1 Cultural Understanding Cultural Understanding and Military
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Cultural Understanding 1 Cultural Understanding and Military Operations 1SG Eric A. Olerud United States Army Sergeants Major Academy Class #35 SGM Gary L. Ortega 31 July 2009 Cultural Understanding 2 Abstract In the past the United States has often placed its’ armed forces in a position to impose cultural change. Without a culture understanding of the population of a country or region, the actions taken by a military force will be perceived as hostile. It is the lack of cultural understanding that can prolong or even defeat military operations. The Reconstruction of the South and the Vietnam Conflict are examples of when a lack of cultural understanding resulted in the failure of the military to impose cultural change. The current war in Iraq illustrates how an increased understanding of a country’s culture can turn a near failure into a possible success. Cultural Understanding 3 Cultural understanding is the knowledge of the system of shared beliefs, values, customs, and behaviors of the population of a region or country. A lack of cultural understanding or the imposing of cultural change can prolong or result in the failure of a military operation. The United States has often used its’ military to impose cultural change without cultural understanding. Following the Civil War the South was in disarray. President Abraham Lincoln believed Reconstruction to be an executive function. Lincoln’s plan required the abolition of slavery as the starting point in the process of Reconstruction. The primary reason the Reconstruction of the South did not fully succeed was that Southern whites did not want change, especially freedmen, men who had been freed from slavery, participating in politics. The willingness of Civil War Confederate veterans to engage in violence against local and state governments in the South helped to overthrow Reconstruction’s achievements. It was this violence that led to the US Army’s entrance into Reconstruction. The US Army was the only organization large enough to engage in such an undertaking. Under the congressional plan of Reconstruction as set forth in the acts of 1867, the South was divided into five military districts each under a major general (Degler, N. 1984). The Army guided Reconstruction “On the point of a bayonet.” The deep seated culture of slavery and the fear of minority civil rights in the South was not recognized. Another problem that plagued Reconstruction was that it wasn’t understood that many Northerners held racist views. The North certainly did not welcome blacks into their society. Only five Northern states permitted blacks to vote at the end of the Civil War. Cultural Understanding 4 Public support for Reconstruction faded fast, and President Hayes decided to withdraw the Army from the previously Confederate states. This was a sign that Reconstruction had ended. In the decades to follow, blacks lost the few hard earned rights gained in the South through discriminatory legislation and unlawful violence. The Vietnam War was an example of the Unites States being able to win nearly every battle but in the end failed to win the war. The United States used the reason of preventing the spread of communism to enter into a war against the North Vietnamese. The United States thought it could go into South Vietnam and establish a democratic government. The prevailing view of the military and politicians was that with the United State’s technological advantage it could accomplish this mission in a quick and easy manner. The United States did not understand that the North Vietnamese had a long history of distaste for foreigners in their country. They had fought many wars to oust any outsiders from their country. The North Vietnamese understood that even if they never won a battle, they had the advantage of time on their hands. In the North Vietnamese culture, patience and casualties are the price paid to win a war. The North Vietnamese realized that as they continued to prolong the war the will of the people of the United States would eventually wane, and the military would not be able to sustain the war. Karl von Clausewitz had a theory called the “Remarkable Trinity”. The trinity consists of the People, the Government, and the Military (Villacres, 1995). Although each part of the trinity is seldom equal, it is the cohesive application of all three that results in success. The North Vietnamese were able to combine the respective strengths of their people, government, and military. Cultural Understanding 5 In contrast, the United States relied almost entirely on the military aspect of the trinity and failed to get the support of its people and eventually lost the government’s involvement. The United States invaded Iraq for several reasons. Iraq was accused of manufacturing chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Saddam Hussein was suspected of harboring Al-Qaeda terrorists and abusing Iraqi human rights. The Bush administration assumed if it overthrew Saddam Hussein’s regime, the remaining civil government and thankful population would lead to the establishment of a democratic government. What was not understood was the culture of the Iraqi people. The Iraqi’s are not a homogenous group. The country consists of opposing tribes and religious sects. After the invasion and removal of Saddam Hussein’s central government, these tribes and religious sects began warring amongst themselves. This violence soon spilled over to the United States led forces and opened up the country to Al-Qaeda operations. Instead of the establishment of a democratic government, the invasion turned into asymmetric war and a war of Iraqi insurgency. Instead of saving Iraq, the U.S. was seen as a hostile occupying force. The lack of cultural understanding at the individual Soldier level also produced many unfortunate and deadly consequences. Montgomery McFate points out examples of cultural misunderstanding in his article, “The Military Utility of Understanding Adversary Culture.” According to McFate (2005), “There were also problems at roadblocks. The American gesture for stop (arm straight, palm out) means welcome in Iraq, while the gesture for go means stop to Iraqis (arm straight, palm down).” (p.44) This and similar misunderstandings have had deadly consequences. Cultural Understanding 6 Commanders in the field recognized the lack of cultural understanding was hampering their military operations. Any cultural understanding gained by commanders and their Soldiers was lost as units rotated out of Iraq. The new unit rotating into the country had to basically start all over again. In 2006, U.S. Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) took command of a program called the Human Terrain System (HTS). The beliefs of HTS are: achieving national security objectives is dependent on understanding the societies and cultures in which we are engaged, the use of social science is necessary to and legitimate in military operations. HTS believes that the U.S. military can reduce the need for and negative repercussions of lethal force (Human Terrain Systems, 2009). The Human Terrain System consists of Human Terrain Teams (HTT). The HTT’s mission is to increase the ability of the Army at all levels to better understand the local populace that they live with and operate among. The impact of HHTs has been positive. There has been decreased lethal operations, improved course of action development/analysis, and improved situational awareness (Human Terrain Systems, 2009). Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s argument against cultural understanding is most apparent in his statement when he claimed, “the United States is strong enough to do as it wishes with or without the world’s approval and should simply accept that others will envy and resent it” Nye, J. Jr. (2004). The disregard for cultural understanding by the Secretary of Defense and the Bush administration led to the instability in Iraq following the invasion. The adoption of the Human Terrain System and its positive impacts prove that cultural understanding cannot be ignored. Cultural Understanding 7 An absence of cultural understanding was the undoing of the Reconstruction of the South and prolonged the Vietnam War until it was no longer supportable. Iraq represents the latest example of the United States using its military to impose cultural change without the cultural understanding of the country. The United States now clearly recognizes the importance understanding the culture of Iraq. The United States will continue to face conflicts based upon ethnic, cultural, or religious issues. From the national strategic level down to the individual Soldier level, the success of military operations in these conflicts will be the direct result of the understanding of the culture of our adversary. Cultural Understanding 8 References (2009, January). Human Terrain Systems. Retrieved February 11, 2009, from http://humanterrainsystem.army.mil/default.htm Degler, N. (1984). Out of Our Past; The Forces that Shaped Modern America (3rd ed.). New York, HarperCollins McFate, M. (2005). The Military Utility of Understanding Adversary Culture. Joint Forces Quarterly, (38), 44 Nye, J. Jr. (2004) The Decline of America’s Soft Power. Foreign Affairs, 83(3) http://www.foreignaffairs.org/2004/3.html Villacres, E., & Bassford, C. (1995) Reclaiming the Clausewitzian Trinity. Parameters, 25, 9-19. .