Bribing the Sunnis in Anbar

In a fairly interesting NYTimes article on US aid to the Sunni tribes in Anbar, the picture of what's going on becomes a bit clearer.

The US, frustrated with Maliki's refusal to share oil wealth and other economic benefits, has decided to use US money to try and fill the gap.

“This is all about finding ways to circumvent Maliki,” said one senior official who is involved in preparing Mr. Bush’s presentation of a new strategy, which will probably come in an address to the country after General Petraeus and the American ambassador to Iraq, Ryan C. Crocker, have presented their report to Congress starting on Sept. 10. “We can’t go to the Hill again and say Maliki will perform if we just give him the space. He won’t. So you find other means to accomplish the goal.”

(I maintain that the genesis of this program was to take over for the Saudi financing of the Sunnis. This allowed the US to reshape the money flows and thus the broad direction of the Sunni insurgency.

Also, keeping the Saudis out of the financing and support limelight is essential in dealing with the Iranians.)