afghan drug trade are laundered in bona fide Western banking
institutions.
The Taliban Repress the Drug Trade
A major and unexpected turnaround in the CIA sponsored drug trade occurred in 2000.
The Taliban government which came to power in 1996 with Washington's support,
implemented in 2000-2001 a far-reaching opium eradication program with the support
of the United Nations which served to undermine a multibillion dollar trade. (For
further details see, Michel Chossudovsky, America's War on Terrorism, Global
Research, 2005).
In 2001 prior to the US-led invasion, opium production under the Taliban eradication
program declined by more than 90 percent.
In the immediate wake of the US led invasion, the Bush administration ordered that
the opium harvest not be destroyed on the fabricated pretext that this would undermine
the military government of Pervez Musharraf.
"Several sources inside Capitol Hill noted that the CIA opposes the destruction of
the Afghan opium supply because to do so might destabilize the Pakistani government
of Gen. Pervez Musharraf. According to these sources, Pakistani intelligence had
threatened to overthrow President Musharraf if the crops were destroyed. ...
'If they [the CIA] are in fact opposing the destruction of the Afghan opium trade,
it'll only serve to perpetuate the belief that the CIA is an agency devoid of morals;
off on their own program rather than that of our constitutionally elected government'"
.(NewsMax.com, 28 March 2002)
Since the US led invasion, opium production has increased 33 fold from 185 tons in
2001 under the Taliban to 6100 tons in 2006. Cultivated areas have increased 21 fold
since the 2001 US-led invasion. (Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 6 January
2006)
In 2007, Afghanistan supplied approximately 93% of the global supply of heroin. The
proceeds (in terms of retail value) of the Afghanistan drug trade are estimated (2006)
to be in excess of 190 billion dollars a year, representing a significant fraction
of the global trade in narcotics.(Ibid)
The proceeds of this lucrative multibillion dollar contraband are deposited in
Western banks. Almost the totality of the revenues accrue to corporate interests and
criminal syndicates outside Afghanistan.
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The laundering of drug money constitutes a multibillion dollar activity, which
continues to be protected by the CIA and the ISI. In the wake of the 2001 US invasion
of Afghanistan.
In retrospect, one of the major objectives of the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan was
to restore the drug trade.
The militarization of Pakistan serves powerful political, financial and criminal
interests underlying the drug trade. US foreign policy tends to support these powerful
interests. The CIA continues to protect the Golden Crescent narcotics trade. Despite
his commitment to eradicating the drug trade, opium production under the regime of
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has skyrocketed.
The Assassination of General Zia Ul-Haq
In August 1988, President Zia was killed in an air crash together with US Ambassador
to Pakistan Arnold Raphel and several of Pakistan's top generals. The circumstances
of the air crash remain shrouded in mystery.
Following Zia's death, parliamentary elections were held and Benazir Bhutto was sworn
in as Prime Minister in December 1988. She was subsequently removed from office by
Zia's successor, President Ghulam Ishaq Khan on the grounds of alleged corruption.
In 1993, she was re-elected and was again removed from office in 1996 on the orders
of President Farooq Leghari.
Continuity has been maintained throughout. Under the short-lived post-Zia elected
governments of Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, the central role of the mili-tary-
intelligence establishment and its links to Washington were never challenged.
Both Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif served US foreign policy interests. While in
power, both democratically elected leaders, nonetheless supported the continuity of
military rule. As prime minister from 1993 to 1996, Benazir Bhutto "advocated a
conciliatory policy toward Islamists, especially the Taliban in Afghanistan" which
were being supported by Pakistan's ISI (See F. William Engdahl, Global Research,
January 2008)
Benazir Bhutto's successor as Prime Minister, Mia Muhammad Nawaz Sharif of the
Pakistan Muslim League (PML) was deposed in 1999 in a US supported coup d'Etat led
by General Pervez Musharraf.
The 1999 coup was instigated by General Pervez Musharaf, with the support of the Chief
of General Staff, Lieutenant General Mahmoud Ahmad, who was subsequently appointed
to the key position of head of military intelligence (ISI).
From the outset of the Bush administration in 2001, General Ahmad developed close
ties not only with his US counterpart CIA director George Tenet, but also with key
members of the US government including Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy
Secretary of State Richard Armitage, not to mention Porter Goss, who at the time was
Chairman of the House Committee on Intelligence. Ironically, Mahmoud Ahmad is also
known, according to a September 2001 FBI report, for his suspected role in supporting
and financing the alleged 9/11 terrorists as well as his links to Al Qaeda and the
Taliban. (See Michel Chossudovsky, America's "war on Terrorism, Global Research,
Montreal, 2005)
Concluding Remarks
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These various "terrorist" organizations were created as a result of CIA support.
They are not the product of religion. The project to establish "a pan-Islamic
Caliphate" is part of a carefully devised intelligence operation.
CIA support to Al Qaeda was not in any way curtailed at the end of the Cold War. In
fact quite the opposite. The earlier pattern of covert support not only extended,
it took on a global thrust and became increasingly sophisticated.
The "Global War on Terrorism" is a complex and intricate intelligence construct. The
covert support provided to "Islamic extremist groups" is part of an imperial agenda.
It purports to weaken and eventually destroy secular and civilian governmental
institutions, while also contributing to vilifying Islam. It is an instrument of
colonization which seeks to undermine sovereign nation-states and transform
countries into territories.
For the intelligence operation to be successful, however, the various Islamic
organizations created and trained by the CIA must remain unaware of the role they
are performing on geopolitical chessboard, on behalf of Washington.
Over the years, these organizations have indeed acquired a certain degree of autonomy
and independence, in relation to their US-Pakistani sponsors. That appearance of
"independence", however, is crucial; it is an integral part of the covert intellige nce
operation. According to former CIA agent Milton Beardman the Mujahideen were
invariably unaware of the role they were performing on behalf of Washington. In the
words of bin Laden (quoted by Beardman): "neither I, nor my brothers saw evidence
of American help". (Weekend Sunday (NPR); Eric Weiner, Ted Clark; 16 August 1998).
"Motivated by nationalism and religious fervor, the Islamic warriors were unaware
that they were fighting the Soviet Army on behalf of Uncle Sam. While there were
contacts at the upper levels of the intelligence hierarchy, Islamic rebel leaders
in theatre had no contacts with Washington or the CIA." (Michel Chossudovsky,
America's War on Terrorism, Chapter 2).
The fabrication of "terrorism" --including covert support to terrorists-- is required
to provide legitimacy to the "war on terrorism".
The various fundamentalist and paramilitary groups involved in US sponsored
"terrorist" activities are "intelligence assets". In the wake of 9/11, their
designated function as "intelligence assets" is to perform their role as credible
"enemies of America".
Under the Bush administration, the CIA continued to support (via Pakistan's ISI)
several Pakistani based Islamic groups. The ISI is known to support Jamaat a-Islami,
which is also present in South East Asia, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Jehad a-Kashmiri,
Hizbul-Mujahidin and Jaish-e-Mohammed.
The Islamic groups created by the CIA are also intended to rally public support in
Muslim countries. The underlying objective is to create divisions within national
societies throughout the Middle East and Central Asia, while also triggering
sectarian strife within Islam, ultimately with a view to curbing the development of
a broad based secular mass resistance, which would challenge US imperial ambitions.
This function of an outside enemy is also an essential part of war propaganda required
to galvanize Western public opinion. Without an enemy, a war cannot be fought. US
foreign policy needs to fabricate an enemy, to justify its various military in-terventions
in the Middle East and Central Asia. An enemy is required to justify a
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military agenda, which consists in " going after Al Qaeda". The fabrication and
vilification of the enemy are required to justify military action.
The existence of an outside enemy sustains the illusion that the "war on terrorism"
is real. It justifies and presents military intervention as a humanitarian operation
based on the right to self-defense. It upholds the illusion of a "conflict of
civilizations". The underlying purpose ultimately is to conceal the real economic
and strategic objectives behind the broader Middle East Central Asian war.
Historically, Pakistan has played a central role in "war on terrorism". Pakistan
constitutes from Washington's standpoint a geopolitical hub. It borders onto
Afghanistan and Iran. It has played a crucial role in the conduct of US and allied
military operations in Afghanistan as well as in the context of the Pentagon's war
plans in relation to Iran.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
America's "War on Terrorism"
by Michel
Chossudovsky
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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21. Page 21
Getting to Know You; The U.S. military maps the human terrain of Afghanistan. The
Weekly Standard January 18, 2010 Monday
5 of 9 DOCUMENTS
The Weekly Standard
January 18, 2010 Monday
Getting to Know You;
The U.S. military maps the human terrain of Afghanistan.
BYLINE: Claudia Anderson, The Weekly Standard
SECTION: FEATURES Vol. 15 No. 17
LENGTH: 3639 words
 Omaha, Nebraska In early 2003, a single American diplomat and more than 5,000
American troops were stationed in Kandahar, the second city of Afghanistan and the
heart of former Taliban country. The troops mostly stayed on their base, penned off
near the airport, isolated from the people of the city. One of the few American
civilians then living in Kandahar, the former NPR reporter Sarah Chayes, would
describe the tedious hours-long delays and â[#x20ac]oebewildering lack of sys-temâ[#
x20ac] that governed access to the base. Isolation reinforced ignorance, and
under the Americansâ[#x20ac][TM] noses, the provincial governor, a former warlord
named Gul Agha Shirzai, exploited his position to snag most U.S. contracts for his
Barakzai tribe and to cover his private militiaâ[#x20ac]"issued American camouflage
uniformsâ[#x20ac]"with impunity for misdeeds from drug smuggling to stealing. As a
result, wrote Chayes in her 2006 book The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan
after the Taliban, â[#x20ac]oemuch of the [U.S.] expenditure in effort and treasure
that was aimed at building bridges and gaining friends in Kandahar did the reverse.
It built a growing feeling of resentment against the U.S. troops.â[#x20ac] In those
early days, the U.S. military in Afghanistan, for all its famous night-vision goggles,
was blind to what has become known as the â[#x20ac]oehuman ter-rainâ[#
x20ac]â[#x20ac]"the people it had come to liberate. No one has to explain to
any soldier the tactical significance of a hill or a river or an airfield; whereas
few soldiers on the Kandahar base had ever heard of Barakzais, much less the Popalzais
and Alokozais and Ghiljais who had been left out in the cold. Their commanders
similarly failed to recognize the mischief flowing every day from the fact that the
interpreters on whom the Americans were wholly dependentâ[#x20ac]"supplied by the
governorâ[#x20ac][TM]s helpful brotherâ[#x20ac]"were working for him. Today efforts
are being made to change that, as the military draws on a culture of â[#x20ac]oelessons
learnedâ[#x20ac]â[#x20ac]"the systematic practice of looking back at mistakes to see
what can be done better. The generals in charge of the counterinsurgency strategy
being implemented in Afghanistan are graduates of the hard school of Iraq, where the
United States also paid the price of ignorance. Now, the generalsâ[#x20ac]"notably
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) chief David Petraeus and the commander of coalition
forces in Afghanistan, Stanley McChrystalâ[#x20ac]"are working through multiple
channels to build their forcesâ[#x20ac][TM] ability to relate to the Afghan
population. The whole thrust of counterinsurgency doctrine is summed up in the
subhead to the â[#x20ac]oeGuidanceâ[#x20ac] McChrystal issued to the troops in
August: â[#x20ac]oeProtecting the people is the mission.â[#x20ac] There is abundant
evidence that commanders are reorienting the coalition effort to this end. One small
but telling sign is Sarah Chayesâ[#x20ac][TM]s own career. After entering Afghanistan
22. Page 22
Getting to Know You; The U.S. military maps the human terrain of Afghanistan. The
Weekly Standard January 18, 2010 Monday
just behind U.S. forces in late 2001, she reported from Kandahar for several months.
Her previous experience covering the aftermath of war in the Balkans enriched her
perspective; so did her decision not to join the foreign media at the international
hotel but to live in an Afghan family compound and adopt local dress. By the time
she left Kandahar, in the heady atmosphere of the months after the fall of the Taliban,
she had decided to give up her job and contribute to the rebuilding of Afghanistan.
She did so first through a group founded by Hamid Karzaiâ[#x20ac][TM]s older brother,
Afghans for Civil Society. She raised money in her native Massachusetts to rebuild
houses and a mosque destroyed by a U.S. bomb. She personally directed the work,
learning firsthand what it was like to try to get something done under the thumb of
Kandaharâ[#x20ac][TM]s â[#x20ac]oearbitrary, predatory, brutal, if charis-maticâ[#
x20ac] governor. After taking a break to write her book, she founded Arghand,
a cooperative that employs Kandaharis making scented soaps and lotions for export.
All the while, she was deepening her local contactsâ[#x20ac]"and gradually becoming
an informal adviser to the U.S. military. Soon they were flying her to Hawaii to brief
soldiers about to deploy to Kandahar, and to Fort Leavenworth as a guest speaker.
(â[#x20ac]oeSheâ[#x20ac][TM]s like no journalist youâ[#x20ac][TM]ve ever
seen,â[#x20ac] gushed one who heard her. â[#x20ac]oeSheâ[#x20ac][TM]s a
hawk!â[#x20ac]) Today she is a special adviser to General McChrystal. Her eight-page
â[#x20ac]oeComprehensive Action Plan for Afghanistanâ[#x20ac]â[#x20ac]"published
last January and available at sarahchayes.netâ[#x20ac]"begins: â[#x20ac]oeThe
United States should -redefine its objectives in favor of the Afghan people, not the
Afghan government.â[#x20ac] Another indication of the U.S. militaryâ[#x20ac][TM]s
determination to improve its knowledge of our Afghan friends is General Petrae-usâ[#
x20ac][TM]s creation of an intelligence unit at CENTCOM that will train military
officers, agents, and analysts who commit themselves to Afghanistan and Pakistan work
for at least five years. Their training will emphasize cultural and language
immersion. To lead the new Center for Afghanistan Pakistan Excellence, Petraeus chose
Derek Harvey, a retired colonel working in the Defense Intelligence Agency who had
gained a reputation for prescience in his work on Iraq. A longtime reporter recently
called Harvey â[#x20ac]oethe most intelligent manâ[#x20ac] he had dealt with in the
U.S. government. In the same spirit, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral
Mike Mullen, established the Af-Pak Hands last fall. The purpose, again, is to build
regional expertise by having a core of some 300 officers specialize in a single area
and type of work. Whether they are stationed in the United States or deployed
â[#x20ac]oedownrange,â[#x20ac] they can maintain relationships and steadily deepen
their knowledge of the relevant languages, players, and problems. But no innovation
better captures the militaryâ[#x20ac][TM]s will to shed its blinders about local
populations than the aptly named Human Terrain Teams (HTTs). Embedded with units in
the field, these teams consist of five to nine civilians with, among them, con-siderable
military or intelligence experience, social-science expertise, analytical
skill, and cross-cultural training. Ideally, each team includes at least one
Afghan-American, one or more women, and a Ph.D.-level social scientist. Their mission
is to â[#x20ac]oefill the socio-cultural knowledge gapâ[#x20ac] in ways that are
valuable to the soldiers they advise. They are specially charged with helping devise
nonlethal approaches to improving security in a given place. These are not civil
affairs units, off building schools and digging wells, but eyes and ears for the
military officers who plan and lead operations. HTTs are to learn all they can about
the people among whom their units operateâ[#x20ac]"their tribal background and power
structures and livelihood, their recent experiences with local government and with
Kabul, their contacts with the Taliban and warlords and coalition forces, and any
-matters of special concern to the commander. They are to do this by developing
personal relationships in the surrounding communities and systematically inter-viewing
Afghans. As they go, they are to analyze their findings and then package them
in forms digestible by soldiers. HTT members receive four to six monthsâ[#x20ac][TM]
training before they deploy. Most of this happens at Fort Leavenworth. But for three
23. Page 23
Getting to Know You; The U.S. military maps the human terrain of Afghanistan. The
Weekly Standard January 18, 2010 Monday
weeks they attend a cultural immersion seminar at this countryâ[#x20ac][TM]s only
Center for Afghanistan Studies, at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. I visited
for a couple of days this fall to observe their training. Â Â The first thing that
struck me on taking my seat at the back of a crowded classroom on the Omaha campus
was the amount of gray hair. The median age of the 30 or so HTT students must have
been 40. The teacher, Thomas Gouttierre, qualified for some gray himself having been
dean of international studies at Omaha and director of the Center for Afghanistan
Studies since 1974. Before that, he and his wife lived for a decade in Afghanistan,
during the hopeful years when a liberal constitution was adopted and women were among
those elected to parliament. The Gouttierres went to Kabul as Peace Corps volunteers
and stayed on with Tom as a Fulbright fellow and later executive director of the
Fulbright Foundation. All through, he also coached the Afghan National Basketball
Team. For three hours that morning, Gouttierre unspooled a panorama of 2,500 years
of Afghan history and culture, punctuated with slides of art, historic buildings,
and dramatic landscapes as well as with comments on the recent election, a digression
on the Pashtun honor code, examples of Afghan humor, and lessons distilled from his
centerâ[#x20ac][TM]s extensive work with Afghans over 35 years. This made for a
somewhat kaleidoscopic experience. Just as the founder of the Mughal empire, Babur,
was coming into focus and one was making a mental note to delve into his autobiography
beginning, â[#x20ac]oeIn the province of Fergana, in the year 1494, when I was twelve
years old, I became king,â[#x20ac] suddenly the Kajaki Dam was center stage. After
World War II, Gouttierre said, the Afghans had accumulated hard currency from the
sale of lamb skins and carpets and wanted to build a dam to irrigate and provide
electricity for the Helmand Valley. When they ran short of funds they sought U.S.
help. The Morrison-Knudsen -Company of Boise, Idaho, which had worked on the Hoover
Dam, trained Afghans in the necessary construction skills. Many had never before
worked off the farm. The result was not only a dam, but also a cadre of skilled labor
that included in addition to the building trades, plumbers and drivers and mechan ics,
cooks and housekeepers. These workers moved to the cities when the project was done
and contributed to the glacially advancing modernization of the Afghan economy.
Gouttierre contrasted the wisdom of training Afghans with the wastefulness of
importing foreign laborâ[#x20ac]"as the coalition did in its early days to build the
all-important Ring Road. For that matter, there are still 30,000 foreign laborers
in the country, he said. Here a class member spoke up. A veteran of several years
in Afghanistan assisting civilian development efforts, the student offered a
clarificationâ[#x20ac]"there is now a requirement to use Afghan labor on most road
projects and train them in road maintenanceâ[#x20ac]"adding that it took field
workers â[#x20ac]oea year of briefingsâ[#x20ac] and much badgering and cajoling to
persuade the U.S. authorities (the student named Karl Eikenberry, then a general
serving in Afghanistan, now U.S. ambassador in Kabul) to agree to use local labor.
Class members tapped at their laptops. That afternoon the students disappeared into
language labs for their several hoursâ[#x20ac][TM] daily instruction in Dari, the
lingua franca of Afghanistan, and Pashto, spoken in the south and east. Their
teachers, all native speakers, included some who have been with the Center for
Afghanistan Studies since they fled the Soviet invasion, but also a young Fulbright
scholar fresh from Kabul. I spent the afternoon talking with Gouttierre in his office,
and with Major Robert Holbert, training coordinator for the Human Terrain Teams.Â
The question on my mind was, How can you manufacture regional experts in six months?Â
The answer was, You canâ[#x20ac][TM]tâ[#x20ac]"and the program doesnâ[#x20ac][TM]t
pretend to. Instead, it aims to recruit smart, creative, cool-headed, highly
adaptable, mature self-starters who already have significant relevant experience,
and then further equip them to operate as bridges between the U.S. military and Afghan
people. You canâ[#x20ac][TM]t teach team members enough Dari or Pashto to make them
fluent, for instance, but you can teach them enough to build on, and enough to improve
their effectiveness at working through interpreters. You canâ[#x20ac][TM]t give them
deep knowledge of the places where theyâ[#x20ac][TM]ll serve, but you can expose them
24. Page 24
Getting to Know You; The U.S. military maps the human terrain of Afghanistan. The
Weekly Standard January 18, 2010 Monday
to a great deal of pertinent information and then teach them how to ask ques-tionsâ[#
x20ac]"not â[#x20ac]oeWhat do you think of the provincial govern-ment?
â[#x20ac] but â[#x20ac]oeWhat was your last contact with the provincial
government? Who exactly did you go to? What was the outcome? What about the time before
that?â[#x20ac] â[#x20ac]oeYou can teach the basic elements of how to work with
Afghans,â[#x20ac] said Gouttierre. â[#x20ac]oeAvoid pork and alcohol. Show sin-cerity.
Afghans like to talk. Engage them in a way that makes them want to talk to
you. Find a way to negotiate differences.â[#x20ac]Â Â Gouttierre and his colleagues
have a lot of experience at this. The Center for Afghanistan Studies has designed
and run numerous development projectsâ[#x20ac]"mostly on contract for the U.S.
government, totaling a $100 million over 35 years. These have included providing
education in the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan during the Soviet occupation,
bringing Afghan English teachers to study at the center and live with Nebraska
families (for the Fulbright Foundation), and, currently, running literacy programs
for the Afghan Army. â[#x20ac]oeOur philosophy is to involve Afghans wherever
possible,â[#x20ac] Gouttierre said. â[#x20ac]oeOur programs are staffed almost
exclusively by Afghans.â[#x20ac] At last count, he said, roughly 300 Afghans were
employed in the Army literacy program, and many more at the Nebraska Education Press,
in Kabul, now spun off as an independent NGO. Housed in a compound that once belonged
to the Afghan Communist party, the press printed the Afghan constitution and millions
of textbooks for the first post-Taliban opening of school. Major Hol-bertâ[#
x20ac]"a fit and focused former social studies teacher in Lincoln, Nebraska,
who served on the first HTT in Afghanistan in 2007â[#x20ac]"elaborated on the matter
of learning to communicate in ways that build bonds. In the early days of the U.S.
presence, soldiers sometimes threw candy and toys to children from moving vehicles.
This drive-by benevolence was seen as demeaning. â[#x20ac]oeRelationships are
everything,â[#x20ac] said Holbert. HTT members are taught to take the time to drink
the endless cups of tea, to invest in relationships. To counteract the constant
churning of personnel in the field, HTTs are replaced one member at a time with,
whenever possible, a monthâ[#x20ac][TM]s overlap with their predecessor, who can make
personal introductions so that local contacts arenâ[#x20ac][TM]t lost. Hol-bertâ[#
x20ac][TM]s spiel exactly captured the spirit of General McChrys-talâ[#
x20ac][TM]s guidanceâ[#x20ac]"indeed, it almost seemed to track it word for
word. As McChrystal wrote, addressing all coalition troops:Â The effort to gain and
maintain [the support of the Afghan people] must inform every action we take.
.â[#x20ac][0/00]â[#x20ac][0/00].â[#x20ac][0/00]â[#x20ac][0/00]. We need to un-derstand
the people and see things through their eyes.
.â[#x20ac][0/00]â[#x20ac][0/00].â[#x20ac][0/00]â[#x20ac][0/00]. The way you drive,
your dress and gestures, with whom you eat lunch, the courage with which you fight,
the way you respond to an Afghanâ[#x20ac][TM]s grief or joyâ[#x20ac]"this is all part
of the argument. .â[#x20ac][0/00]â[#x20ac][0/00].â[#x20ac][0/00]â[#x20ac][0/00].
Listen to and learn from our Afghan colleagues.
.â[#x20ac][0/00]â[#x20ac][0/00].â[#x20ac][0/00]â[#x20ac][0/00]. This is a battle
of witsâ[#x20ac]"learn and adapt more quickly than the insurgent. Â The civilian
HTTs actually face a double challenge. â[#x20ac]oeThe hardest culture to integrate
with is the military,â[#x20ac] Holbert noted. â[#x20ac]oeYou need to project
confidence and humility in order to be able to work well with your unit. So you get
to know them. If your team is invited to a social activity, you go. If
thereâ[#x20ac][TM]s marksmanship training, you go. And on patrol you pull security.
You are not a consumer of resources or producer of drama.â[#x20ac] Â Â The subject
of my second morningâ[#x20ac][TM]s lecture was the geology of Afghanistan. As
students arrived in the darkened classroom, a video was running. It showed a mudslide,
a roaring torrent of mud and boulders pouring over a cement dam in a craggy gorge.
The footage had been shot near Kunduz by a German reconstruction teamâ[#x20ac]"the
first time one of these events, which occur all over Afghanistan, had been filmed.
The lecturer was John Shroder, professor of geography and geology and, like
25. Page 25
Getting to Know You; The U.S. military maps the human terrain of Afghanistan. The
Weekly Standard January 18, 2010 Monday
Gouttierre, a student of Afghanistan for four decades. Shroder is point man for the
centerâ[#x20ac][TM]s National Atlas of Afghanistan project, which collects and
publishes mapable information on Afghanistan, and for its collaboration with NASA,
the U.S. Geological Survey, and the National Academy of Sciences to monitor the
glaciers of Afghanistan and Pakistan using satellite imagery. Shroder writes widely
on Afghanistanâ[#x20ac][TM]s mineral and energy resources and their considerable
potential for development, the subject he addressed for the HTT seminar. Rounding
out the morning was Professor Michael Bishop, expert in something called Geographic
Information Science. He showed a rapt audience how using remote sensing and computer
maps of Afghanistan they can display numerous physical features of the coun-tryâ[#
x20ac]"soil quality, vegetation, water, snow, cloud cover, and many
moreâ[#x20ac]"at high resolution at the click of a mouse. This capability has myriad
applications, from the design of irrigation systems to prediction of floods to the
location of safe construction sites. It will be made available via a
â[#x20ac]oereachbackâ[#x20ac] system now being developed to allow HTTs to consult
distant experts and databases by email. During their time in Omaha, HTT trainees have
classes in the history and politics of Afghanistan in the 20th century, Pashtun
society and culture, women in Afghanistan, religion in Afghanistan, the Afghan Army
and its evolving structure, the globalization of religious extremism, medicine in
Afghanistan, and the role of drugs in international terrorism. Six of their ten
instructors are Afghans. Itâ[#x20ac][TM]s during their longer stay at Fort
Leavenworth that they receive basic survival training and concentrate on social
science methods and analysis. Some are sent to participate in exercises at a simulated
Afghan village in Death Valley. For their final exercise, team members are dropped
off in small towns near Fort Leavenworthâ[#x20ac]"places like Bonner Springs, Kansas
(population 7,000) or Smithville, Missouri (population 6,000)â[#x20ac]"to assess the
human terrain. They fan out in pairs or threes to interview locals. They introduce
themselves as students from Fort Leavenworth whoâ[#x20ac][TM]ve been assigned, for
instance, to ascertain how the town copes with flooding from the Missouri River. For
all of the HTT trainees I met, this foray into small-town America will have been a
cross-cultural experience. They included a retired chemist with past Special Forces
deployments in Vietnam and Panama; a former reporter with a couple of decades in the
intelligence community under his belt; an ex-Marine intelligence officer who studied
Arabic and international relations in college and deployed briefly to Iraq; a former
environmental consultant who grew up in Asia and is multilingual; and a Special Forces
vet who served three tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. One, an Afghan-American,
told me he fled the Soviet occupation before finishing school but could-nâ[#
x20ac][TM]t find work in Pakistan, so pressed on to the United States. He got
jobs in fast food and supermarkets in Virginia and eventually drove a delivery van.
After 9/11 he felt a strong desire to help Afghanistan. He managed to land a job with
the U.S. military as a â[#x20ac]oerole playerâ[#x20ac] in one of the simulated
villages used for training and worked his way up to interpreter. Now in his late
30sâ[#x20ac]"and married, with an infant sonâ[#x20ac]"he is returning to his native
land for the first time as a member of an HTT. One of the trainees I met is already
â[#x20ac]oein theater,â[#x20ac] assigned to Jalalabad. Her unit is experimenting
with what they call a Female Engagement Team, which has been dispatched to talk to
women in mountain villages and to female prisoners at a juvenile detention center.
She sent me pictures of their visit to a school for 400 girls. No doubt her HTT
is also keeping a careful eye on the evolving role of the local governor, Gul Agha
Shirzai, who caused so much trouble in Kandahar back in 2003. Heâ[#x20ac][TM]s become
a figure of some renown, even being profiled back in March in the Wall Street Journal.
Removed as governor of Kandahar by President Karzai in 2004, he was shortly thereafter
reappointed to Nangarhar Province, in eastern Afghanistan, whose capital is
Jalalabad. There he has managed to temper his reputation for corruption. Far from
the home turf of his Barakzai tribe, and thus relieved of patronage duties (also,
possibly, content with the fortune he has already amassed), he has burnished his image
26. Page 26
Getting to Know You; The U.S. military maps the human terrain of Afghanistan. The
Weekly Standard January 18, 2010 Monday
since the days when Sarah Chayes found him so arbitrary, predatory, and brutal. He
is once again in good odor with the Americans. At their urging, he chaired a meeting
of 25 tribal elders from four eastern provinces in late November, according to the
New York Times, for the purpose of enlisting the eldersâ[#x20ac][TM] aid in persuading
reconcilable elements of the Taliban to â[#x20ac]oesit down and talk.â[#x20ac] Has
Gul Agha Shirzai really changed? How is this transplant viewed by the indigenous power
brokers of Nangarhar? Is his warlord past or his present cooperation with the
coalition more indicative of the path ahead? They are questions of some consequence
as the coalition attempts to midwife an Afghan version of the Anbar Awakening in Iraq,
when tribal leaders switched sides and helped reverse the momentum of the insurgency.Â
They are also reminders that human terrain is always complex and elusive terrain,
lacking the stable definition of a mountain pass or valley floor. The Human Terrain
Teams and other innovations by which the U.S. armed forces are lessening their
ignorance of the Afghan people are no doubt imperfect, even crude, instruments for
meeting the challenges of a war where the enemy is at home and we come from far away,
geographically and culturally. Regardless of the magnitude of the challenge, the HTTs
and the rest will be judged by their success on the ground. Still, it is not too soon
to recognize the energy and imagination with which the armed forces are working to
apply their lessons learned.   Claudia Anderson is managing editor of The Weekly
Standard. Â Â
LOAD-DATE: February 5, 2010
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Magazine
Copyright 2010 The Weekly Standard
27. Page 27
2010 Love of Learning recipients. Phi Kappa Phi Forum December 22, 2010
6 of 9 DOCUMENTS
Phi Kappa Phi Forum
December 22, 2010
2010 Love of Learning recipients.
SECTION: Pg. 10(3) Vol. 90 No. 4 ISSN: 1538-5914
LENGTH: 3071 words
Love of Learning Awards help fund career development and/or postbaccalaureat e studies
for active Phi Kappa Phi members. Eighty $500 awards are given annually for career
development and pertinent travel aswell as for professional or graduate studies,
doctoral dissertations, continuing education, and the like. This year, more than
1,200 members competed, an increase of some 20 percent from last year. Since the
inception of the program in 2007, 230 members have earned Love of Learning Awards
totaling $115,000.
Melissa Adams
Regulatory project manager, Hematology/Oncology Clinical Research Unit, University
of Massachusetts Medical School Using grant for: Professional certification in
project management
(University of Massachusetts)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Dhanapati Adhikari
Oklahoma State University Doctoral student in mathematics Using grant for: Research
(Oklahoma State University)
Kathleen Allison
Associate Professor of Health Science, Lock Haven University Usinggrant for: Software
(Lock Haven University chapter secretary and treasurer)
Maysa Husni Almomani
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Doctoral student in nursing Using grant for:
Graduate school
(University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
Laith Al-Shawaf
University of Texas at Austin Doctoral student in psychology Usinggrant for: Research
in evolutionary psychology
(University of Texas at Austin)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Brett Amedro
University of Michigan Dental student Using grant for. Instrument rental fees Fantasy
career: Hunting guide
28. Page 28
2010 Love of Learning recipients. Phi Kappa Phi Forum December 22, 2010
(University of Michigan)
Lauren A. Anaya
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Doctoral student in anthropology Using
grant for: Dissertation research in Rome, Italy, on European Union efforts to
harmonize family law Fantasy career: Interior designer
(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Tracy L. Arambula-Turner
University of Texas at Austin Doctoral student in higher educationadministration
Using grant for: Dissertation Most proud of: Achieving academically as a Latina from
a working-class background
(University of Texas at Austin)
Jamie Noelle Ball
University of Kansas School of Medicine Medical student Using grant for: School
(Kansas State University)
Faith E. Bartz
Emory University Postdoctoral student in public health Using grantfor: Dissertation
Career objective: Bridge scientific community and agricultural industries of
resource-poor areas
(North Carolina State University)
Ryan Becker
University of Nebraska Medical Center Medical student Using grant for: Licensing exam
Career objective: Family medicine in a rural community
(Wayne State College)
Whitney Bignell
University of Georgia Pursuing a master's degree in foods and nutrition Used grant
for: American Dietetic Association Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo in Boston
Fantasy career: Own a shop like the Barefoot Contessa
(University of Georgia)
Brandon T. Bodor
U.S. Army captain and intelligence officer with the 10th Mountain Division and
deployed in Kandahar, Afghanistan Using grant for: Dartmouth Tuck Online Bridge
Program to prepare for an M.B.A. program Mostproud of: Wife who has been rock solid
through two deployments and is pregnant during my tour now
(United States Military Academy)
Rosemary Burk
University of North Texas Doctoral student in biology, emphasis inaquatic ecology
Using grant for: Presenting research at World Water Week in Stockholm
(University of North Texas)
Cynthia L. Butler-Mobley
Supply chain analyst, Twist Beauty Packaging US, Inc. Using grant for: Exam fee for
Certified Supply Chain Professional Influential person met: My husband, who taught
me how to relax, uplifts me, and encourages me to dream
29. Page 29
2010 Love of Learning recipients. Phi Kappa Phi Forum December 22, 2010
(Middle Tennessee State University)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Erik Jon Byker
Michigan State University Doctoral student in teacher education Using grant for:
Research in Bangalore, India Most proud of: Marrying such a wonderful and supportive
woman and helping deliver our son
(Michigan State University)
Jamie M. Byrne
Director, School of Mass Communication, University of Arkansas at Little Rock Using
grant for: Project on fund development at universities Satisfying community service:
American Cancer Society. This outreach became even more important when my husband,
Chuck, was diagnosed with colon cancer nearly four years ago. Most proud of: Chuck.
He passed away from cancer in January and was a dignified, loving, inspiring example
of how to face this illness.
(University of Arkansas at Little Rock)
Edward J. Carvalho
Indiana University of Pennsylvania Doctoral candidate in English Using grant for:
My upcoming journal about literature and cultural studies, The Acknowledged
Legislator Most proud of: Academic Freedom in the Post-9/11 Era, co-edited with David
B. Downing (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010)
(Indiana University of Pennsylvania)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Michael Certo
Columbia University Postbaccalaureate premed student Using grant for: School
(Carnegie Mellon University)
Linda Chamberlin
Columbia University Postbaccalaureate premed student Using grant for: A trip to
Zambia to volunteer in a rural health clinic
(University of Southern California)
Laura Christianson
Iowa State University Doctoral student in agricultural and biosystems engineering
and sustainable agriculture Using grant for: Nitrous oxide greenhouse gas sample
analysis
(Kansas State University)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Kaira Clapper
University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Spain Pursuing a master'sin teaching
Hispanic language, literature and culture Employed as anEnglish teacher at an
elementary school Using grant for: Living expenses
(University of Central Florida)
Barbara Mather Cobb
30. Page 30
2010 Love of Learning recipients. Phi Kappa Phi Forum December 22, 2010
Associate Professor of English, Murray State University Using grant for: Completion
of an article about bringing the work of 19th-century South Carolina enslaved
poet-potter Dave to middle and high schoolstudents
(Murray State University)
Martha Franquemont
Works for a microfinance program in Bamako, Mali Using grant for: Food and housing
during year of service Fantasy career: Owning a fair-trade coffee shop
(Bradley University)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Benjamin Franta
Harvard University Doctoral student in applied physics Using grantfor: Paleoclimate
research on Iceland's glaciers Satisfying community service: Archaeology in England
and Greece
(Coe College)
Janice E. Frisch
Indiana University Doctoral student in folklore Using grant for: Fieldwork on quilts
at United Kingdom museums
(Ohio University)
Tasha Randall Galardi
Oregon State University Pursuing a master's in human development and family sciences
Using grant for: Laptop computer Memorable course:A weekly sociology class at a state
prison. With 15 sudents outside and 15 inside, the course challenged my preconceptions
about crime.
(Oregon State University)
Betty (Ehrnthaller) Gavin
Family nutrition coordinator, Henry-Stark Extension Unit, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign Using grant for: Chaperoning 4-H teens to Japan Most proud of:
Obtaining a master's in adult education,human resources development, later in life
(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Matthew N. Giarra
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Doctoral student in mechanical
engineering, focus on fluid flows in biological and aerospace engineering Using grant
for: Travel to project sponsor's laboratory
(Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)
Andrea Harriott
University of Maryland, Baltimore Campuses M.D.-Ph.D. student Using grant for:
Research and travel
(University of Maryland, Baltimore Campuses)
Margaret Hattori-Uchima
Assistant Professor of Nursing, University of Guam Using grant for: Dissertation on
Chuukese migrant women in Guam and barriers to healthcare
31. Page 31
2010 Love of Learning recipients. Phi Kappa Phi Forum December 22, 2010
(Villanova University)
Christian V. Hauser
University of North Texas Doctoral student in music education Using grant for:
Attending symposia and music educator workshops
(University of North Texas)
Elizabeth A. Hazzard
Supervising consultant, transfer pricing services, BKD, LLP, a CPAand advisory firm
Using grant for: A course at the Kiel (Germany) Institute for the World Economy
(McKendree College)
Lori Hoisington
Michigan State University Doctoral student in human development and family studies
Used grant for: International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine Meeting in
Stockholm Satisfying community service: Therapy Dogs International
(Michigan State University)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Stephanie Hullmann
Oklahoma State University Doctoral student in clinical psychology Using grant for:
Dissertation on stress in parents of children with cancer
(Oklahoma State University)
Andrew T. Kamei-Dyche
University of Southern California Doctoral student in (modern Japanese) history Using
grant for: Dissertation research at National DietLibrary and National Archives of
Japan Fantasy career: Confucian sage
(University of Southern California)
Cara Killingbeck
Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis Pursuing a master's in library
science Using grant for: Graduate school Career objective: Children's or young adult
librarian
(Ball State University)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Albert H. Kim
Virginia Commonwealth University M.D.-Ph.D. student Used grant for: American Society
of Human Genetics Conference in Washington, D.C Memorable course: Advanced Anatomy
with Mrs. Bowman at Westlake High School, Westlake Village, Calif. We dissected
cadavers!
(Virginia Commonwealth University)
Catherine Klasne
University of Central Florida M.B.A. student Using grant for: Graduate school Fantasy
career: Blogger for an intelligent, respected celebrity Most proud of: My three
children (University of Miami)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Renee A. Knepper
32. Page 32
2010 Love of Learning recipients. Phi Kappa Phi Forum December 22, 2010
American University School of International Service Pursuing a master's in in-ternational
communication, emphasis in public diplomacy Using grant for: Graduate
school (Virginia Commonwealth University)
Anthony W. Knight
Superintendent, Oak Park Unified School District, Oak Park, Calif.Using grant for:
Marine Science Leadership Institute at USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental
Studies, for my school district leaders Influential person met: President Bill
Clinton when the school I was principal of won a National Blue Ribbon Award in 1993
(University of Southern California)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Gene Ko
San Diego State University Doctoral student in computational science Using grant for:
Graduate school
(San Diego State University)
A'ame Kone
Bowling Green State University Pursuing a master's degree in cross-cultural and
international education Using grant for: Research aboutdomestic servants in Mali Most
proud of: Integrating into a Malian village in Peace Corps service
(Bowling Green State University)
Brad Korbesmeyer
Associate Professor, Department of English and Creative Writing, State University
of New York-Oswego Using grant for: Research for my latest play, Twain's Last Chapter
(State University of New York-Oswego)
Erin E. Krupa
North Carolina State University Ph.D. student in math education Using grant for:
Dissertation Most proud of: Being captain of the Raleigh Venom, 2009 Women's DII Rugby
National Champions
(North Carolina State University)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Amber S. Kujath
University of Illinois at Chicago Ph.D. student in nursing Using grant for: Lab fees
Satisfying community service: Summer program for children with diabetes
(University of Illinois at Chicago)
Kyrstie Lane
Monterey Institute of International Studies Pursuing a master's ininternational
policy studies, with a focus on conflict resolution Using grant for: Graduate school
(University of Puget Sound)
Emily D. Langston
University of Missouri-St. Louis and Webster University Pursuing master's degrees
in curriculum and development and mathematics for educators Using grant for:
Conference (University of Missouri-St. Louis)
Tracy J. Lassiter
33. Page 33
2010 Love of Learning recipients. Phi Kappa Phi Forum December 22, 2010
Indiana University of Pennsylvania Doctoral student in English Used grant for:
Expenses when giving a paper at the International Comparative Literature Association
Congress in Seoul, South Korea
(Indiana University of Pennsylvania)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Rachel M. Latham
University of Montevallo Pursuing a master's degree in elementary education Using
grant for: Tuition
(University of Montevallo)
Shin-Young Lee
University of Illinois at Chicago Doctoral student in nursing Using grant for:
Dissertation about colorectal cancer screening for Korean-Americans
(University of Illinois at Chicago)
Jonathan Leiman
University of Montana Pursuing a master's degree in environmental studies Using grant
for: Textbooks
(University of Montana)
Adrian LePique
Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Pursuing two master's degrees: in music
performance (trumpet) and computer management information systems Using grant for:
Playing with my school's wind symphony at the World Association for Symphonic Bands
and Ensembles Conferencein Chiayi City, Taiwan
(Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville)
Christine Lesh
University of Southern Maine Pursuing bachelor's degree in nursing. Earned B.A. in
journalism in 2002 from Saint Michael's College Using grant for: Trip to the Dominican
Republic with school nursing program
(University of Southern Maine)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Ratessiea L. Lett
Mississippi State University Doctoral student in mechanical engineering Using grant
for: Supplies like an automatic desiccator with a hygrometer Influential person met:
Metalcasting visionary John Campbell
(Mississippi State University)
Ross A. Levesque
Duke University Ph.D. student in physical therapy Using grant for:Books and supplies
Satisfying community service: Alternative spring break at the Gesundheit Institute
for holistic medical care in Arlington, Va.
(University of Maine)
Honea Lee Lewis
Seattle University School of Law Law student Using grant for: Textbooks Fantasy
career: Founding partner, Lewis & Lewis
34. Page 34
2010 Love of Learning recipients. Phi Kappa Phi Forum December 22, 2010
(Western Washington University)
Jeremy Lipkowitz
Outdoor education teacher at a children's camp in Singapore Using grant for: Language
books
(University of California, Davis)
Tassi M. Long
Southern University Law Center Law student Using grant for: Books Career objective:
District Attorney's office, Ninth Judicial DistrictCourt, Rapides Parish, Alex-andria,
La. Fantasy career: Judge Judy
(University of Louisiana-Monroe)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Amanda Celine Longoria
University of Texas at Austin Internship in the Coordinated Program in Dietetics Used
grant for: American Dietetic Association Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo in Boston,
Mass.
(University of Texas at Austin)
Jennifer Louie
Looking for a position in student affairs in higher education Earned master's in
post-secondary educational leadership from San Diego State University in May Used
grant for: Student Affairs Administratorsin Higher Education regional conference
(San Diego State University)
Joe Louis
University of North Texas Doctoral student in plant biology Using grant for: Research
and professional meetings
(University of North Texas)
Echo Love
Intern (small-animal rotating) at San Francisco Veterinary Specialists Using grant
for: Books and meetings
(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Robert L. Lowe
The Ohio State University Doctoral student in mechanical engineering Using grant for:
Conferences
(Ohio Northern University)
Rachel A. Lowes
University of Florida Levin College of Law Law student Using grantfor: Tuition
Influential person met: Dinner with Clarence Thomas, U.S. Supreme Court Associate
Justice
(University of Missouri-Kansas City)
Michael Daniel Lucagbo
University of the Philippines Pursuing a master's in statistics Using grant for:
School (University of the Philippines)
35. Page 35
2010 Love of Learning recipients. Phi Kappa Phi Forum December 22, 2010
Amanda C. Lynch
Special education teacher, Patrick Henry High School, Ashland, Va.Finishing a
master's degree in special education Using grant for: Doctoral programs in special
education
(Virginia Commonwealth University)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Lee M. Malvin
University of Maine Pursuing a master's in social work Using grantfor: Books and
travel Favorite book: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (University of Maine)
Reshelle C. Marino
University of New Orleans Doctoral student in counselor education Middle school
counselor, Pierre A. Capdau- UNO Charter School, New Orleans, La. Using grant for:
Dissertation Influential person you'd like to meet: Bill Cosby
(University of New Orleans)
Aldo Martinez
Texas A & M University Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health
Pursuing a master of public health Using grant for: Graduate school Fantasy career:
Surgeon General
(Texas A & M University)
Jonathan D. McCann
Commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Australian National
University Pursuing a master of public policy, focus on economic policy Using grant
for: Graduate school
(United States Military Academy)
C. Bernard McCrary
Student development specialist, Columbus State University Using grant for: Ap-plications
to doctoral programs in higher education administration Most proud of:
Being the first college graduate in my immediate family
(Columbus State University)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Sean McGrath
Vivarium novum Academy, Rome, Italy Studying Latin and Greek for ayear Using grant
for: Airfare Further educational plans: Pursuing a doctorate in classical archaeology
(Lycoming College)
Darris Means
Assistant Director, Elon Academy, Elon, N.C. North Carolina State University Doctoral
student in educational research and policy analysis Using grant for: Graduate school
Most proud of: Being a first-generation college student in my family
(Elon University)
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Amanda Melenick