Thirteen members of Sheik Faisal Chilab's family were slain by militants. The US military arrested him twice. Three of his four sons were detained too.
Chaos and fighting were so widespread he couldn't farm his land in this "triangle of death'' region south of Baghdad. His date palm groves went untended.
Sometimes he couldn't leave his home for days.
So, he struck a deal with the Americans. The Sunni Arab clan chief now has 500 tribesmen battling al-Qaeda in Iraq and Shiite militiamen. The US military pays them.
Chilab and his men, nevertheless, still view the Americans as occupiers, reminisce about the days of Saddam Hussein and are deeply suspicious of the Shiite-dominated government.
Pragmatism among Iraq's once-dominant Sunni Arabs explains the paradox.
But the new relationships US forces have built with one-time enemies are fragile and dangerous - constructed on the Middle East proverb "The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'' The short-term payoff, however, has been significant.
Two months after the 500-strong "Awakening Brigade'' began deployment at 10 checkpoints across the lands of Chilab's Saidat clan, residents move freely and are tending their fields.
Raids by US and Iraqi forces are now rare and about 30 families have returned after fleeing the district's extreme violence.
The use of tribal forces has significantly reduced violence in other areas as well. It began in Iraq's west - the vast Anbar province. As it spread to Chilab's region south of Baghdad, the concept made gains as well in Baghdad and adjacent Diyala province.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite government has reluctantly supported these new alliances, but demands the tribal militias come under state control to prevent future sectarian warfare.
Chilab, his sons and grandchildren were home Friday to receive well-wishers on the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr feast that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Over coffee, tea and a lunch of lamb, rice and salad, the Chilabs and their guests - all in robes and black-and-white checkered head coverings - spent four hours explaining to a reporter why they launched their "awakening'' movement, what they hoped to gain from it and why they found it necessary to ally themselves with the Americans.
They spoke of the hardships of their agricultural community - their torment at the hands of the Shiite Mahdi Army and al-Qaeda militants. They gave voice, too, to the divisive fallout in the community as a result of the new security arrangements.
Some of those gathered Friday carried AK-47 assault rifles, others had two-way radios.
"We want to reverse the marginalization of the Sunni Arabs and gain a bigger share of Iraq's wealth and political power,'' said Ahmed Ghazi, a veteran of Saddam's army.
"Our awakening is our response to accusations that we are terrorists,'' he said.
Saddam's name came up often, especially in comparison with the Shiite regimes that have run Iraq since the US invasion toppled the dictator just over four years ago.
None of the roughly two dozen men gathered in Chilab's large reception room praised the former dictator, but many said they missed the Saddam-era subsidies on fertilizer, seeds and machinery.
Regardless of their opposition to the US presence in Iraq, none of the men at the feast criticized the clan's new alliance with American forces. The deal was seen as the only option to secure their homes and property.
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