In this isolated Taliban stronghold in eastern Afghanistan, American paratroopers are fielding what they consider a crucial new weapon in counterinsurgency operations here: a soft-spoken anthropologist named Tracy.

Tracy, who asked that her surname not be used for security reasons, is a member of the first Human Terrain Team, an experimental Pentagon programme that assigns anthropologists and social scientists to American combat units in Afghanistan and Iraq. Her team’s ability to understand subtle points of tribal relations has won the praise of officers who say they see concrete results.

Col Martin Schweitzer, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division unit working with anthropologists here, said that the unit’s combat operations had been reduced by 60 per cent since the scientists arrived in February, and that the soldiers were now able to focus more on improving security and health care for the population.

In September, US Defence Secretary Robert M. Gates authorised a $40 million expansion of the programme, which will assign teams of anthropologists and social scientists to each of the 26 American combat brigades in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since early September, five new teams have been deployed in the Baghdad area, bringing the total to six.

Yet criticism is emerging in academia. Citing the past misuse of social sciences in counter-insurgency campaigns, including in Vietnam and Latin America, some denounce the programme as “mercenary anthropology” that exploits social science for political gain. Opponents fear that, whatever their intention, the scholars who work with the military could inadvertently cause all anthropologists to be viewed as intelligence gatherers for the American military.

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