Tribal Engagement in Anbar Province: the critical role of special operations forces

Joint Force Quarterly, July, 2008 by Thomas R. Searle

While tribal engagement has helped U.S. and Iraqi forces dramatically improve security in Anbar Province, significant challenges remain. In late 2007, for instance, the province still lacked a functioning Iraqi criminal justice system. Though the new police forces can detain or arrest suspects, there was often no functioning court system or prison to hold convicted criminals. Here again the tribal system has been helpful because a sheikh can pay a fine" to have the arrested man released. To avoid having to pay a fine repeatedly, the sheikh will typically either force the released detainee to cease his insurgent activities or leave the area. In extreme cases, the tribe may even kill a member who repeatedly brings dishonor on it. Tribal justice is not a complete substitute for a modern legal system, but it has helped to fill the gap until a fully functional Iraqi justice system is in place in Anbar Province.

Tribal engagement has been crucial in driving international terrorists out of Anbar Province. The same methods are being employed in other provinces (17) to squeeze out Shiite death squads and al Qaeda terrorists. (18) On the whole, tribal engagement has proven to be a highly effective counterinsurgent and counterterrorist technique, and it might not be an exaggeration to say that if the U.S. effort in Iraq is ultimately successful, tribal engagement will almost certainly be a main reason. This makes it particularly important to understand what tribal forces can and cannot achieve militarily, politically, and economically. It is also important to find the right balance between engaging at the tribal and national levels.

Tribal engagement is another aspect of the irregular warfare that has been so prevalent since 9/11. While tribal engagement may seem like an approach that will only work in society that still has strong tribal and clan social structures, it is really just an example of the broader concept of societal engagement. Special operations forces are typically among the smaller elements in any given operational area, and as such, they have a particularly acute need to understand their operational environment, including the civilian society.

The basic premise of special operations societal engagement is to accomplish special operations missions (in this case, defeating the terrorists) by engaging the existing social structure (in this case, tribes). The cultural knowledge, foreign internal defense, and unconventional warfare training that special operations forces bring to the fight make them particularly well suited to perform tribal engagement (and societal engagement more generally), but other U.S. military forces and the broader interagency community have been essential to the success in this area in the past and will continue to be effective, not only in Iraq but also across the war on terror.

NOTES

(1) Office of the Press Secretary, "President Bush Visits and Thanks Troops in Anbar Province," September 3, 2007; Thomas E. Ricks, "Situation Called Dire in West Iraq: Anbar is Lost Politically, Marine Analyst Says," The Washington Post, September 11, 2006, A1.