We saw this occur on multiple occasions. It was funny to see them advance a specific position for a while before the shura might break down into tribal and individual interest. As the meeting continued and we got deeper into tough negotiations, or the discussions began to break down, the leaders would pretty easily come back to their original points, especially if they were trying to present the facade of supporting the district governor, and display solidarity. Rehearsed consensus was what I jokingly called it.A Pashtun cultural expert can validate this, but I was always under the impression that shuras with foreigners and outsiders from the village were "show shuras" and that the real shuras, when the village elders got together before or after the "show shura", was where the real decisions were made.
There were also a few instances of a proxy "leader" presenting himself to us when making contact with target village that had previously seen limited visitation and contact from us or the previous unit. I had seen that in a cultural engagement handbook that I read before the deploy and carried with me.
ETA: The British paid a few visits down our way with some SOF troops, and I could swear I heard the term FIND, FEEL, INFLUENCE used during a few coordination meetings. I think that very appropriately describes the battle drill involved, much like Infanteer's comment about "Advance to Shura" used as a mission task.
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