Preliminary results from voices of the Mada'in
A tribal history and study of one of Baghdad's six rural districts
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12240369 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Adam L Silverman (October 6 University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 223-236 |
| Publication date | 2010-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Cambridge Review of International Affairs (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0955-7571 • E-ISSN: 1474-449X |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09557571003735360 |
| OpenAlex | W1973672523 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
From July to October 2008, Human Terrain Team Iraq 6 (HTT IZ6) undertook an oral tribal study and social history project in Mada'in Qada, Iraq. During that four-month period IZ6 formally interviewed over forty tribal leaders. At the same time team members participated in humanitarian assistance operations with internally displaced persons (IDPs), as well as regular citizens of the region. In both the formal, elite-level interviews and the participant observations, four major themes became apparent: (1) The tribal law, written or oral, is often generally perceived as codes, covenants, and/or constitutions. (2) The tribal legal system and the tribal courts are an adversarial and remedial/restorative justice mediation system. (3) The Government of Iraq (GOI) is perceived as being under foreign influence. Members of the GOI are commonly referred to as Iranian agents, Iranians, Zoroastrians and/or fire worshippers (Mithraites) by both Sunnis and Shi'a alike. And (4) the dispute between Sunni and Shi'a is predominantly about resources, not religion. The purpose of this article is to describe the task order for the project, describe the oral history project itself, discuss the research challenges that arose in a semi-permissive environment, present the preliminary findings and tie them into the reality of the ongoing Counterinsurgency Operations in Iraq. Notes 1 I wish to thank the US Army's Human Terrain System (HTS) for generously funding this research. I would also like to thank my team mates for their support and assistance with this project: Captain Brian Notario, Mr Gene Martinelli, Mr Lawrence Rice, Mr Billy Krieger, Jr and Ms Dana VanWagner and in addition the two journal editors whom I have worked with, Josef Ansorge and Oliver Lewis, as well as the three anonymous reviewers. Your suggestions and comments have made this a much better article. This paper is dedicated to the memories of my colleagues Mr Michael Bhattia, Ms Nicole Suveges and Ms Paula LLoyd of HTTs AF1, IZ3 and AF4 respectively, my teacher and mentor Sergeant First Class (ret) Terry Caldwell, and to my friend Captain Gregg Dalessio, Civilian Military Officer of the 2nd Battalion/6 Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team/1st Armored Division, who made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of the US and for the people of Afghanistan and Iraq. All views, opinions and conclusions presented in this research are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect views of HTT IZ6, 2BCT/1AD, the US Army's HTS, the US Army Training and Doctrine Command or the US Army. 2 My Arabic language training, some 14 years out of date, was in Egyptian Arabic, which was suitable for introduction and simple conversations, but not for conducting a full-scale set of interviews over a four-month time period. 3 While we believe, based on the preponderance of reporting in the media, scholarly articles and books that this is a correct understanding of General Garner's intended approach, we recognize that there is an ongoing dispute, led by former leaders and members of the CPA and their supporters, regarding General Garner's qualifications, capabilities and intentions. 4 Sayed Kaddhum is not a sheikh per se. Rather he is the most senior person in the Dinanawi sub-tribe of the Musawi tribe in Nahrawan, Iraq. He is also the local SOI leader and the most powerful person in that part of the OE. 5 The Nijadi are Shi'a in Mada'in Qada, but due to the actual religious dynamic virtually all Iraqis are related to members of the other religious sect; not all Nijadis in Iraq are Shi'a. For greater details on this, please see the next section. 6 This was not the first time we had heard something like this. The Difafa leadership had told us that Ayatullah Hakim, the leader of The Supreme Islamic Council for Iraq (SIIC), was a Zoroastrian and a number of IDPs, both Sunni and Shi'a, had mentioned the Iranian connection. 7 From email correspondence with Professor Juan Cole, 24 August 2009. 8 Tuwafaq is the Iraqi political party that is the equivalent of the Muslim Brothers. 9 The American Civil War differed from the English and Continental Civil Wars in that it was not a fight over who would govern. Rather it was a revolutionary attempt to break away and form not only a new government, but a new nation-state. As such it is more appropriately understood as either a revolution or a rebellion
Criminology · Elite · Government (linguistics · Oral history · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Anthropology · Anthropology: Ethics, History, Culture · Health and Conflict Studies · Law · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Public Administration
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |