Sahawah al-Iraq

Teflon Don over at Acute Politics has a good perspective on the impact the tribal awakening in Anbar Province can have and is having on counterinsurgency efforts here:

A nearby coalition unit reported hearing an explosion at 0444, and attempted to make comms with the overwatching unit. They were unable to do so, and a Unmanned Aerial Vehicle was dispatched to investigate. A Quick Reaction Force was sent to the scene when the UAV found two vehicles burning. QRF arrived at 0540 to find five dead and the other three missing.

No insurgent group has publicly claimed responsibility, and coalition forces are already scouring the area for the missing soldiers. The tribes of SAI (Sahawah al-Iraq, or "Iraqi Awakening"- formerly Anbar Awakening) have agreed to help in the search. If we find our missing boys, it will be a testament to the growing success in al-Anbar. The tribes have a native intel ability within their population that we simply cannot match. I hope it will help us bring them home. (permalink)

More on the tribal awakening here in a few minutes.