Rusted Sky

It doesn't fit the narrative.

Iraqi Sheik Offers To Take Fight to Bin Laden - June 9, 2008 - The New York Sun

WASHINGTON — The leader of the tribal confederation that has fought to expel Al Qaeda from most of Iraq's Anbar province is offering his men to help gin up a rebellion against Osama bin Laden's organization along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

In an interview, Sheik Ahmad al-Rishawi told The New York Sun that in April he prepared a 47-page study on Afghanistan and its tribes for the deputy chief of mission at the American embassy in Kabul, Christopher Dell. When asked if he would send military advisers to Afghanistan to assist American troops fighting there, he said: "I have no problem with this; if they ask me, I will do it."

The success of the Anbari tribal rebellion known as the awakening spurred Multinational Forces Iraq to try to emulate the model throughout Iraq, including with the predominately Shiite tribes in the south of the country. Today, the tribe-based militias formed to protect Anbaris from Al Qaeda are forming a political alliance poised to unseat the confessional Sunni parties currently in parliament in the provincial elections scheduled for the fall and the federal ones scheduled for 2009.

During his nomination hearing for taking over the regional military post known as Central Command, General David Petraeus said one of the first things he would do would be to travel to Pakistan to discuss the current strategy of the government in dealing with Al Qaeda's safe haven in the Pashtun border provinces. A possible strategy for defeating Al Qaeda would be an effort there along the lines of the Anbar awakening to win over the tribes that offer Osama bin Laden's group protection and safe haven.

"Al Qaeda is an ideology," Sheik Ahmad said. "We can defeat them inside Iraq and we can defeat them in any country." The tribal leader arrived in Washington last week. All of his meetings, including an audience with President Bush, have been closed to the public, in part because the Anbari sheiks, while likely to win future electoral contests, are not themselves part of Iraq's elected government.

More and more we're seeing Al Quaeda being pushed out and hunted down. As the people themselves grow to understand that Al Quaeda's NOT especially tolerant of anything other than a lock-step adherence to their brand of Islam, dealing death under the guise of 'help', they're looking for help in kicking them out.

And that help has to come from us. The EU won't do it. Russia won't. China might, but likely won't - they've got their own problems.

Soon we'll be having an election. If Obama gets in, I forsee a replay of 1975, with our military pulled out and support cut. If McCain gets in, he'll likely continue the job.

Shortly after 9/11, I figured this would be a generational war - not something that would be won or ended in a few years. Now, if we continue our support in an appropriate fashion (which doesn't include redeploying to Kuwait, or bugging out of Iraq, or any other scenario the anti-war crowd would like to see occur) we may see the end of militant, Al Quaeda-like Islam in just a few more years.

Do we have the will to endure? Or will we abandon the prize when it's within reach?

J.