READY FOR TODAY – EVOLVING FOR TOMORROW
unconventional plan was actually utilising
the culture and symbolism of the local
customs, as each presentation was the
local and respected manner in which to
guarantee a person’s safety. Much to my
astonishment it worked and the following
week we held the conference. The
military solution, which we had originally
thought would be the only way forward,
with its inevitable loss of Danish life,
collateral damage and ensuing chaos
and violence, was avoided by the issuing
of two, locally made $2 shrouds.
Figure 1 – Iraq’s tribal areas. Each colour represents a different tribe indicating the inherent complexity for C2.
The conflict between the two tribes had
become not only a local issue, but also a
regional concern due to the exchange of
fire often blocking the highway between
the Baghdad and Basra. This made the
issue a top strategic priority.
Clearly the first priority was to solve
this problem, but the two tribes were
not willing to meet together to discuss
the issue, nor did they believe this was
an issue for external forces to involve
themselves in. We concluded that if they
wouldn’t meet that we would be forced
to take control of the situation ourselves.
As such we began to formulate a military
plan that we knew we were ready
and resourced to execute. However,
intelligence indicators found that one
of the tribes had at least 1,000 armed
men and the cost/benefit analysis of
taking this on immediately excluded any
conventional military solution. Therefore,
without the resources needed, nor a
functioning security force to support us,
we were at a dead end.
Surprisingly, however, this was not
enough to convince the two tribal
leaders to meet. It came to light that
their justification was concern about
their physical security at any proposed
meeting. To counter this, my Danish-Iraqi
colleague came up with what sounded
like an unconventional plan at the outset,
but was to become the much-needed
solution to the problem we faced.
He drove to the local bazaar to buy two
traditional Iraqi shrouds and, arming
himself with these instead of the more
traditional rifle, we visited each tribal
leader in turn, where upon this item of
clothing was presented as a gift. What
I didn’t realise at the time was that this
This meeting is a story in itself and
the success of this effort highlights
the importance of thinking outside the
box. Additionally, a further example of
how cultural understanding can create
positive outcomes was what happened
after the conference itself when I was
preparing to return back to base to lead
an anti-smuggling night patrol. Knowing
our convoy would need to pass through
the Garamsha tribal area to get to the
starting point of the planned patrol, I
extended an invite to them to join our
convoy, using the offer of free security
as a hook. My real motivation was to
use the journey time to have a talk
with the Garamsha leader who I had
offered a place in my vehicle, using the
opportunity to explain the good work
we were conducting in his district. He
agreed to join us and we commenced
our three-hour drive together, eventually
arriving in the Garamsha area where we
stopped to part ways. The tribal leader,
who was called Ahmed, had so far not
been the friendliest person I had shared
a journey with, hardly saying a word
the whole time. However, upon arrival
at his village he suddenly changed his
attitude. Upon exiting, he exchanged
a bombastic hello in Arabic and then
Luckily for us, amongst our team from
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was a
Danish-Iraqi man who had lived for more
than 20 years in Basra. Not only could he
converse in the local dialect, but he also
understood the culture and within this,
the local customs and norms.
We discussed with him the problem
we faced and he advised we arrange a
shura with the regional Sheik Board (a
traditional board with the most respected
regional leaders), and negotiate a
ceasefire agreement. The Sheik Board
accepted and supported the proposal.
A Shura with local tribal leaders that the author (centre), participated in.
ALLIED RAPID REACTION CORPS
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