Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 2, Issue 1, Fall 2016 | Page 112

Global Security and Intelligence Studies - Volume 2, Number 1 - Fall 2016
Review of Confronting Al Qaeda: The Sunni Awakening
and American Strategy in Al Anbar
Martha L. Cottam and Joe W. Huseby, with Bruno Baltodano (2016). Confronting Al
Qaeda: The Sunni Awakening and American Strategy in al Anbar. Rowman & Littlefield
Publishers. ISBN: 978-4422-6485-4 (Hbk), 978-1-4422-6486-1 (Ebk). 150 pages.
Confronting Al Qaeda: The Sunni Awakening and American Strategy in Al Anbar
by Martha Cottam, Joe Huseby, with Bruno Baltodano is an excellent analysis on the
Sunni Awakening during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The book is well-researched and
presented with sound critical analysis. Perhaps the greatest strength of the book is
the incorporation of image theory. Image theory is used in International Relations
to evaluate perceptions, and in this case, it is primarily used to explain the tribal
perceptions of Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI, later ISIS) and the American military in Al
Anbar.
Cottam, Huseby, and Baltodano discuss the evolution of the Sunni tribes in
Al Anbar province from the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003 through the period of
the Awakening to the resurgence of ISIS. The authors clearly demonstrate that while
the tribes had affiliation with Saddam Hussein prior to the war, it was not a case of
supporting the former regime. The initial policies implemented by the transitional
government hurt the image of efforts of the United States in Iraq through sweeping
policies implemented by those who had little understanding of the geo-political
situation within Iraq. These policies alienated the Sunni tribes and allowed AQI to
exploit the situation, which, along with a growing insurgency (also fueled by misguided
policies), led to violence and chaos in the post-Hussein Iraq.
The authors further explained that once the Sunni tribal leaders realized that
the goal of AQI was to destroy the tribal identity in order to advance their own ideology,
the tribal sheiks began to look toward the Americans. Almost simultaneously, the U.S.
military realized that it needed to change its strategy, in regards to dealing with the
tribes, and began to employ and negotiate with the sheiks in order to develop an anti-
AQI alliance in Al Anbar. As strategies were developed that removed AQI presence
in towns across Al Anbar province, the joint United States and Sunni tribal alliance
built police stations, networks of informants, economic opportunities, and enhanced
infrastructure to consolidate their gains. The authors do an admirable job relating
how these efforts met with resistance from the Shi’a-led Iraqi central government
in Baghdad. Despite these challenges from Baghdad, the Sunni Awakening was
tremendously successful in liberating their province from the control of AQI.
Throughout Confronting Al Qaeda, the authors routinely point out the changes
in the tribes’ perception of AQI and the United States. The authors’ use of image theory
is valuable tool to explain how and why these changes occurred. Introduced on page
13, Table 1.1 provides the type of images as well as the associated characteristics of
these images. For example, the table discusses the imperialist, barbarian, rogue, ally,
and enemy images in image theory that relate to the post-Saddam Iraq in Al Anbar. The
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doi: 10.18278/gsis.2.1.8