Taking deadly risks, an Army commander reaches out to sheiks

By Garrett Therolf, Los Angeles Times  |  July 15, 2007

BAQUBAH, Iraq -- The US commander meets with a former general in Saddam
Hussein's army over lunch, promises weapons, and wishes him a return to high
office. For both men, the conversation comes at great risk, and neither knows
whether the other is an ally or an enemy.

For Army Lieutenant Colonel Morris Goins, his "spider sense" tells him to keep
talking, even after the general, a Sunni tribal leader, tells him, "If you see
me shooting at you, you should shoot back."

Goins is unfazed. It is a potentially deadly complication he will endure to
press the tribes to quell the violence here in Diyala Province, among the
deadliest for US troops in all of Iraq.

Although some tribal leaders have sworn allegiances against the United States,
they are believed to hold the most powerful sway over Diyala's vast rural
terrain.

Months before the sheiks drew US attention as potential allies against Al Qaeda
in Iraq, Goins began to spend most of his time on the strategy. "It's a way to
not just fight the war, but shape it," he said.

Army General David H. Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, has made such
efforts with tribal sheiks a top priority throughout Iraq, citing the
"breathtaking" success Sunni Muslim sheiks in Anbar Province achieved by banding
together to drive Al Qaeda in Iraq out of their region.

That success, however, benefited from an overwhelming Sunni majority that is
uncommon in Iraq, and the tribal coalition was originated by the sheiks
themselves. The efforts by Goins, therefore, might present the most realistic
picture of how the strategy may play out in the rest of Iraq.

The meetings are often held clandestinely, and the Sunni sheiks are not named
out of fear that they would be killed by members of the Sunni-led
insurgency. For those who agree to help, Goins offers protection, money, and
weapons. He is never sure what he will gain in return.

"It's complicated, man," Goins said. "The danger is that you just become one of
these guys' militia."

Over three tours in Iraq, the tall, slender Army lieutenant colonel from
Southern Pines, N.C., has been known for commanding with a focus on
relationships as much as on firepower.

At the halfway point of its tour, his 1,000-strong First Battalion, 12th Cavalry
has had 26 men killed and 99 injured.

For Goins the devotion to his troops meant sitting down for tea with sheiks who,
in some cases, he privately hated and believed to have aided the Al Qaeda-linked
operatives who killed his men.

"What's hard for me is irrelevant, though. . . . You have to go where the
information and the intelligence drive you," he said.

Ever since he lost the first three soldiers of the tour in November, he has
pursued the sheiks in earnest. He also relies on the counsel of people who
gather in his dusty office to strategize.

One of them is Dean Jones, a retired Denver police investigator who works as a
Defense Department contractor. Jones said he was happy to see the commander take
a holistic approach to the province's myriad problems.

Goins's central goal is to bring Sunni and Shi'ite sheiks to the same
negotiating table with leaders of the provincial government and Iraqi security
forces.

It was again the topic when Goins invited the former general for tea at a small
US military outpost outside Baqubah, Diyala's capital. Going into the meeting,
Jones, the Pentagon contractor, said, "When we talk to this guy, we know we are
talking directly to a moderate member of Al Qaeda. His family is Al Qaeda, the
people around him are Al Qaeda, he's Al Qaeda."

Jones said the military believed the sheik could turn against Al Qaeda, however,
and cooperate with American forces if he was promised a high-profile role in the
province. "He was a big deal around here once, and now that's gone. He'd like to
be a big deal again."