Two-part Associated Press series on Michael Bhatia, Pentagon's first social scientist killed in Afghanistan

Well, it's late, so I'll use this as a placeholder for now, but suffice it to say the Associated Press has written a two-part series about Michael Bhatia, the Pentagon's first social scientist to die in Afghanistan. Mike was a personal friend and old acquaintance. His humvee rolled over an explosive device back in May.

Here's a link, and the top of the piece:

Michael Bhatia, first of two parts

"One man’s odyssey from campus to combat
Michael Bhatia was on the frontlines of a Pentagon experiment

First of two parts

updated 2:29 p.m. CT, Sun., March. 8, 2009
MEDWAY, Mass. - On the overcast New England morning Michael Bhatia came home, nearly 400 of his colleagues, family and friends turned out to meet him.

Seven months had passed since Bhatia, a 31-year-old scholar in international relations from Brown University, hefted his pack across the tarmac at Fort Benning, ready to begin his sixth journey to Afghanistan.

Every trip had come with risks, but this one was the toughest to explain. No one questioned Bhatia's commitment to Afghanistan, but many disagreed sharply with the way he'd chosen to pursue it."

Another tragedy for Human Terrain

War entails death. That's true by definition. Doesn't make it easy, right or glorious.

So when I read this crap about a female social scientist being set on fire in Afghanistan by a guy who looked like a friendly local, I get sick to my stomach. This academic worked for the Pentagon's Human Terrain project, which in May claimed the life of an old acquaintance whom I loved and respected very, very much.

Wired article: Army Social Scientist Set Afire in Afghanistan

God, what a war.