Reliapundit Is Right Again - There Is A New Tribal Strategy In The War On Terror

The other day, Reliapundit noted that he believes Musharraf's Waziristan Accord (granting Waziristan autonomy) was aimed at coopting the Waziri tribe and setting them loose on Al Qaeda. Reliapundit theorized that this is our new strategy in the GWOT (because we were also employing it in the Sunni provinces of Iraq - with success).

Today comes news which appears to prove that Reliapundit was right:

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said he wants to hold a jirga (council) of Pashtun tribes from Pakistan and Afghanistan to end Taleban violence. The two countries disagree on how to fight the Taleban - mostly drawn from the Pashtun tribes- on their border.

Mr Karzai said he expected both he and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to attend the meeting by the year-end. Afghan ministers and officials are however concerned that such a meeting may be "manipulated" by Pakistan.

"I am thinking of a meeting between Afghan civil society, Afghan elders, tribal chiefs, clergy and Afghan spiritual leadership plus the intellectuals. From the Pakistan side I am hoping for the same thing," Mr Karzai told this correspondent in an exclusive interview.

Al Qaeda, and the various other terrorist organizations (Islamic Jihad, Hizbollah, Fatah, Hamas) are all based on ideologies which transcend tribal allegiance. However, when it comes down to it, much of the population of the Middle East breaks down along tribal lines. So, exploiting tribal allegiances and resentments is an effective way to divide and conquer.

I have a question though, as with any weapon, this strategy will have its drawbacks; there may be unforseen blowback from this strategy. What can we anticipate going wrong with this strategy? (Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section.)