Russia is Reaching Out To Iraq's Sunni Tribes

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (C) attends a conference at the main operation centre of the Russian armed forces, with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (L) and armed forces Chief-of-Staff Valery Gerasimov (R) in Moscow, June 6, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Michael Klimentyev/RIA Novosti/Kremlin

Shane Harris, Nancy A. Youssef, & Michael Weiss, Daily Beast: Putin ‘Seducing’ Iraq’s Tribes

“Russia is serious in fighting terrorism,” one sheikh tells The Daily Beast, ”unlike the U.S.”

BAGHDAD, Iraq — In the last Iraq war, the U.S. military helped beat ISIS’ predecessors with the help of the Sunni tribes. Now, Russia is trying to take a page from the old American playbook, and forge its own tribal alliances.

“Russia is serious in fighting terrorism and wants to finish the war as soon as possible, unlike the U.S.,” Faisal al-Asafi, a Sunni sheikh in Iraq’s Anbar province who opposes ISIS, told The Daily Beast. “Russia has already started bombing the transmission lines of ISIS while the U.S. is watching ISIS fighters moving freely from Syria to Anbar.”

Two U.S. officials told The Daily Beast that they are seeing early signs of this Russian outreach to Sunni tribal leaders in Iraq, aimed at bolstering the minority sect’s efforts to combat ISIS militants embedded within Sunni communities.

WNU Editor: Russia is looking for allies in its war in Syria .... it makes sense to reach out to the Sunni Arab tribes in western Iraq.