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U.S. Slow to Support Iraqi Tribes in Fight Against Islamic State
(Washington Post) David Ignatius - Iraqi tribal leaders have been warning since spring about the rise of the terrorist Islamic State and pleading for American help. But after months of slaughter, the U.S. is only now beginning to build an effective tribal-assistance program. The Albu Nimr tribe supported what became the U.S.-led "Awakening" movement in Anbar province. Back in October, I wrote about Islamic State fighters advancing on the tribe's ancestral home near Hit. Pleas to Centcom and the Iraqi military on Oct. 23 brought no aid, and the tribal fighters surrendered; over the next few weeks, several hundred tribesmen were killed. A retired U.S. Marine brigadier general who served in Anbar summarized the lesson for rolling back the Islamic State. "It's about trust, and trust can't be surged or instantaneously developed." Sunni tribal leaders say in interviews that they want to roll back the Islamic State, but they don't trust the Shiite-led government in Baghdad, and many don't trust the U.S.