It's the Tribes (merged thread)

[Hacksaw]

I'm with Slapout.... where is the teaser beyond - I know something you don't?

I'm intrigued... I'd say the approaches that tribeguy describes have been the focal point of the Seminar that the USA/USMC COIN Center has pitched for the past 3.5 years (problem is that as cursory as that treatment is... 7 days) but that approach is not universally adopted across training/education entities...

So.... Tribeguy, help us help you, if what you have to sell is unique and helpful... loosen the copywrite strings a little and let us read and think about your approach beyond a few leading questions...

I love the smell of sunflowers in the morning... it smells like... summer

[slapout9]

I'm with Slapout.... where is the teaser beyond - I know something you don't?

I'm intrigued... I'd say the approaches that tribeguy describes have been the focal point of the Seminar that the USA/USMC COIN Center has pitched for the past 3.5 years (problem is that as cursory as that treatment is... 7 days) but that approach is not universally adopted across training/education entities...

So.... Tribeguy, help us help you, if what you have to sell is unique and helpful... loosen the copywrite strings a little and let us read and think about your approach beyond a few leading questions...

I love the smell of sunflowers in the morning... it smells like... summer

Yea, there is another best seller out called Tribes by marketing expert Seth Godin and your sales tactics seem to mimic this book

[tribeguy]

Alcon:

I appreciate your concerns, but a chapter or two out of my book isn't going to get you where we all need to be.

I do post things on my blog at www.theiraqiarabtribalsystem.com, but I am not sure that anybody (anthropologist or not) is really going to understand the fullness of it without some basics that come from actual Iraqi Arabic Tribal scholarship. That's why I wrote the book. We, on the whole, have a partial understanding of the importance of tribes and their relationship to all things relevant in Iraq. This concerns me a great deal.

And I'm not saying that I understand the fullness of it - after having briefed the commander of MND South, as well as a variety of other senior level officers, however, the universal response has been "I wish we would have known about this five years ago." So, while I think most are pursuing a greater understanding of the tribal system, I believe that we are limited by the way that we approach the subject - through our western prism.

For example, Tom posted the idea that he studies the tribes as it is necessary. Well, what Tom believes is necessary might differ substantially from what is actually required. Also, what I think is necessary might be overstated, and it might also fall short. I think that we all need to remain very curious about this subject. Tribalism is one of the most powerful currents in Iraqi history, not just post-Saddam. There are reasons for this that need to be understood before we start trying to put tribalism in some kind of conceptual box. Tom has stated in other posts that tribalism and sectarianism are both important, and I agree with that. There are many scholars that believe that sect and tribe are separate issues - and they are not. The question then becomes, where does tribalism and sectarianism intersect.

That's why I ask the question: what are the noble tribes in Iraq, and what is their role in.....well, everything. It's a subject of study - and it is not something that I can answer even in the most longwinded post here.

Some of the topics that are most germane in the book are: 1) the Arabic Naming Convention and its Application to Tactical Tribal Analysis, 2) the sub tribal naming convention and its application to tactical and strategic tribal analysis, and 3) the identification and management of Iraqi tribal hegemonies at the national, regional, provincial, Qadha, and Nahiya Levels and 4) The relationship between the democratic model of government and the tribal system and who this empowers, and also who it automatically disenfranchises.

Having been involved in operations at the ground level for four years, I am confident that our collective understanding of this (including anthropologists) is insufficient and thus doesn't bring us the really important data that we need to incorporate into our strategies from the corps level to the company level.

That being said, I pose the questions to Tom, as he works for MND-C: What is the relevance of Sunni noble tribes to events on the ground in Baghdad province, from the the FOR to the present? What is the connection between Sunni noble tribes and the insurgency (based on open source stuff only).

I presented some of the answers to this to the class that I gave yesterday. I am so grateful to them for bearing with me through this.

The book is very inexpensive in comparison to the thousands of dollars that I have spent amassing Iraqi and other arabic tribal research. My heart tells me to give the book away, but my wife disagrees. So, I made the book inexpensive, and I trust that everybody else who has written a book that they believe is important would and has done exactly the same thing. Further, writing the book has cost me a substantial amount of money. The copies that I have were the ones that I had to purchase. I'm not in this for self promotion, nor am I in this for the money. I am also not in this to go further into debt. I am sure that anybody can understand this.

Besides, the issue at stake here is the tribes and our efforts in Iraq. I have something to contribute beyond my book, and so does everybody else. Buy it, or don't. But let's talk about the tribes, eh?

What I will do for free is post my provincial analysis of tribal balances of power in Iraq, the data from which was translated directly from 'Abd 'Aun Al-Rudhan's "Encyclopedia of Iraqi Tribes," Dar Al-Ahaliya L-Al-Nashar Wa Al-Tawzi'a, 2007. I am in the process of completing this analysis, and hope to have the intial results by this Friday.

The database that I put together on this allows for me to drill down to Qadha and Nahiya levels as well. My intentions are to build a model of Iraqi society, including the government with the tribal system as its base. Now, this is a top down approach that I hope will assist those who operate in theater in understanding the connections between events on the ground and the broader strategic picture in terms of tribalism and politics.

It's going to take some time, and since this is all going to be open source without the nuisance of copyright issues, I'll be pleased to share it with those who care to actually use it.

That being said, the tribal picture isn't comprehensible without a disciplined approach to the sub tribes vis a vis the sub tribal naming convention- which is the Arab convention, and not our western model. I have found that the Arab method is much more easy to understand, and allows us westerners to distinguish between the thousands of sub tribes that have exactly the same first names.

As for giving what I know without asking the leading questions, I disagree. The questions are the most important thing. Once those questions are understood, I think that everybody is going to own this subject. And that is my goal - that we all own it. The leading questions aren't for me to answer. They are for everybody to answer. I don't have all the answers. I do have some questions that have led to fruitful answers, but those answers aren't permanent, as the tribal system and politics are dynamic. So, the questions are key, and have to be asked and studied on an ongoing basis.


Hacksaw - I am in Leavenworth. Contact me at sam.stolzoff@gmail.com, and I'll send you my contact data. I'd be pleased to help you, now that you mention that you are at the COIN Center. That goes for others who are in Leavenworth. I have a lot of presentations put together that cover topics that are germance to your efforts, may add some nuance to what you already have, and some methods and applications that you all might not.


Thanks for all of your input.

Tribe on!

V/r,

tribeguy