You may remember from the past couple weeks a series of stories about Sunni tribes working with U.S. forces in western Iraq (Anbar province) to fight against the al Qaeda presence there. This was hailed as a sign that U.S. forces can be effective in counter-terrorism operations, helpfully providing support for those who argue against redeployment.
Last week I started hearing rumors that a primary leader of those Sunni tribes had taken a bunch of money and skipped town. There was no reporting on it in English press, just Arabic media, but it's starting to filter through. Marc Lynch picks up the trail:
This story from al-Malaf is currently the talk of the forums: Sitar Abu Risha, head of the Anbar Salvation Council, has allegedly fled Iraq with $75 million that the Americans had given him to fight al-Qaeda. The story links his flight to the near-collapse of the Anbar Salvation Council over infighting among its leadership [and] claims that he simply never distributed the American cash to the fighters, who are now threatening to go on strike if they don't get paid. Seeing as how the Anbar Salvation Council has for months now been portrayed as the great American hope in the battle against al-Qaeda, if this story turns out to be true - a big if, given the shaky sourcing to this point - then it would be a rather embarrassing fiasco.As Lynch says, the sourcing is sketchy, and the story is unconfirmed, but even the fact that it's a pervasive rumor is a bad sign.
Sunni tribes will really turn against al Qaeda when they no longer have common cause to fight together against the U.S. In the meantime, maybe we should stop giving suitcases full of cash to corrupt leaders. Or at least check their travel itinerary first -- a one-way ticket to Jordan is probably a bad sign.
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