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 paid by the US military.
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 a 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.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite government has reluctantly supported these alliances, but demands the tribal militias come under state control to prevent future sectarian warfare.
Chilab, his sons and grandchildren were home on 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 Arab 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 on 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 4.5 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 mencriticized the clan's new alliance with American forces. The deal was seen as the only option to secure their homes and property.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
RSS