Sunni Muslim sheikhs join US in fighting Al Qaeda

Amid fields of wheat and barley, dozens of armed men emerged along a dirt road leading to the fiefdom of the Bu-Fahed tribe in Hamdhiyah, an idyllic corner of restive Anbar Province, just north of Ramadi. "Welcome to our proud sheikhs. Down with terror," read banners on the road.

The meeting looked to be a typical gathering, but its true purpose was for top sheikhs to issue an ultimatum: quit supporting Al-Qaeda and turn in relatives belonging to the group.

Winning over the Bu-Fahed tribe was a coup. It had been one of Al-Qaeda's staunchest supporters, and traces its lineage to the birthplace of the puritan form of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism in the Saudi Arabian province of Najd. It formally threw its lot behind Sheikh Sattar.

Sheikh Abu Risha is the force behind the so-called Anbar Salvation Council of tribes against Al-Qaeda, which is now strongly backed by both the US military and Iraqi government.

Abu Risha's movement emerged last fall in what one sheikh described as the "Anbar Intifada," a reference to the Palestinian uprising against Israeli forces.

In posters prepared by the US military in Ramadi, Abu Risha is shown with his rifle slung on his shoulder and looming large over small masked men (meant to represent Al-Qaeda) fleeing in fear.

Soon thereafter, Abu Risha appears. He arrives in a motorcade of SUVs and police pick-up trucks bristling with machine guns.

The door of one of the vehicles is flung open. Abu Risha emerges wearing dark wrap-around sunglasses and dressed in the finest tribal attire.

In an interview later, he proudly pulls out a pistol from a holster tied around his waist. He says it was given to him by Prime Minister al-Maliki. His father and four of his brothers, he says, were killed by Al-Qaeda.

This guy means buisness

“On Iraqi national television, he has pledged his allegiance to Prime Minister al-Maliki — a Shia — and to the democratically elected Iraqi government. In an overt (and televised) gesture of his determination and solidarity with the Iraqi government, Sheikh Abdul Sattar sliced the palm of his hand with a knife and proceeded to pound the blade into the table before him.”

http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=NGI4ODY3ZGZmOGM1NGMwMWM3MjgwZDYxMWU5OTQ5ZTI

I believe part of the reason these Sunni tribes have crossed the line is that they now realize the present and future Iraqi government will be forced to represent all Iraqi regardless of religious/non-religous pursuasions.
We can look back in time to the operations carried out by US Marines and Army in al Anbar going under the name Operation Matador, where our forces started to routinely carry out a series of missions to rid northeastern al Anbar (mostly along the Euphrates river), of al Qaeda.
We had some of the Sunni tribes already coming on board. They where given hot line numbers for instance, to contact the Iraqi military to inform where al Qaeda where establishing safe houses, bomb factories etc..
The problem arose where after the US forces would take out a nest of goons, they would then leave.
That slowly has changed, as Iraqi have taken on the duties of establishing police units in those many towns, villages, and small cities.
Now as we are aware, even the al Anbar capitial ar Ramadi has turned around in a significant manner. Al Qaeda is simply no longer welcome.
So I see this as a natural progression. And with the word getting around that al Anbar probably has a lot of oil under it's ground, well, who's side would you rather be on. The side that offers nothing but misery or the side that will eventually provide the course to riches.
These sheiks aren't dumb. So it is natural at this point they have decided to change sides. Besides. GWB has no intentions of leaving Iraq. And as more US forces have moved into al Anbar, along with better trained Iraqi forces, these sheiks realize al Qaeda's days are numbered. So switch sides and join in and reap future profits.
Besides. Only the stupidest goons at this point would believe stories of US soldiers or Marines raping Iraqi women and killing their children.
The US forces have only demonstrated over a period of years, the fine art of killing terrorist groups and helping the locals out in many ways. And if anything, now Iraqi must realize the time US forces stay in their country is limited. So no one can use the excuse they are being occupied. To many Iraqi like the idea of this temporary occupation. Many of them have seen improvments in their lives since we have arrived on the scene.
Only real dopes would continue to support terrorist at this point. Even thinking radical Wahabist or Salafist type Sunni must realize we are pulling out once the country is stabilized, only leaving the world business community for the most part to make them rich if they play their cards right, with at most US special units staying in compounds away from the general public.
In short the US is no threat to any Iraqi that simply wants the country to become peaceful again. These sheiks have finally caught on to the magic formula. Play the game with the winning side.

Have you even looked at the number of attacks on US troops in Anbar the home of the Anbar Salvation Council? The attacks on US forces in Ramadi and Anbar in general have dropped like a rock. We are averaging one to two attacks on US troops a day in Ramadi while last year 50 attacks a day wasn’t uncommon.

If you don’t believe me just read whatCol. MacFarland the commander in Ramadi has to say.

MacFarland’s brigade initially struggled to build an Iraqi police force, a critical step in establishing order in the city.

One of the brigade’s officers went to visit Sheik Abdul Sattar al-Rishawi, a local tribal leader. The officer was shocked to see a gathering of 20-30 sheiks jammed into al-Rishawi’s home. Al-Rishawi was asked what was going on.

“We are forming an alliance against al-Qaeda,” the sheik replied, according to MacFarland. “Are you with us?”

MacFarland was. Now he needed to convince his bosses.

He says the results were immediate when a sheik pledged to support the alliance with the U.S. Army, an agreement some of the sheiks involved would grandly name The Awakening. “Once a tribal leader flips, attacks on American forces in that area stop almost overnight,” MacFarland says.

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,134179,00.html

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