Anatomy of a Tribal Revolt (SWJ Blog) Anatomy of a Tribal Revolt (SWJ Blog)

An excellent review of what is happening right now in Iraq: Anatomy of a Tribal Revolt (SWJ Blog). It looks at why the situation throughout much of, in particular, Sunni Arab Iraq has swapped so markedly over the last six months, with most of the tribes switching from helping al Qaeda to essentially declaring blood feud against them, and joining us against them.

One big point is that the insurgency ratio can be changed much more rapidly and markedly by swapping insurgents to our side than by surging troops.

But there are a lot risks remaining, as the article points out.