In this case ‘respecting the local culture’ very nearly got the GO commanding in Afghanistan killed. I wonder if this event at the start of his tour will enlighten him.You are correct about the social science groupthink poison. That is what Trump meant when he said he wasn’t sure how long Mattis would be around and that Mattis was a ‘sort of Democrat.” This crap has been percolating for decades. Forty plus years ago when I was in uniform it was clear that there were different disciplinary standards for white ND Black servicemen. I had a black roommate for a while. Pretty OK guy but he constantly brought whores in on weekends, I had a weekend overnight security job so most of the time I didn’t have to worry if he was caught. I asked him once (since he wanted to be career military) if he wasn’t concerned about the consequences of smuggling a non military female into his quarters. He said basically “No man, they will just send to the Social Actions Officer and he’ll bitch at me a little and that’ll be it.” Now this has morphed into subordinating unit readiness to political correctness about social and sexual deviants, ethnic thuggery and crackpot feminist grievance mongering. Officers, even senior officers that strongly buck the social justice league posturing risk ending their careers, even senior officers. At the O-6 and above level a couple of senior officers just tells the guy who isn’t playing well with others to”Just put your papers in and retire Jack. Your embarrassing yourself and us.” So people like Mattis have swallowed these turds and smiled for so long they don’t really seem like turds anymore and a guy like Trump really shakes him up when is told ‘Get rid of the trannies and the he/shes now not in ten years.”
This part of the military strategy was (Largely? Somewhat?) based upon the book “Three Cups of Tea”, by fraudster Greg Mortenson.