Word: anbar
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...also true that al-Qaeda in Iraq is on the run. On Wednesday, the U.S. announced the capture of the highest-ranking commander of the group in Iraq. When the U.S. leaves, many Iraqis say, they can deal with the terrorists and their patrons more harshly. The Anbar Salvation Council has been aggressively targeting al-Qaeda in that province, denying it safe haven in places it once controlled with an iron fist. The Administration has boasted in recent weeks that the Sunnis in Anbar are attacking elements of al-Qaeda. So why would that end if the U.S. withdrew...
Another could come in the form of a lightning blitz of murders, most likely targeting the Sunni sheiks of Anbar province who've thrown their lot in with the Americans. Sheik Abdul Sittar, the leader of the tribal alliance in Anbar province, has already survived at least one suicide attack against him. A successful one, in conjunction with the killing or maiming of one or more of his fellow Sunni chieftains, could largely undo one of the biggest successes the Americans have had against al-Qaeda in Iraq...
...notable shift in the dynamics of Anbar province, which seemed lost to the insurgency as of late last year, has raised hopes that the same formula may make headway in Iraq's other troubled regions, especially Baghdad and Diyala province. But what's working in Anbar hasn't caught on nearly as much elsewhere and likely won't, at least not without the kind of negative repercussions that loom as a question mark over the Anbar enterprise...
...different in terms of its mix of tribalism and sectarianism. In predominately Shi'ite southern Iraq, tribal authority is weak these days. Militia leaders like Moqtada al-Sadr and religious figures such as Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani hold sway over sheiks. Diyala province is largely Sunni, like Anbar and Salahuddin, but not nearly as homogenous as those two western areas. And Baghdad, despite ferocious sectarian cleansing campaigns on both sides, remains a stronghold for both camps...
...strategy in Anbar was born of desperation and launched on the idea there was little to lose in a region where the insurgency's grip never fully loosened on cities in Anbar like Ramadi and Fallujah despite heavy fighting and high causalities by U.S. forces. "Right now there are no downsides to it," said Ambassador Lawrence Butler, who works on U.S. policy towards Iraq at the State Department in Washington. Butler said overall U.S. policy as of now aims to support the kind of tribal alliances U.S. forces have made in Anbar...