Posted on 10/18/2005 6:50:37 AM PDT by bnelson44
October 18, 2005: In Anbar Province, the large desert region in the western part of the country that borders Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, the government has apparently reached an agreement with several of the Sunni tribes to form a “Desert Protection Force.” The DPF will be recruited from tribal militias, who have an intimate knowledge of the desert, and the traditional – as in thousands of years – smuggling routes into the adjacent regions. Although it can be viewed as a bribe to the tribal leaders to keep their people in line, the initiative may yield important benefits in the future, since it links local tribal fortunes to the success of the new government.
Old customs die hard in Iraq, as they do everywhere. The final tally for the October 15 vote is being held up in several Kurdish and Shia districts because the numbers look suspicious. These areas are reporting 99 percent in favor of the constitution. Although these areas were expected (by opinion polls) to be solidly in favor of the new constitution, nothing, in a free vote, is ever 99 percent. The rule of thumb in politics is that, no matter how popular something, or someone, is, about twenty percent of the voters will vote no. But ever since elections were introduced to this area about 80 years ago, ancient attitudes towards tribal unity have encouraged the manipulation of results so that near unanimity was presented as the outcome. So here, even in a situation where the locals were voting in the direction many tribal leaders wanted, officials apparently felt compelled to doctor the results to show near total agreement. So the government is conducting a public investigation. It's unlikely anyone will go to jail, but offenders will be publicly lectured, and wrists will be slapped.
(Excerpt) Read more at strategypage.com ...
Now there's an idea - let's put the Apache and Commanche in charge of guarding the southern borders.
When I saw the headline, that's what I thought had happened! Conjures up all sorts of wild west fanatasies.
The Anbar Campaign - A Flash Presentation
Best enjoyed with speakers and broadband.,.....really outstanding!
And bnelson44 ...thanks for posting it!
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