On May 7, Michael Bhatia was killed when an improvised explosive device detonated under his Humvee in Khowst province, Afghanistan. The blast also killed two soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, but Bhatia was not one of them — he was a scholar, part of the Human Terrain System project that was advising the brigade in its efforts to quell the Taliban insurgency.

http://www.armedforcesjournal.com/2008/07/3569397

There have actually been quite a few write ups of Michael Bhatia's death and the HTS program, and the reaction in the blogosphere has been pretty vigorous. FYI, my understanding was that his doctoral work was formally in political science rather than in anthropology, which puts a minor twist on the broader controversy. We've got quite a few of the write-ups on our site, and we try to keep it updated with any new coverage of Michael's life, work and tragic passing.

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Michael A. Innes
Complex Terrain Lab