It is great fun reading your article about the complexity of Afghanistan’s tribal structure, which baffles American and British commanders forever chasing after the Taliban (“In the Dark,” February 2, 2008). To begin with, Afghanistan is made up by Pushtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, Turkmen, Uzbeks, and others. Besides, there are some sixty Pushtun tribes and four-hundred sub-tribes. At any one time, many of the tribes and sub-tribes are at loggerheads, their alliances shifting all the time. No wonder the American army has eventually deployed anthropologists to help its troops understand the tribal dynamics. One only wonders why those anthropologists were not deployed much earlier—say, before the troops were sent to Afghanistan. Who knows, they might have advised against the invasion, as well.