"There is no Anbar model."

[ProSense]

Bush: "I wish we could do in all the provinces of Iraq what we did in Anbar, which is that the people and the government come together"

"It's harder for them to buy into the idea of working with the coalition in other areas because they have other threats: Shiite threats, Kurdish influence," said Maj. Ed Sullivan, who is on his second deployment in Anbar. He was first here in 2004-05.

"A lot of people look for a cookie-cutter theory -- the Anbar model. There is no Anbar model," Sullivan said. Rather, a unique combination of events ushered in change.

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Despite the security gains, the tribal alliance had shown signs of splintering in recent months over dissatisfaction with Abu Risha's leadership and infighting between tribal leaders.

How Does the Anbar Shift Relate to Reconciliation?

By Spencer Ackerman - September 11, 2007, 12:16 PM

Finally, the question on everyone's mind. Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) asked how the turn of Anbar Sunnis against al-Qaeda relates to national reconciliation -- what Amb. Crocker and President Bush have endlessly called "bottom-up" reconciliation. Of course, there aren't any Shiites in Anbar, so how does that reconciliation work?

Both Crocker and Gen. Petraeus answered the same way: reconciliation can be perceived by the Maliki government's willingness to pay for Anbar "volunteers" to join the Iraqi security forces. What that really means is that the Interior Ministry is paying the salaries of 27,000 Anbari Sunnis to police their province. But Crocker said that, at least, the financing shows that the "two entities" -- Anbar province and the Maliki government -- are "establishing working linkages." Petraeus added that in Baghdad -- not really the area at issue in the substance of the question, but still -- the "volunteers" in Sunni neighborhoods against al-Qaeda are going to be allowed by the Maliki government to no longer be "fixed in place" for operations. That means that the ministries of defense and interior will send the Sunnis newly in their ranks to areas outside their own neighborhoods.

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Now, Sunnis entering the police have in some cases declared themselves enemies of the Shiite government. If Petraeus and Crocker are wrong about the relationship between the new Sunni "volunteers" and reconciliation, then Iraq is in for a much fiercer civil war, probably after U.S. forces draw down or withdraw. (And then the opponents of the war will presumably be blamed for that.) If they're right, it really will be a stunning achievement for them.

(emphasis added)