Uppvaknande?

En stor del i vad som framstår som framgång för George W Bushs truppförstärkning i Irak ligger i att general Petraeus hittat en metod för att vända irakiska väpnade grupper mot al Qaida. Lokala Awakening councils sköter en stor del av renhållningen, medan den kraftigt uppbyggda irakiska armén befäster ordningen och amerikanerna sköter större operationer.

Bloggen The Belmont Club fick nyligen ett mejl från en officer i Irak om hur den irakiska attityden förändrats på sistone.

The Iraqis in Anbar have completely rejected Al Qaeda. A while back I told the police chief in my town that I thought the reason the terrorists are weak is because their ideas have been rejected. He said,

"In 2002 and 2003, we thought Al Qaeda was just another Muslim group. Now, you can go far out into the desert and talk to even a shepherd, and he will tell you that he hates Al Qaeda. One hundred years from now, you will be able to go into the desert and talk to a shepherd and he will still tell you that he hates Al Qaeda."

Mejlet från officeren i Anbar handlar egentligen om något annat (om demokrati och islam) men det citerade stycket visar på en enorm förändring.

Men frågan är förstås om det som funkar (just nu) i Irak funkar på andra platser. Daily Times berättar att klaner i Pakistan nu har startat sin egen variant av The Awakening movement, för att bli av med talibanerna. Och deras syn på rättvisa känns ganska old-school.

After the killing of three levies personnel by local militants in Orakzai Agency on Saturday night, 18 tribes of the agency have decided to form a Lashkar (tribal army) against the Taliban to flush them out of the area, reported BBC Urdu on Tuesday.

A grand jirga of the 18 tribes was held in Ghuljoo, Orakzai Agency headquarters, on Monday morning, which was attended by around ten to fifteen thousand armed men.

Talking to BBC, head of Rabiakhel tribe Malik Zaman Shah said all tribes had unanimously decided not to give shelter to any militant in the area and any tribe breaching the pledge would be punished with Rs 10 million in fine and a hundred houses of the tribe would be burnt down.

(Tack för taliban-tipset, Peter!)