Finally!! How to win the Iraq war.

American forces too soft on terrorists, says Iraqi sheikh
AFP ^ | May 15 2007 | Dave Clark

The key to saving Iraq from the scourge of Al-Qaeda is to subject captured fighters to the swift and deadly rule of tribal justice, according to the leader of a powerful new armed movement.

Sheikh Hamid al-Hais leads the Anbar Salvation Council, the paramilitary wing of a coalition of Sunni tribes from Iraq's western desert, and he has a simple message for his new American allies in his battle with the insurgents.

"I always tell the Americans 'Why detain the enemy? Leave him to me, don't detain him,'" he chuckled during an interview with AFP in a Baghdad hotel.

Murderers must be killed under tribal law and unless we use this force against terrorism, terrorism will continue to rise."

The Salvation Council is part of a movement called the Anbar Awakening run by Sheikh Abdulsattar Abu Risha, whose alliance of tribal leaders united against the threat posed to Anbar province by Al-Qaeda's militants.

"The Americans don't know the terrorists like we do. A very dangerous terrorist was freed by the Americans and our police captured him," he said.

"We asked him during the investigation, 'Why did the Americans release you, you are very dangerous?' He said, 'I told them just two lies and they believed me and they set me free'," Hais recounted. (Just like our immigration policy!!!)

"There's no way to cure them, they have to be killed."

"Put 10 officers from Anbar on one side and 10 from other regions of Iraq on the other and you will see that they are the fiercest, because of the desert environment in which they have lived," he said. [snip]

Since October, sheikhs have funnelled thousands of tribal fighters into the police and "emergency response units", which now fight alongside US and government forces while retaining their loyalty to their sheikhs.

The US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, describes the change of mood in Anbar as "almost breathtaking", and Hais proudly recounted a series of victories won by his fighters in wresting back territory from Al-Qaeda.

To finish the job, he wants more money and weapons and a free hand to impose rough justice on the enemy fighters that fall into his hands.

"We have 500 prisoners right now. We have our own prisons. There are Egyptians, Libyans, Syrians but most of the foreign fighters were killed during the clashes. Most of the prisoners are Iraqis."

These jails, he said, are guarded by "police units that we have formed from the tribes."

"We investigate very quickly. We already have all the information. We don't need long investigations. We have a very well organised security staff. We don't make any mistakes when we target anyone," he said.

"Security is our speciality. We have 1,600 officers, graduates of military and security colleges and academies. We have the skills but we still need funds and weapons. We must have authority, full authority, and enough funding."

After four years of fierce fighting but little political progress in Anbar, US commanders welcomed the rise of the Council with enthusiasm.