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The U.S. Military has established alliances with Tribal Shieks.
The Tribal system is stronger than Sectarianism in Iraq. If a Tribal Shiek tells his Sunni Tribe to NOT kill Shia or U.S. Soldiers they LISTEN.
Win over the Sunni Tribal Shieks and Iraq has a chance to defeat al-Qaeda and win the peace.
Quote:
Sheiks meet, discuss progress
Tuesday, 19 June 2007
BAGHDAD – More than 60 sheiks from the Al-Rashid District held a meeting at the District Council Hall here Wednesday.
Sheik Faisel Karem Jabour Al-Saadi, the Al-Rashid District Council Sheik Council Chairman and Sabeeh Al-Ka’abi, the District Council Chairman, called a meeting to discuss sectarian violence, the progress of essential services and security issues.
The sheiks were asked to take the lead in their own security, said U.S. Army Col. Ricky D. Gibbs, commander of 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, who was requested to speak at the meeting.
Gibbs highlighted the gains made in the al-Anbar and Diyala provinces, against al-Qaeda and other terrorists, by Iraqis working in conjunction with Coalition forces.
“The people in Al-Anbar, Diyala and other areas of Baghdad are showing their courage by standing up to terrorists and improving stability of their provinces,” Gibbs said. “Together, you can do this.”
After asking how the 4th IBCT, 1st Inf. Div. could assist, Gibbs told the sheiks he couldn’t stop the violence without the influence the sheiks have over their tribes.
“I sat with [Iraqi] Maj. Gen. Abdul Ameer, [deputy commander of the Iraqi Karkh Command and the 6th Iraqi Army Division commander], one of the Iraqi Army’s great leaders recently and he said that it is the people who must rise against the terrorists and criminals who are harming Iraq,” said Gibbs.
According to Gibbs, while the Doura Market and the districts own advisory council are examples of success, more than $110 million has been spent on rebuilding Iraqi infrastructure.
“The market is a shining star for all the world to see,” he said. “It shows the Iraqi strength and resolve to push past the violence and reject terrorism.”
Gibbs also requested the sheiks to help in speeding up reconstruction efforts by “ensuring the workers on the projects are from your neighborhoods and keeping the contractors working.”
During the meeting, the attendees agreed to meet again with a better mix of Sunni and Shia sheiks present.
As security improvements allow local authorities to discuss the future of their areas, Coalition forces rely on the Iraqi citizens to help with reconstruction efforts in order to return everyday life to a state of normalcy.
(U.S. Army story by Sgt. 1st Class Robert Timmons, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division Public Affairs Office)
Wars are won with force. Keeping the peace is not.
The U.S. Military has figured out the Iraqi Sunni Tribal System and if the Tribal Shieks continue to see real rewards, through reconstruction and funding for their alliance, the U.S. Military will have a chance of winning the peace in Iraq!
It makes sense. Definitely a step in the right direction. Although the main problem is still how to divide the country among the Sunni, Shiite, Kurds. The immediate problem is whenever they start to make progress some radicals blow up another mosque and the religious killing flares up again.
It makes sense. Definitely a step in the right direction. Although the main problem is still how to divide the country among the Sunni, Shiite, Kurds. The immediate problem is whenever they start to make progress some radicals blow up another mosque and the religious killing flares up again.
I agree.
I guess this concept was developed by a U.S. Army Colonel and he was not supported and thought out of the box.
Quote:
An Army colonel's gamble pays off in IraqFRIEDBERG, Germany — When U.S. strategy in Iraq called for pulling American forces back to large, heavily protected bases last year, Army Col. Sean MacFarland was moving in the opposite direction. He built small, more vulnerable combat outposts in Ramadi's most dangerous neighborhoods — places where al-Qaeda had taken root.
"I was going the wrong way down a one-way street," MacFarland says.
Soon after, MacFarland started negotiating with a group of Sunni sheiks, some of whom have had mixed loyalties in the war. His superiors initially were wary, fearful the plan could backfire, he says. He forged ahead anyway.
Today, with violence down in Ramadi and the surrounding Anbar province west of Baghdad, MacFarland's tactics have led to one of Iraq's rare success stories. Al-Qaeda's presence has diminished as Iraqis have begun to reclaim their neighborhoods. And Army officials are examining how MacFarland's approach might help the military make progress in other parts of the violence-racked country.
Pentagon officials say the encouraging episode in Ramadi is a poignant reflection of shifting leadership tactics within the U.S. military, which is trying to develop a generation of officers who can think creatively and are as comfortable dealing with tribal sheiks as they are with tank formations on a conventional battlefield.
"You can't take a conventional approach to an unconventional situation," says Col. Ralph Baker, a former brigade commander in Iraq who is assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon.
The Army is training its officers to be more collaborative with non-military types and to be able to work with relief groups and local reporters, says Col. Steve Mains, director of the Center for Army Lessons Learned, an office based at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., that analyzes battlefield tactics and distributes its findings across the Army.
As shown by MacFarland, 48, such a pragmatic style can run counter to the traditional image of a hard-charging, swagger stick-carrying Army commander epitomized by Hollywood's version of Gen. George Patton. It's also an adjustment for a fighting force that has been armed and organized for conventional wars.
"There are big changes coming," Mains says. "It's not like we turned into a debating party. … It's just the way we try to draw in other people to get the other viewpoint." The military's new counterinsurgency manual makes clear that firepower is only part of the equation.
Mains acknowledges that in the current Army, "not every brigade or battalion commander has gotten that." He says MacFarland, whose brigade returned to its home base here in Germany in February, "really understood this is an argument between us and the insurgents."
This is true. Winning the peace in Iraq can NOT be done with a gun alone.
If this succeeds we can give credit to U.S. Army Colonel Sean MacFarland for being willing to take a chance, listen to Iraqis, and think outside the box.
I guess this concept was developed by a U.S. Army Colonel and he was not supported and thought out of the box.
This is true. Winning the peace in Iraq can NOT be done with a gun alone.
If this succeeds we can give credit to U.S. Army Colonel Sean MacFarland for being willing to take a chance, listen to Iraqis, and think outside the box.
Are you saying that Iraqis are logical? Preposterous! They're savages bent on our destruction!
Are you saying that Iraqis are logical? Preposterous! They're savages bent on our destruction!
Iraqis are very good people and are actually very Liberal.
Keep in mind Saddam Hussein allowed smoking and drinking in Iraq. So many Iraqis do not follow Islam fanatically and are very secular. That's why I think Iraq has a chance of a secular Democracy.
The minority of radical Iraqis get all the attention in the media unfortunatley.
Great post American. Unfortunately two more politicos fearing for their jobs, not giving a damn about success, piled on to get out of Iraq and leave the job not done. Looks like Bush was the wrong man for the job. Doesn't mean the job was wrong.
Great post American. Unfortunately two more politicos fearing for their jobs, not giving a damn about success, piled on to get out of Iraq and leave the job not done. Looks like Bush was the wrong man for the job. Doesn't mean the job was wrong.
I agree.
Bush will go down as one of the worst President's in history. Right behind Jimmy Carter.
Bush will go down as one of the worst President's in history. Right behind Jimmy Carter.
Mistakes were made in Iraq, as in any war. However, economically, Bush turned the 2000 recession into a growing economy, in spite of 9/11, by pushing through the tax cuts. So, I would consider him mediocre, in the middle tier of Presidents, above Clinton but below Reagan.
Mistakes were made in Iraq, as in any war. However, economically, Bush turned the 2000 recession into a growing economy, in spite of 9/11, by pushing through the tax cuts. So, I would consider him mediocre, in the middle tier of Presidents, above Clinton but below Reagan.
Well, the economy is in trouble, right now.
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