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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ManyMoose who wrote (63071)	11/6/2007 12:59:35 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

Well she could provide bad advice, and bad advice could get people killed. However since the objections that are being raised by others in her field are more moral/ethical than practical (not "you provide bad advice and caused problems", but "you shouldn't be doing this" or "your helping the army that's wrong"), I assuming, at least of the sake of analyzing their objections and responding to them that the advice is good, or at worst neutral. She might be helping to identify the bad guys, but I think its more of just helping to create an understanding of how to deal with the locals and their particular customs and opinions. How to avoid offending people who are "good guys", or who are considering going either way, or who you just don't know. In counter-insurgency getting the people on your side is big. They know what's going on. Most people won't be actively fighting on either side. The question is are they going to give you information, stay neutral and say nothing, or give the other side information. Getting on their good side in important. Al Qaeda in Iraq got on the bad side of many Sunni sheiks. That's helped us a lot. We don't act like Al Qaeda, but still its good to learn how to avoid causing lesser offenses, even if they are as small as seeming rude.