CBC Radio interviews Vanessa Gezari
While the White House considers whether to send more American troops into Afghanistan, it's also being asked to send in more anthropologists and social scientists.
They're part of an experiment to help U.S. forces understand the place and the people they're dealing with.
Civillian academics are embedded with front-line soldiers to advise on local customs and politics.
It's called "The Human Terrain System" and it began in Iraq two years ago. Not everyone approves. And it's not without dangers. Three of them have been killed in action.