Navigating the 'human terrain' - Max Boot: US Marines' ongoing need for cultural awarenes

Max Boot has written an excellent article, in his weekly LA Times column, on the need for a broader understanding in the world around us,

We need smart people, not smart bombs — Americans who are familiar with foreign languages and cultures and proficient in such disciplines as intelligence collection and interrogation. Yet these are precisely the areas in which the U.S. government is the weakest.

Specifically, Boot focuses on the efforts of one Marine General "who as a combat commander in Iraq saw firsthand the need to enhance the cultural awareness of his own forces ... (beyond) "Culture 101" classes".