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Search - Confronting al Qaeda: The Sunni Awakening and American Strategy in al Anbar

Confronting al Qaeda The Sunni Awakening and American Strategy in al Anbar
Author: Martha L. Cottam, Joe W. Huseby

By 2004, al Anbar Province in Iraq was one of the most dangerous places for American forces in Iraq. The province, which represents one-third of Iraqi territory, was wracked with violence committed by Iraqi national insurgent groups and increasingly by al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). Yet by the spring of 2005 a dramatic change began as the Bedouin tribe... more »s of al Anbar began gradually to resist AQI and join forces with American Army and Marine forces. This turning of the tide began when the Albu Mahal tribe launched an attack against AQI in the district of al Qaim. This was the initial volley in what would become known as the Sunni Awakening. It reflected a profound shift in the Sunni tribes? strategy that ultimately resulted in close cooperation with American forces in an effort to rid al Anbar of AQI.

The tribes were being targeted by AQI, were increasingly marginalized by politicians in Baghdad, and were being disarmed by US-led forces, which they viewed as disrespectful intruders who had no desire to work with them. Their decision to engage, in a united front, militarily with AQI and then to partner with US forces was a very risky strategy. They knew this would result in the deaths of many tribal leaders and members as they fought AQI.

American forces also underwent a change in strategy between 2004 and 2005, recognizing that their initial tough approach to the Sunnis backfired and produced insurgency. The American military forces gradually developed a new counterinsurgency strategy for al Anbar and began to encourage cooperation with the tribal leaders. They developed a relationship in which the US forces would provide training for police and army members, help build schools, restore electricity, irrigation, and many other facilities. In exchange, the tribes provided recruits for the army, police, and intelligence while they fought AQI in the al Anbar region. This alliance proved highly effective in combating AQI and in reducing the insurgent violence. By 2008, AQI was severely damaged in al Anbar and the province was relatively peaceful. Exiles began to return and the Sunnis participated more fully in the political process in Baghdad.

Based on in-depth interviews with tribal Sheiks involved in the Awakening and their American military counterparts, the book is a study of decision-making process and the political psychology of the Sunni Awakening in al Anbar. It traces the change in American military strategy that made the Awakening collaboration between the Sunni tribes and the US forces possible. It explains how the evolution of the tribal leaders? perspective and of the American military strategy led to defeat AQI in al Anbar. The process of these changing mutual images is detailed as well as how the cooperation between groups led to further evolution of perceptions. Political and military realities urgently forced these perceptual and social identity shifts initially, but the process of cooperation and engagement accelerated these shifts through increasingly mutually beneficial cooperation and interaction during the battle with AQI.

Today, ISIS has retaken the capital city of al Anbar Province, Ramadi, and the Sunni willingness to make great sacrifices for al Anbar and Iraq as a whole seems to have evaporated. By explaining a key event that changed the course of the Iraq war, the book provides essential insight into the evolution of thinking behind this conflict that will need to be dealt with if the conflict is to ever be resolved.

ISBN-13: 9781442264854
ISBN-10: 1442264853
Publication Date: 3/16/2016
Pages: 150
Rating:

0 stars, based on 0 rating

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Book Type: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
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