...But I Wouldn't Want One To Marry My Daughter
Al Qaeda's efforts to insert itself into the Sunni tribes in Iraq apparently backfired:
The tactic of forced political marriages was standard for al Qaeda, according to Col. Kilcullen, used successfully in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia and elsewhere to "embed" the international terrorist network in the local kinship and tribal network.Iran and al-Qaeda? Michael Ledeen has said as much several times, but it's interesting to hear these guys saying it and acting on it.But in Iraq, he wrote, "the tactic seemed to have backfired," in part because the radical Islamist movement failed to appreciate Iraq's brand of Islam.
Forced marriages outside the tribe have never been culturally accepted in traditional Iraqi society, and tribal leaders resisted demands for such marriages. Al Qaeda operatives responded by demanding — often violently — such marriages, killing one sheik and brutally murdering the children of another.
"[Al Qaeda], with their hyper-reductionist version of 'Islam' stripped of cultural content, discounted the tribes' view as ignorant, stupid and sinful," the colonel writes.
The Sunni revolt was fueled by other factors. Al Qaeda terrorist strikes disrupted long-established smuggling and trade routes. Sunni tribal leaders also suspect al Qaeda has established ties to Shi'ite Iran in a bid to defeat the United States in Iraq.
Another interesting point raised by this article: Iraq's own intelligence services noticed the break between al-Qaeda and the Sunnis before we did. Sounds like some capacity has been developed there.