Tribal contributions to counterinsurgency
We blogged some about the tribal awakening taking place in Anbar Province earlier in the week, and I wanted to share a short vignette about a practical outcome of said awakening.
I visited one of our training centers for the Provincial Security Forces, or PSF. What these are are non-traditional security forces composed of tribesmen from the greater Fallujah area. When I went, a new class composed mostly of Iraqis from the Albu Issa tribe, on the sweeping tract of land running from just west of Fallujah just on the other side of the Euphrates all the way south to Amiriyah. This is the third class held so far.
These guys are being trained to become a legitimate sort of police auxiliary force, tasked with defending their tribal areas, fighting Al Qaeda in Iraq and other terrorist groups. Once made official, the plan is to have them funded by the Ministry of the Interior for weapons and gear, as well as receiving a paycheck from the Iraqi federal government, according to Maj. Mark Clingan, the operations officer for 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. I interviewed Maj. Clingan today and he had quite a bit of interesting information to pass along, most of which will be in a future post.
However, there was something he said that was very revealing and I feel sheds quite a bit of light on exactly what is happening, and why it is significant:
There really is in Al Anbar Province a huge awakening. You could almost call it a revolution where the Iraqi people are tired of the empty promises and lies of (Al Qaeda) and want to take back their own neighborhoods. The (indigenous counterinsurgency forces) which are growing up from the roots is an indication of that. By taking the ICF and turning them into PSF, now we’ve equipped them, we’ve given them the training and now we’re also legitimizing them and making them more of the process, and the local and national government recognizes them. (This recognition) includes funding from (Iraqi Ministry of Interior) and paychecks for individuals. It also puts them on the road to potentially becoming full-fledged (Iraqi Police), and also it means that they are able to act within the authority of the Iraqi government and sanctioned by the Iraqi government.
Things just feel
There is still significant work to be done, no doubt about that. Watch some of the cable news shows and read some of the mainstream papers. It would be difficult not to find an article about Anbar that does not discuss in depth precisely what is going on.
"Stay tuned" for more information forthwith on this topic.
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On one hand, they are maintaining the peace, and hoping for a more peaceful future without such violence, for the sakes of their families.
On the other, the insurgents think that they are traitors to race and religion, that they are supporters of the Americans thus branding them as munafiqs, and that can't be good for them once Americans leave.
It's not like that. It doesn't matter if they're branded "munafiqs" or not, they are already fighting Al Qaeda to begin with. The terrorists are not in positions of power anymore. The sheiks have been enabled to take over authority of the region; that's the whole point. They have the dominant position now, not the terrorists.
It would be like you being branded a traitor to air travel. Meaningless and insiginificant.
They may not have problems in Al-Anbar, but it is still worrying to think of such edicts. It sounds just like someone else, who said "either you're with us or against us".
No one denies Iraq is a complicated place. However, what we are trying to do is establish local forces capable of fighting off terrorists. To that end, we are greatly succeeding. And in that success we are forging a template for success in other parts of the country.
Like any organization, the sentiments in the Shia insurgency are not homogeneous. There are rifts and divides. There's a desire in most rational people for equilibrium. That is all we are trying to get done here in Anbar and in Iraq at large.
How did the killing of Allawi Al-Issawi and the subsequent suicide bombing of his funeral procession (I read in NY Times May 24) play out for your group? Much of the article was about Anbar Province and Fallujah. Naturally, I thought of all of you. It seems that some of the tribesman are in the Al Quada camp. Please take care of yourselves.
The ISF took control of the scene and surrounding area as they now hold the security for the city. More or less, we are in a supporting role.
The incident, while tragic, proves that Al Qeada in Iraq targets civilians. This is one of the main reasons that the local populace is ready to take on more of a security role, therefore they volunteer to be policemen or Provincial Security Force (PSF) members.
I met fellow contractor on the way out of Iraq who mentioned a high rate of conversion to Christianity, particularly among the women. I am by no means a religious man, and would rather see a more deist world than this widely split mess we have now (Muslim, Christian, Jew, etc). However, do you find that to still be the case with conversion rates?
Stay safe!