These types of actions are challenged based on whether or not they follow the ethical code of conduct outlined by the American Anthropological Association (AAA). The ethnographic research method involves a cultural anthropologist integrating himself into the target population, with the aim of collecting data on local customs, economics and politics (Online Ethics 2013). These groups of anthropologists transmit the collected data to military superiors, who will then use the information obtained for counterinsurgency strategy in the Middle East (Online Ethics 2013). Many viewers object to the idea of anthropologists conducting field research with such a poor ethical framework. The American Anthropological Association has reported on this by stating that “ethnographic inquiry is driven by military missions, not subject to external review, in which data collection occurs in the context of war, integrated into counterinsurgency objectives, and in a potentially coercive […] ] can no longer be considered a legitimate professional exercise of anthropology” (Kolowich 2009). Anthropologists who carry out this type of fieldwork risk their lives to acquire this information, which neglects their right to protection in their profession (Online Ethics 2013). Evidently, HTS's failure to comply with these guidelines established by the AAA represents a problem for all anthropologists associated with this
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