Word: tribalization
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...Sean MacFarland, the commander of U.S. forces in Ramadi, knows another powerful man when he sees one. MacFarland understood immediately the sway Sheik Abdul Sittar holds in Ramadi when he met the tribal leader for the first time in August. "The walls were just lined with guys in the sheik robes," MacFarland says, describing the scene at Sittar's compound when he arrived for a formal meeting with the sheik shortly after assuming command in the area. Among Sittar's guests that day were local police officials who often fail to turn up for meetings called by the governor...
...been looking for local allies to help with the fight since they arrived in the summer as Ramadi became an urban battleground. Seemingly from nowhere Sittar, the leader of the Albu Risha tribe, volunteered himself - and the thousands of followers loyal to him. Shortly before MacFarland met Sittar, a tribal alliance led by the sheik had come together and issued a manifesto denouncing al-Qaeda in Iraq and pledging support to American forces. MacFarland had heard about Sittar and his movement, which the sheiks call the "Awakening." And after a few meetings with Sittar, MacFarland felt he had a friend...
...MacFarland's goal may indeed be in reach, but forging alliances with tribes to achieve it brings its own risks. For hundreds of years, tribal sheiks in western Iraq have skillfully played politics with powers who've arrived in their region. The campaign the United States is waging now in the sandy expanses of Anbar Province probably looks similar to the struggles waged there in the past by the British and the Turks in the eyes of at least some of the tribesmen who surround Sittar. And the United States may be doing itself more harm than good in long...
...None of this is to say Sittar is a particularly bad character among the many tribal leaders in western Iraq. His is a fairly typical profile of the chieftains who've lived for generations as the dons of the region. In person, Sittar is personable, even likeable. A compact man, he sits erect and chops his hands in the air as he speaks. Welcoming all manner of guests, he'll hold court for hours in his house, which sits right outside the main U.S. base in Ramadi. Sittar makes sure his visitors are never without tea or a cigarette...
...American presence, not in spite of it. U.S. commanders tasked with clearing Ramadi, the latest insurgent hub in Anbar Province, aren't looking to assault the city with U.S. troops. They want local security forces instead to retake the city gradually. And in recent months a group of tribal leaders in Anbar Province has been working with U.S. forces in that effort, forming a coalition of sheiks who have sent hundreds of their followers to join the Ramadi police force as well as the Iraqi army...