IRAQ: The sheik decides

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He was charismatic, bright, a bit ruthless, and, above all, a businessman.

And when it became in his best interests to do so, Sheik Sattar Abdul Abu Risha in mid-2006 joined forces with the Americans against the insurgents who controlled much of Anbar province.

An insurgency was bad for business, the sheik reasoned. There was also a personal motive: his father and three brothers had been murdered by insurgents.

The Anbar Awakening Movement spread and lesser sheiks joined. In large measure, Sheik Sattar’s conversion from fence-sitter to ally helps explain how Anbar went from lost-cause to shining-example for the U.S.

In the April edition of Proceedings, the U.S. Naval Institute publication, veteran journalist Andrew Lubin credits Sattar, Army Col. Sean MacFarland, and Marine Lt. Col. William Jurney with the turn-around in Ramadi, Anbar’s provincial capital. The article. ‘Ramadi: From the Caliphate to Capitalism,’ explains both the delicate diplomacy and bloody street-fighting.

‘Thanks to Jurney, MacFarland and the late Sheik Sattar, Ramadi’s citizens, 99% of them Sunni, finally understand that their survival depends on banding together against (Al Qaeda) and their historic Shia enemies,’ Lubin writes.

Sattar met President Bush on Sept. 3, 2007, at the U.S. base at Al Asad. Ten days later the sheik was assassinated near his heavily-guarded compound. His brother, Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha, took Sattar’s place as the leader of the Awakening.

‘Unusual in the Middle East, where loyalty goes to the man and not the institution, Sheik Ahmed was successful in maintaining Ramadi’s charge toward reconstruction and governance,’ Lubin writes.

Lubin has made multiple trips to Iraq and Afghanistan. He’s the author of ‘Charlie Battery: A Marine Artillery Unit in Iraq.’

Tony Perry