Sunday, September 02, 2007

Anatomy of a Tribal Revolt

This is an excellent article on tribalism and the security situation in Iraq today:

Some aspects of the war in Iraq are hard to fit into “classical” models of insurgency. One of these is the growing tribal uprising against al Qa’ida, which could transform the war in ways not factored into neat “benchmarks” developed many months ago and thousands of miles away. I spent time out on the ground during May and June working with coalition units, tribal leaders and fighters engaged in the uprising, so I felt a few field observations might be of interest to the Small Wars community. I apologize in advance for the epic length of this post, but it's a complex issue, so I hope people will forgive my long-windedness. Like much else, it’s too early to know how this new development will play out. But surprisingly (surprising to me, anyway), indications so far are relatively positive. Read the rest.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

As you indicate "excellent".

The author makes a lot of sense and builds an excellent body of knowledge upon which to measure "progress". As indicated, the situation is not easily defined, nor progress easily measured.

This makes it extremely easy for those with purely political agendas here in the US to demagogue. One can see already the "spinners" in action. WashPost received a "leaked" GAO (controlled by Democratic Congress) Iraq report ahead of the Congressionally mandated General Petraeus report.

Ron Ballew said...

Agreed, one of the best articles on the cultural background of what's going on.