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2009-04-25 Iraq

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Posted by Steve White 2009-04-25 00:00|| || Front Page|| [2 views ] Top

#1 That's just dumb.
You piss off a tribal chief and suddenly all of your terrorist network is toes up in the desert somewhere with a pig bladder pulled over their heads.
We turned the corner in Iraq when we starting using the tribes as a resource.
The terrorists treated the tribes like targets of opportunity...you would think an Arab would understand the tribal network...but...NOOOOOO, these psychopaths lack both common sense and rational thought.
Now they have really done it.
Things might change in Mosul pretty quickly when the chief and his minions get their revenge for this.

Posted by James Carville 2009-04-25 12:14|| 2009-04-25 12:14|| Front Page Top

#2 It's a bit more complicated than that, Carville.

The Shamar clan is indeed large. It was also highly influential under the Ba'athists and were one of the Arab tribes that were moved into Mosul, displacing Kurdish families and landowners.

The Shamars were widely believed to have sheltered members of Saddam's inner circle when they returned from Syria to heat up the insurgency after having fled when we invaded.

Both the Kurds and the Shi'ites therefore have strong reasons to consider an attack on that clan chieftain's family. It's also possible this was Sunni Arab on Sunni Arab since there were fractures among the various elements of the insurgency even before the surge of US troops.

Add in issues regarding oil rights in the Mosul area and things get complicated indeed.

Posted by lotp 2009-04-25 15:01|| 2009-04-25 15:01|| Front Page Top

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