thedrifter
07-02-07, 05:55 AM
Marines Woo Desert Tribes to Fight Al-Qaeda in Iraq's Wild West
By Daniel Williams
July 2 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Marines, searching for allies in western Iraq to fight al-Qaeda's global terror network, are recruiting and arming desert tribes, Marine and Iraqi officials say.
The drive to create an anti-terror police force from clans that roam the desert is centered around the towns of Ramadi and Fallujah, 50 miles (85 kilometers) west of Baghdad. Tribes in the barren region have eluded U.S. pacification efforts, and the area is used by al-Qaeda members to enter Iraq from abroad.
Tribal allies have a key advantage, said Warrant Officer Thomas Vasquez, who is in charge of training the auxiliary force around Fallujah: They know the desert, who belongs there and who doesn't. ``It's their neighborhood,'' said Vasquez, 34, a New York City native. ``In the `hood, it's the local guys who know what's going on.''
Officials in Washington have begun talking about reducing the current U.S. force of 150,000 troops in Iraq by next spring. Finding ways to get Iraqis to stop fighting Americans and each other and start battling al-Qaeda, headed by fugitive leader Osama bin Laden, has become an urgent goal.
Getting allies in this belligerent region at all is a difficult task. Fallujah is in Anbar province, largely populated by Sunni Muslims who felt dispossessed by the 2003 U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein, whom many considered a patron. In 2003 and 2004, inhabitants revolted against the American occupation and allied themselves with al-Qaeda, which was eager to assault U.S. forces in the name of holy war.
Al-Qaeda Killings
Marines conquered Fallujah in November 2004, yet al-Qaeda still roams the area. Iraqis and Marine officials say that al- Qaeda killings of Sunnis who cooperated with the U.S. or were deemed insufficiently anti-American have turned some Iraqis in the west against the organization.
``We don't want these people around us,'' Sheikh Hamis, a tribal leader, said in an interview in Fallujah. ``Some Iraqis wanted them to help end the occupation, but we found out they were our enemies.''
Colonel Richard L. Simcock, who commands Fallujah's 6,000- member Marine contingent, said Iraqis have come to believe that an American withdrawal from the country is only a matter of time. As a result, anti-U.S. feeling is abating, he said. ``They know we are going,'' he said in an interview at his headquarters. ``They want al-Qaeda to go too.''
Bombing a Funeral
Simcock said the May 24 suicide bombing of a funeral procession may have turned public opinion conclusively against al-Qaeda. The bombing, at rites for an assassinated policeman, killed 25 people. ``There's a strong revenge factor here, and people want to take revenge on al-Qaeda,'' Simcock said.
The policy to arm tribes has provoked controversy. On June 23, the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki issued a statement warning that any such program should be under strict state control to avoid creating renegade militias, according to a report on Al-Sumaria, an Iraqi satellite television station.
Shiite Muslims dominate the al-Maliki government, and Sunni-Shiite sectarian violence has caused thousands of civilian deaths. Numerous autonomous Shiite militias, not to mention Sunni insurgent groups, operate in Iraq.
Making security deals with tribes has had a checkered history. A U.S. congressional report published June 24 said payoffs to tribes to safeguard electrical grids had failed. ``Some tribes that were paid to protect transmission lines also sold materials from the downed lines and extracted tariffs for access to repair the lines,'' the report said.
Too Dangerous
Commanders of Marine Regimental Combat Team 6 in Anbar wouldn't allow visits to the tribal units, saying it was too dangerous to travel in the countryside.
Vasquez said the Provincial Security Force, as the tribal auxiliary is called, numbers about 200 men and will grow to 800. They receive 80 hours of training on how to search premises and make arrests. The training is less a factor than the cohesiveness of the tribes. ``It's a question of loyalty,'' he said. ``These are people who stand up for themselves.''
It's difficult to gauge whether the unit is having success. Al-Qaeda militants, when under military pressure, simply move on, said Major J.T. Taylor, 34, an intelligence officer with the Regimental Combat Team. Still, a shift in Sunni focus from resistance to the U.S.-led occupation and the Shiite-dominated government toward battling al-Qaeda would be a breakthrough, Taylor said.
``At this point, people do not like al-Qaeda around here,'' he said. ``They may not like us either, but at least it's a change.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Williams in Fallujah, Iraq at dwilliams41@bloomberg.net
Ellie
By Daniel Williams
July 2 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Marines, searching for allies in western Iraq to fight al-Qaeda's global terror network, are recruiting and arming desert tribes, Marine and Iraqi officials say.
The drive to create an anti-terror police force from clans that roam the desert is centered around the towns of Ramadi and Fallujah, 50 miles (85 kilometers) west of Baghdad. Tribes in the barren region have eluded U.S. pacification efforts, and the area is used by al-Qaeda members to enter Iraq from abroad.
Tribal allies have a key advantage, said Warrant Officer Thomas Vasquez, who is in charge of training the auxiliary force around Fallujah: They know the desert, who belongs there and who doesn't. ``It's their neighborhood,'' said Vasquez, 34, a New York City native. ``In the `hood, it's the local guys who know what's going on.''
Officials in Washington have begun talking about reducing the current U.S. force of 150,000 troops in Iraq by next spring. Finding ways to get Iraqis to stop fighting Americans and each other and start battling al-Qaeda, headed by fugitive leader Osama bin Laden, has become an urgent goal.
Getting allies in this belligerent region at all is a difficult task. Fallujah is in Anbar province, largely populated by Sunni Muslims who felt dispossessed by the 2003 U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein, whom many considered a patron. In 2003 and 2004, inhabitants revolted against the American occupation and allied themselves with al-Qaeda, which was eager to assault U.S. forces in the name of holy war.
Al-Qaeda Killings
Marines conquered Fallujah in November 2004, yet al-Qaeda still roams the area. Iraqis and Marine officials say that al- Qaeda killings of Sunnis who cooperated with the U.S. or were deemed insufficiently anti-American have turned some Iraqis in the west against the organization.
``We don't want these people around us,'' Sheikh Hamis, a tribal leader, said in an interview in Fallujah. ``Some Iraqis wanted them to help end the occupation, but we found out they were our enemies.''
Colonel Richard L. Simcock, who commands Fallujah's 6,000- member Marine contingent, said Iraqis have come to believe that an American withdrawal from the country is only a matter of time. As a result, anti-U.S. feeling is abating, he said. ``They know we are going,'' he said in an interview at his headquarters. ``They want al-Qaeda to go too.''
Bombing a Funeral
Simcock said the May 24 suicide bombing of a funeral procession may have turned public opinion conclusively against al-Qaeda. The bombing, at rites for an assassinated policeman, killed 25 people. ``There's a strong revenge factor here, and people want to take revenge on al-Qaeda,'' Simcock said.
The policy to arm tribes has provoked controversy. On June 23, the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki issued a statement warning that any such program should be under strict state control to avoid creating renegade militias, according to a report on Al-Sumaria, an Iraqi satellite television station.
Shiite Muslims dominate the al-Maliki government, and Sunni-Shiite sectarian violence has caused thousands of civilian deaths. Numerous autonomous Shiite militias, not to mention Sunni insurgent groups, operate in Iraq.
Making security deals with tribes has had a checkered history. A U.S. congressional report published June 24 said payoffs to tribes to safeguard electrical grids had failed. ``Some tribes that were paid to protect transmission lines also sold materials from the downed lines and extracted tariffs for access to repair the lines,'' the report said.
Too Dangerous
Commanders of Marine Regimental Combat Team 6 in Anbar wouldn't allow visits to the tribal units, saying it was too dangerous to travel in the countryside.
Vasquez said the Provincial Security Force, as the tribal auxiliary is called, numbers about 200 men and will grow to 800. They receive 80 hours of training on how to search premises and make arrests. The training is less a factor than the cohesiveness of the tribes. ``It's a question of loyalty,'' he said. ``These are people who stand up for themselves.''
It's difficult to gauge whether the unit is having success. Al-Qaeda militants, when under military pressure, simply move on, said Major J.T. Taylor, 34, an intelligence officer with the Regimental Combat Team. Still, a shift in Sunni focus from resistance to the U.S.-led occupation and the Shiite-dominated government toward battling al-Qaeda would be a breakthrough, Taylor said.
``At this point, people do not like al-Qaeda around here,'' he said. ``They may not like us either, but at least it's a change.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Williams in Fallujah, Iraq at dwilliams41@bloomberg.net
Ellie