#The Clearing of the Mada'in

Adam L. Silverman, PhD*

In the comments to the recent post dealing with Iraq we had a good discussion pertaining to the Sons of Iraq and Sahwa movement, especially in regard to how they have been dealt with by the Government of Iraq during the run up to the 1999 provincial elections, in the run up to the 2010 parliamentary election, and since that election was finally resolved.  I have referenced the field work I did on behalf of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team/1st Armored Division in many of my posts on Iraq, as well as in comments to those and other posts.  Of all the forty-five formal, semi-structured interviews I did, only one focused solely on the Awakening Movement in the area, the formation of the Sons of Iraq, and the clearing of what would become our operating environment: Mada'in Qada. While the first article derived from these notes was published last July in the Cambridge Review of International Affairs, it only draws from and references the interview material as source and subject material.  I think that one of the best ways to get a window into the Awakenings is to simply post the interview that dealt solely with them.  For those that might have concerns: these are not raw field notes, rather they are transcribed interviews.  I have cleaned them up, included editor's notations in parentheses when appropriate, and in other transcribed interviews have obscured the identity of the subject of the engagement when asked to do so by that individual.  All of these forty-five formal interviews, as well as the dozens of more informal ones I conducted with non-elites, are unclassified and in this case (as in the majority of the formal interviews) I have written permission to attribute the interview to the subject I was engaging with. Before I get into the details I do want to thank my team mates, many of whom accompanied and assisted me with these engagements (Brian, Gene, Dana, Billy, and Larry - you are all the best), as well as the men and women of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team/1st Armored Division who kept us safe while we were doing our jobs; may they always Strike Hard!

The interview that follows was conducted between myself and Qais Shather Khmees al Jabouri. Qais, a retired Iraqi Army brigadier general, is also referred to as Sheikh Qais.  His cousin Sheikh Sammi Abbas al Jabouri is the Grand Sheikh of the Jabouris in the area.  Additionally, Qais is fluent in English and we conducted the whole interview in English.  In the interview Qais references a number of other individuals in the area - his cousin Mahmoud Jablowi who was killed by a formed IED placed in his car in the late Summer of 2009, Sayeed Khadum al Dinanawi from Nahrwan, and a variety of company, battalion, and brigade officers.  I will not identify the latter by name as they had all redeployed long before I conducted the interview, I know only a few of them (the battalion and brigade commanders), and do not have their permission to identify them.  The battalions that Sheikh Qais referred to are the 1st Battalion/15th Infantry Regiment, the 3rd Squadron/1st US Cavalry, and the brigade is the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team/3rd Infantry Division.  3HBCT/3ID was the first sustained coalition forces element in the area and the 2BCT/1AD replaced them in the Spring of 2008.

It is important to remember that Sheikh Qais told me what he wanted me to know.  While he was the subject of my engagement, I was also his conduit for getting his point of view back to my brigade commander, as well as to the battalion commanders that he routinely dealt with.  In 2010 Qais was elected to Iraq's Parliament as a member of the Iraqiyya List and subsequently went into hiding when PM Maliki's government, in an attempt to change the electoral plurality that Iraqiyya had achieved at the polls, issued a warrant for his and two other Iraqiyya members arrest.

Two final notes before we start: 1) I've tried to un-acronym most of this, but just in case: CF is coalition forces, GOI is government of Iraq, SOI is Sons of Iraq, IA is Iraqi Army, NP is National Police, and AQI is al Qaeda in Iraq and 2) because the interview runs five pages, I'm attaching it as a pdf file so it doesn't clutter up SST and push out other recent posts.

Download SST_The_Clearing_of_the Mada'in

* Adam L. Silverman is the Culture and Foreign Language Advisor at the US Army War College.  The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the US Army War College, the US Army, or the US Government

Comments

[LeaNder]

thanks, for letting us read this. The interview leaves a vivid impression.

Qais, a retired Iraqi Army brigadier general, is also referred to as Sheikh Qais.

Was he retired in the course of the disbanding of the Iraq army?
I seem to remember this was done, in the English entry on Wikipedia there isn't a whisper about this.

Were some of the former Iraq soldiers allowed to return? Former experienced soldiers allowed to train recruits? Or was it simply taken for granted that US private contractors will train better soldiers in 6 weeks?

[Adam L. Silverman]

LeaNder: My understanding is that he was retired prior to the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Several of the SOI leaders in the area, including the Shi'a ones, were former Iraqi Army of a variety of ranks. I have 1/3 of the interview with the Nidjadi in our OE where the sheikh actually brought in a cousin who is from the Difafa (they used to be one tribe) to tell it to us "like it is". The sheikh wanted us to hear it, but didn't want anything negative to accrue to the Nidjadi though. The cousin had been in the IA and I got a 45 minute earful about how much better things were under Saddam Hussein. And in my area both the Nidjadi and the Difafa are Shi'a

[William R. Cumming]

Question Dr. Silverman? Do you believe most in the Mahgreb and Arab world believe that US focus is now elsewhere [Iran for one example] and US interests will never intervene except to protect the Royals in Saudi Arabi? I you had to guess is that what the betting money is betting in these areas? Assume no US direct intervention under any circumstances unless Israel involved or Iran?

[Adam L. Silverman]

Mr. Cumming: I honestly have no idea. There is so much going on in these societies right now I'm loathe to even speculate. I will say that depending on how the US gets involved in Libya will likely have many wondering: why Libya but not (insert country here)?