Is the tribal alliance against Al Qaeda splintering in Anbar Province?

The Washington Post seems to think there may be signs that this is true. From today's report:

In an interview in his Baghdad office, Ali Hatem Ali Suleiman, 35, a leader of the Dulaim confederation, the largest tribal organization in Anbar, said that the Anbar Salvation Council would be dissolved because of growing internal dissatisfaction over its cooperation with U.S. soldiers and the behavior of the council's most prominent member, Abdul Sattar Abu Risha. Suleiman called Abu Risha a "traitor" who "sells his beliefs, his religion and his people for money."

Abu Risha, who enjoys the support of U.S. military commanders, denied the allegations and said the council is not at risk of breaking apart. "There is no such thing going on," he said in a telephone interview from Jordan.

Well, let's hope that even if the tribes can't work out their differences, they still remain clear as to who their real enemy is, because as the Post duly notes:

Since the tribes began working with U.S. forces [about nine months ago] to resist al-Qaeda in Iraq -- and since they began receiving significant amounts of weapons and vehicles -- violence in the province and deaths of U.S. soldiers there have fallen dramatically.

Anthony H. Cordesman, a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, seems to suggest that the Sunni tribes in Anbar could care less about the reduction in casualties they've experienced because they're only in it for the money. As he reportedly told the Post: "The question with a group like this always is, does it stay bought?" What can the Iraqi government offer them over time, and is it enough for them to stay with the bargain?"

Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, was less cynical. As the Post reports:

"I think they've done this for their lives," Petraeus said during a recent briefing on Anbar. "This is not just a business deal they've struck. When you oppose al-Qaeda, you are putting it all on the line. This is not an economic issue."

Suleiman alleges that Abu Risha runs an oil smuggling ring and that his tribe menaces the Anbar roads with their highway banditry. For his part, Abu Risha denied the allegations, dismissing Suleiman's criticisms as mere jealousy. "I am in Anbar and I am the first fighter in Anbar. And what they are saying about it is jealousy and no more than jealousy. They are the enemies of success," he told the Post in a telephone interview.

People in Anbar, actually in the theatre of action as opposed to in far-away Baghdad, where the Post reporter is trying to assess the situation, as the reporter is careful to note:

Another member of the council, Raad Sabah al-Alwani, said he had not heard about Suleiman's complaints about the council or plans to dissolve it. "Impossible -- I am the head of the council for Ramadi," he said, referring to Anbar's provincial capital. "The Salvation is like one family. There are no problems between us and the members."

A U.S. Marine spokesman in Anbar, Maj. Jeffrey Pool, said that "we are not detecting any of the indicators of a major restructuring in Sahawa al-Iraq," using another name for the group. "The view from Baghdad will differ from the view from Ramadi."

For now at least, according to the Post, U.S. military commanders are not giving up on the tribes in Anbar:

"When the Americans were sure of our intentions in exterminating al-Qaeda terrorists, they backed us up with weapons, cars and money," said Col. Ahmad Hamad al-Dulaimi, another top police officer in Ramadi. "Without the American forces, we couldn't do anything worth mentioning."

U.S. military officials said that virtually everyone in Anbar belongs to a tribe and that rather than ignore that fact, they were trying to exploit it. "There is an overlay of governmental structure and tribal structure, and the two, when they work well, mesh and, in a sense, complement each other in Anbar," Petraeus said.