Word: anbar
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Opponents of the SOFA want the U.S. military to leave Iraq sooner than the 2012 deadline that al-Maliki is pushing for. But many of the sheiks are leaders of the Awakening Councils, the U.S.-funded paramilitaries that helped drive al-Qaeda out of Anbar. They - and thousands of their men - receive salaries from the U.S. military, and they don't want their paymasters to leave any sooner than absolutely necessary...
...scene rarely witnessed by foreign eyes: a meeting of the great sheiks of Iraq's Anbar province, at the heavily guarded compound of the powerful chieftains of the al-Hais family, on the outskirts of the provincial capital. Some 300 tribal elders have gathered here, most of them in traditional garb, and much of the morning has been taken up with the elaborate Arab rituals of salutation. Every newcomer must greet every person already present with handshakes, hugs and kisses - on the cheek to show friendship, on the shoulder for respect. Then there are the endless cups...
...make the wait more bearable, the hosts, Sheik Mohammed al-Hais and his brother Hamid, have laid on some traditional entertainment. A small group of line dancers (all men, naturally) sing paeans to the might and valor of the tribes of Anbar. "Throw us on the enemy, and watch them flee," they chant, to the accompaniment of drums. In centuries past, this is how tribal armies psyched themselves up for battle. (See pictures of Anbar sheiks coming together...
...there is a possibility of splitting Pashtun tribes away from the Taliban in the south of Afghanistan. "But we have to do it through the Karzai government," a senior officer told me, referring to the fact that the Army had acted independently of the Maliki government in creating the Anbar Awakening. "That is one lesson we've learned from Iraq...
Bush has no hope but to heal himself. As the price of oil floated downward, as Iraq's Anbar province, formerly a charnel house, returned to local control, as another September arrived with no cities flooded or towers destroyed, his vital signs improved slightly. Too little and too late for this political cycle, but beyond that lie the low hills of Texas, out of the storms, and a quiet wait for history's verdict...