Midweek Must Read: Updated With Some Killer War Porn, The Reaper Takes Flight.

This is a brilliant piece by counterinsurgency expert and advisor in Iraq and Afghanistan David Kilkullen writing for Small Wars Journal(hattip:Michael Goldfarb). He goes into the nature of Iraq's tribal culture and why they are so important to the success we have seen recently. It seems familial ties are stronger than nationalistic or even Muslim ones and AQ's version of Islam is strange to the locals and it quickly got ugly. Who knows maybe it was strategy to just let the thugs of AQ overstay their welcome and then come riding in as the good guy and save the populace from them winning the hearts and minds in the process. I don't know, but this is the best analysis I have seen when you combine it with Yon, Totten, Emmanuel, etc.

To understand what follows, you need to realize that Iraqi tribes are not somehow separate, out in the desert, or remote: rather, they are powerful interest groups that permeate Iraqi society. More than 85% of Iraqis claim some form of tribal affiliation; tribal identity is a parallel, informal but powerful sphere of influence in the community. Iraqi tribal leaders represent a competing power center, and the tribes themselves are a parallel hierarchy that overlaps with formal government structures and political allegiances. Most Iraqis wear their tribal selves beside other strands of identity (religious, ethnic, regional, socio-economic) that interact in complex ways, rendering meaningless the facile division into Sunni, Shi’a and Kurdish groups that distant observers sometimes perceive. The reality of Iraqi national character is much more complex than that, and tribal identity plays an extremely important part in it, even for urbanized Iraqis. Thus the tribal revolt is not some remote riot on a reservation: it’s a major social movement that could significantly influence most Iraqis where they live.

It is a little long but very worth the read if you are interested in what is really going on over in the sands of Iraq.
A breakdown on what Iran is doing can be found here also courtesy of Mr. Goldfarb and the Weekly Standard. The PDF analysis is here though very long by artcle standards it is well worth the time to read or save for future reading.
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I went on a beer infused head chomping of a fellow conservative blogger last night, somewhat out of character for me. He smacked me down in a well deserved e-mail this morning, I am not apologizing, just acknowledging the justified smackdown. Yes, I am a biased snob for American Supremacy and I am not going to let lefties overrun my comment section for the sake of discussions or disruptions that will change nobody's mind just to get more hits to the blog. I have an agenda and I will follow it. I have zero intentions of becoming a forum for loonbat lefty trolls to voice their views so I can get in endless, pointless arguments that descend into name calling and false accusations. I do my best to deliver facts and less publisized data with a little barnyard analysis on the side. I am not a journalist or writer just a concerned citizen and contractor that is self employed and a proud member of the GOP and the Conservative movement.I have a huge problem with whiners when the answer is obvious.
Update: War porn for us techheads, the Reaper launches!(hattip: Hot Air)

A subsonic unmanned 'F-16', is way cool war porn, hello Al Quaida, boom. We need this on our borders yesterday! Dang, I wish I was there, what an incredible life experience and our soldiers want to be there.

Way cool!