Making Tribal War Work for the U.S. in Iraq

Time Magazine - Making Tribal War Work for the U.S. in Iraq. Excerpt follows:

"...The Iraqis fighting alongside the Marines in Huseybah may have been familiar to both the U.S. forces and the insurgents. Many members of the Iraqi Army's Desert Protectors unit are from the al-Mahal tribe in the al-Qaim area. These men had fought against the Marines of 2/1 last year when U.S. forces first moved into the region. But after the Marines had left, the al-Mahal lost a tribal dustup with the Karabilah tribe, which had allied with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Al Qaeda in Iraq group. So, the al-Mahal were kicked out of Huseybah and the jihadis moved in. Now, the al-Mahal are back helping their erstwhile enemies, the Marines, drive out their tribal foe—most of the fighters resisting Operation Steel Curtain are presumed to be from the Karabilah tribe. Ubaidi, about nine miles east of Huseybah, is considered a stronghold of foreigners..."

Reminded me of the Kit Carson Scouts. Glad to see that we are finally exploiting this potential, and I hope for its success. There have been those who, for a while now, have advocated the implementation of such a program.

Bring Kit Carson Back to Baghdad, dated 9 Apr 04

Even further back, Max Boot, in his 16 Nov 03 NYT op-ed Lessons of a Quagmire, mentioned the Kit Carson Scout program as one of four that could possibly be implemented with success in Iraq. The other three were CAP (discussed at length already on this board), CORDS, and Phoenix.

VC Defectors Used as Scouts