Democracy Grows in Anbar

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Democracy Grows in Anbar
January 22, 2009
International Herald Tribune

Here in barren Anbar Province, the tribes that were once the main source of support for killing American soldiers are running in provincial elections that, in the best case, could fulfill American promises to create stability in Iraq by the ballot box.

But two weeks from the voting, in Anbar it appears that the ancient tribal way of doing business is on a collision course with the new ideal of democracy. Anbar is where the U.S. military enlisted tribal leaders and former insurgents to create the Sunni Awakening, fostering a calm that rippled around Iraq.

Now the tribes are jockeying to gain or maintain power, and people here complain bitterly that the machinery of democracy is gilding corruption, internal rivalries and an intense feudal instinct that regards elected office - unthinkable under Saddam Hussein - as a chance for a bigger cut of provincial resources and security forces.

"It's a mess," said Sheik Amer Abdul-Jabbar, an elderly and ailing tribal leader from Anbar Province, respected among some as the wise "prince" of Anbar but derided by others as an opportunist who is eager to lend his tribal credentials to the highest bidder.

Around Iraq, the provincial elections scheduled Jan. 31 are viewed as a landmark moment to reshape, and make fairer, local politics. Many Sunni Muslims boycotted the last provincial elections, four years ago, and as a result are underrepresented in local councils in many parts of the country. These elections will fix that, the United States hopes, while its own military and political power in Iraq wanes.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/democracy-grows-in-anbar.html?col=1186032310810