good news . wonder what it means for central authority though. having a local 30,000 man militia isnt exactly a step toward a unified iraq, if i understood the article
There is no central government authority in Western Iraq.
If you want to stabilize the country without the creation of local militias you would have had to send in a large number of US troops in 2003 or keep the Iraqi Army in tact.
Since we did neither we really don't have any choice. The stalemate we have had with al-Qaeda in Anbar has been maddening. This could finally break that stalemate.
And, if the US and the tribes break al-Qaeda we may be left with a militia, but this one unlike al-Qaeda won't be focused on causing a civil war or killing Americans.