How Long Is “Human Terrain”?

When the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, the ground war to take the country was swift and effective. However, the effort to re-establish Iraq and Afghanistan as democracies friendly to the United States has been a far longer, more difficult battle, as insurgency and violence against occupying a daily fact of life. With this in mind, American military and intelligence agencies began what they called "the Human Terrain System," in which anthropologists were embedded with U.S. troops, in part to help educate soldiers about the culture of the nation they're pledged to rebuild, and to also collect data for scientific research. Some have criticized the program, claiming the anthropologists are there largely to gather data on insurgent leaders to facilitate military raids and assassinations later on, while others regard the strategy as well-intended but ineffective. Filmmakers James Der Derian, David Udris and Michael Udris investigate this controversial new strategy in the documentary Human Terrain, which explores the science and the politics behind the Human Terrain System as well as the story of one anthropologist who joined the Army to participate in the program. Human Terrain was an official selection at the 2010 Hot Docs International Documentary Film Festival.