The Anbar awakening: An alliance of incentives

Washington Quarterly

Volumn 32, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 43-59

  McCary, John A ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 71049151713     PISSN: 0163660X     EISSN: 15309177     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/01636600802544905     Document Type: Article

References (106)

1. Fouad Ajami, "You Have Liberated a People," Wall Street Journal, September 10, 2007, http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010610.
2. Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, http://icasualties.org/oif/Province.aspx.
3. Mark Kukis, "The Most Dangerous Place in Iraq," Time, December 11, 2006, http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1568724,00.html.
4. Amin Maalouf, The Crusades Through Arab Eyes (New York: Schocken Books, 1984).
5. James Carrol, "The Bush Crusade," Nation, September 20, 2004, http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0902-06.htm.
6. David Kilcullen, "Anatomy of a Tribal Revolt," Small Wars Journal (August 29, 2007), http://www.smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2007/08/anatomy-of-a-tribal-revolt.
7. Greg Jaffe, "Tribal Connections: How Courting Sheiks Slowed Violence in Iraq," Wall Street Journal, August 8, 2007.
8. Gordon Lubold, "U.S. Troop Fatalities in Iraq Drop Sharply," Christian Science Monitor, August 1, 2007, http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0801/p01s01-woiq.html.
9. Kirk Semple, "Uneasy Alliance Is Taming One Insurgent Bastion," New York Times, April 29, 2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/world/middleeast/29ramadi.html.
10. Greg Jaffe, interview with author, Washington D.C., July 2007.
11. Thom Shanker, "Marines Press to Remove Their Forces From Iraq, " New York Times, October 10, 2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/washington/11military.html.
12. Thomas Ricks, "Situation Called Dire in West Iraq," Washington Post, September 11, 2006, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/10/AR2006091001204_pf.html.
13. "U.S. Commander Points to Progress in Parts of Iraq," CNN.com, June 8, 2007, http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/07/petraeus.iraq/index.html.
14. Office of the Press Secretary, The White House, "President Bush Visits and Thanks Troops in Anbar Province," September 3, 2007, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/09/20070903-1.html.
15. Colin Kahl and Shawn Brimley, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," Foreign Policy, September 2007, http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3968.
16. Carlotta Gall, "Insurgents in Afghanistan Are Gaining, Petraeus Says," New York Times, September 30, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/world/asia/01petraeus.html.
17. Coalition Provisional Authority, An Historic Review of CPA Accomplishments, n.d., http://www.cpa-iraq.org/pressreleases/20040628_historic_review_cpa.doc (reviewing 14 months during 2003-2004).
18. Austin Long, "The Anbar Awakening," Survival 50, no. 2 (April 2008): 68.
19. Lt. Col. Michael Eisenstadt, "Tribal Engagement: Lessons Learned," Military Review (September-October 2007): 18.
20. Hussein D. Hassan, "Iraq: Tribal Structure, Social, and Political Activities," CRS Report for Congress, RS22626, March 15, 2007.
21. Edouard Conte, "Agnatic Illusions: The Element of Choice in Arab Kinship," in Tribes and Power: Nationalism and Ethnicity in the Middle East, ed. Faleh A. Jaber and Hosham Dawood (London: Saqi Books, 2003), pp. 16-19.
22. William McCallister, "Multi-National Forces-West Engagement Model" (paper, National Defense University, November 13, 2007).
23. Hosham Dawood, "The 'State-ization of the Tribe and the Tribalization of the State: The Case of Iraq," in Tribes and Power: Nationalism and Ethnicity in the Middle East, ed. Faleh A. Jaber and Hosham Dawood (London: Saqi Books, 2003), p. 118.
24. Kilcullen, "Anatomy of a Tribal Revolt".
25. Pierre Bonte, "Ibn Khaldun and Contemporary Anthropology: Cycles and Factional Alliances of Tribe and State in the Maghreb," in Tribes and Power: Nationalism and Ethnicity in the Middle East, ed. Faleh A. Jaber and Hosham Dawood (London: Saqi Books, 2003), pp. 61-64.
26. William McCallister, "The Iraq Insurgency: Anatomy of a Tribal Rebellion," First Monday, http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_3/mac/index.html#note6.
27. Mao Tse-tung, On Guerilla Warfare, trans. Samuel B. Griffith II (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1961), pp. 21, 92-93
28. David Galula, Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice (New York: Praeger, 1968), pp. 74-79, 110-115.
29. John Nagl, Learning to Eat Soup With a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lesson From Malaya and Vietnam (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002), pp. xi-xvii, 156-158, 191-212.
30. Bruce Hoffman, "The Leadership Secrets of Osama Bin Laden: The Terrorist as CEO," Atlantic Monthly 291, no. 3 (April 2003): 26-27.
31. David E. Kaplan and Kevin Whitelaw, "The CEO of Terror Inc.," U.S. News and World Report, September 23, 2001, http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/011001/archive_007715.htm.
32. Long, "Anbar Awakening," p. 77
33. Kilcullen, "Anatomy of a Tribal Revolt".
34. Lin Todd et al., "Iraq Tribal Study - Al-Anbar Governorate: The Albu Fahd Tribe, the Albu Mahal Tribe and the Albu Issa Tribe," Global Resources Group, June 18, 2006, ch. 3, p. 37.
35. Lin Todd et al., "Iraq Tribal Study - Al-Anbar Governorate: The Albu Fahd Tribe, the Albu Mahal Tribe and the Albu Issa Tribe," Global Resources Group, June 18, 2006 ch. 4, pp. 32-35.
36. Todd, "Iraq Tribal Study," ch. 4, pp. 19, 32.
37. Bing West, "Will the Petraeus Strategy Be the Last," Atlantic.com, September 17, 2007, http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200709u/petraeus-bing-west.
38. "Web Posting: Al Qaeda in Iraq Leader to Target Sunni Leaders," CNN.com, June 14, 2006, http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/06/13/alqaeda.iraq/index.html.
39. Kathleen Ridolfo, "Iraq: Al-Zarqawi Tactics Could Be Alienating Supporters," Radio Free Europe, August 19, 2005, http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/8/FEB8AE3D-4025-4940-AAEE-A9903776638A.html.
40. Emily Hunt, "Zarqawi's Total War on Iraqi Shiites Exposes a Divide Among Sunni Jihadists," Policy Watch #1049 (Washington D.C.: Washington Institute for Near East Policy, November 15, 2005), http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2400.
41. "Amnesty International Index: Systematic Torture of Political Prisoners," August 15, 2001, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/engMDE140082001.
42. Long, "Anbar Awakening," pp. 77-78.
43. McCallister, "Iraq Insurgency."
44. Anthony Loyd, "Murder of Sheikh Provokes Sunnis to Turn on al-Qaeda," Times (London), February 10, 2006, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article729206.ece.
45. "Al-Qaeda in Iraq's Assassination Campaign," Jane's Information Group, October 15, 2007, http://www.janes.com/news/security/terrorism/jtic/jtic071015_1_n.shtml.
46. "Al Qa'ida in Iraq Situation Report," n.d., http://ctc.usma.edu/aq/pdf/IZ-060316-01-Trans.pdf (captured al Qaeda document from the Combating Terrorism Center Harmony Database).
47. Long, "Anbar Awakening," p. 82
48. Mohammad Al Dulaimy and Hannah Alam, "A U.S. Ally in Iraq Is Murdered," McClatchy Newspapers, June 25, 2007, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/staff/hannah_allam/story/17347.html.
49. Todd, "Iraq Tribal Study," ch 4, pp. 28, 33
50. Antonio Castaneda, "Exiled Tribesmen Turns to Marines for Help after Trouncing by Insurgent Clan," Associated Press, March 2006, http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28043.
51. Al Dulaimy and Alam, "U.S. Ally in Iraq Is Murdered."
52. Al Dulaimy and Alam, "U.S. Ally in Iraq Is Murdered."
53. Jaffe, "Tribal Connections."
54. Mark Kukis, "Turning Iraq's Tribes Against Al-Qaeda," Time, December 26, 2006, http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1572796,00.html.
55. Long, "Anbar Awakening," p. 80.
56. John Ward Anderson and Naseer Nouri, "Baghdad Blast Targets Sunni Tribal Leaders," Washington Post, June 26, 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/25/AR2007062500319_pf.html.
57. "Key U.S. Ally in Fight Against Qaeda in Iraq Assassinated," Al Jazeera News, September 13, 2007, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/newsfull.php?newid=36721.
58. "Iraqi Insurgents Kill Key U.S. ally," BBC News, September 13, 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6993211.stm.
59. Long, "Anbar Awakening," p. 80
60. Mahan Abedin, "Anbar Tribesmen Take on al-Zarqawi," Terrorism Focus 3, no. 5 (February 2006): 3-4.
61. Jaffe, "Tribal Connections"
62. Kukis, "Turning Iraq's Tribes Against al Qaeda"
63. Ellen Knickmeyer and Jonathan Finer, "Iraqi Sunnis Battle to Defend Shiites," Washington Post, August 14, 2005, p. A1, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/13/AR2005081301209.html.
64. Todd, "Iraq Tribal Study," ch 4, pp. 19, 32.
65. Evan Kohlmann, "The Sunni Insurgency Has Become a 'Disaster,"' Counterterrorism Blog, http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/10/the_sunni_insurgency_has_becom.php.
66. "Iraqi Group 'Splits' From al-Qaeda," Al Jazeera News, April 12, 2007, http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/article/16414.
67. Sheikh Ali Hatem Ali Sleiman, interview by Al Jazeera television, July 23, 2007, http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/1547.htm.
68. Kukis, "Most Dangerous Place in Iraq."
69. Kim Curtis, "Ramadi, Iraq Claws Back From Ravages of War," MSNBC.com, October 2007, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21517052.
70. Ricks, "Situation Called Dire in West Iraq."
71. Ann Scott Tyson, "Troops Fight to Expand Foothold in Ramadi," Washington Post, August 2, 2006, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/01/AR2006080101733_pf.html.
72. Jim Michaels, "An Army Colonel's Gamble Pays Off in Iraq," USA Today, April 20, 2007, http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-04-30-ramadi-colonel_n.htm.
73. Jaffe, "Tribal Connections"
74. Michael Totten, "Al Qaeda Lost," September 24, 2007, http://michaeltotten.com (interview of Lt. Col. Michael Silverman).
75. Jaffe, "Tribal Connections."
76. Bill Gertz and S. A. Miller, "Iraqi Stability Growing," Washington Times, August 24, 2007, http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID_/20070824/NATION/108240091/1001.
77. Sam Dagher, "Sunni Muslim Sheikhs Join U.S. in Fighting al Qaeda," Christian Science Monitor Online, May 3, 2007, http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0503/p01s04-wome.html.
78. Galula, Counterinsurgency Warfare.
79. Nagl, Learning to Eat Soup With a Knife.
80. Muhammad Fanar Kharbeet (son of the late Sheikh Fanar Kharbeet of the Albu Khalifa tribe in the Dulaymi Confederation, interview by author via phone, November 2007.
81. For similar sentiments, see Jaffe, "Tribal Connections".
82. Totten, "Al Qaeda Lost".
83. Max Boot, "More News From Ramadi," Commentary, July 17, 2007, http://www.commentarymagazine.com/contentions/index.php/boot/657
84. Semple, "Uneasy Alliance Is Taming One Insurgent Bastion."
85. Michaels, "Army Colonel's Gamble Pays Off in Iraq."
86. See Totten, "Al Qaeda Lost."
87. Dagher, "Sunni Muslim Sheikhs Join U.S. in Fighting al Qaeda."
88. Greg Jaffe and Yochi Dreazen, "Can the Iraq 'Surge' Be Salvaged?" Wall Street Journal, May 31, 2007, http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118056694765119209.html.
89. Evan Moore, "Bush Defends Troop Surge Strategy Amid New Criticism," CNS News, June 29, 2007, http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2007/070629-surge-strategy.htm.
90. Some operations had begun by mid-June. Steve Bowman, "Iraq: U.S. Military Operations," CRS Report for Congress, RL31701, July 15, 2007, http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL31701.pdf.
91. Col. Sean McFarland and Maj. Neil Smith, "Anbar Awakening: The Tipping Point," Military Review (March/April 2008), http://usacac.army.mil/CAC/milreview/English/MarApr08/Smith_AnbarEngMarApr08.pdf.
92. Economist Intelligence Unit, "Iraq Country Report," September 2007, pp. 17-18, http://www.eiu.com/
93. Doug Smith and Saif Rasheed, "Sects Unite to Battle Al Qaeda in Iraq," Los Angeles Times, November 19, 2007, http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-concerned19nov19,1,5269673.story.
94. Erica Goode, "Friction Infiltrates Sunni Patrols on Safer Iraqi Streets," New York Times, September 23, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/world/middleeast/23awake.html.
95. Ramzy Mardini, "Uncertainty Facing Iraq's Awakening (Sahwa) Movement," Turkish Daily News, March 31, 2008, http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=99765
96. Karima Saifullah, "Iraqis Turning Against U.S.-Led 'Militias"' Al Jazeera News Service, October 10, 2007, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/newsfull.php?newid=43053.
97. "American Backed Killer Militias Strut Across Iraq," Sunday Times (London), November 25, 2007, http://timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article2937104.ece.
98. "Iraqi Government to Gain Control of Anti-al Qaeda Councils," CNN.com, September 4, 2008, http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/09/04/iraq.awakening.councils/index.html
99. "U.S. Should Stop Arming Sunni Militias-/PM Maliki," Reuters, June 22, 2007, http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSCOL751037.
100. Greg Bruno, "The Role of the 'Sons of Iraq' in Improving Security," Council on Foreign Relations Backgrounder, April 25, 2008, http://www.cfr.org/publication/16088/role_of_the_sons_of_iraq_in_improving_security.html
101. Mardini, "Uncertainty Cacing Iraq's Awakening (Sahwa) Movement."
102. Richard Tomkins, "Marines Build Ties in Anbar," UPI, November 23, 2007, http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Emerging_Threats/Analysis/2007/11/23/feature_marines_build_ties_in_anbar/5686.
103. Jack Fairweather, "Political Ambitions of Sunni Tribal Leader Worry Baghdad Elite," Financial Times, April 19, 2008, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/112332c8-0dad-11dd-b90a-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1.
104. Steve Simon, "The Price of the Surge," Foreign Affairs 87, no. 3 (May/June 2008), http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20080501faessay87305/steven-simon/the-price-of-the-surge.html.
105. McFarland and Smith, "Anbar Awakening: The Tipping Point."
106. Lt. Col. John Nagl, interview by author, Washington D.C., November 2007.