Calhoun: The NPS Institutional Archive Theses and Dissertations Thesis Collection 2012-12 The invited Leviathan in Iraq and Afghanistan: strong-men, the Afghan local police, and the Sons of Iraq Bush, Michael R. Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School http://hdl.handle.net/10945/27803 NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA THESIS THE INVITED LEVIATHAN IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN: STRONG-MEN, THE AFGHAN LOCAL POLICE, AND THE SONS OF IRAQ by Michael R. Bush December 2012 Thesis Advisor: James Russell Second Reader: Thomas Johnson Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704–0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instruction, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202–4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704–0188) Washington DC 20503. 1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 2. REPORT DATE 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED December 2012 Master’s Thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5. FUNDING NUMBERS THE INVITED LEVIATHAN IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN: STRONG-MEN, THE AFGHAN LOCAL POLICE, AND THE SONS OF IRAQ 6. AUTHOR(S) Michael R. Bush 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION Naval Postgraduate School REPORT NUMBER Monterey, CA 93943–5000 9. SPONSORING /MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSORING/MONITORING N/A AGENCY REPORT NUMBER 11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES The views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. IRB Protocol number ____N/A____. 12a. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT 12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited 13. ABSTRACT (maximum 200 words) Despite robust scholarship on the general themes of state-building, little scholarship exists on the strategies of exogenous powers on the construction of developing states. Further complicating these strategies is the influence of strong men, local elites who seek to mitigate the influence of both the developing state and the exogenous state on local modes of power and influence—often through the development of armed militias. Appropriating the construct of Barnett and Zurcher’s “peacebuilder’s construct” and utilizing the Sons of Iraq and the Afghan Local Police as case- studies, this thesis seeks to explore the current relationship between local strong men, developing state governments, and the exogenous state (or the “invited leviathan”) in two states where U.S. policy has dictated the deployment of hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops. Powerful arguments can be made regarding U.S. policy in support of, and against, these militias. This thesis will show that U.S. empowerment of these militias can not only improve local security conditions, but it can empower disenfranchised groups at the state level. Understanding the dynamics at play in these circumstances can help inform the nature of future interaction with strong men, militias, and developing governments. 14. SUBJECT TERMS State building; peace-building; Afghanistan; Iraq; Sons of Iraq; Sahwa; 15. NUMBER OF Afghan Local Police; strong men; peace-builder’s contract PAGES 131 16. PRICE CODE 17. SECURITY 18. SECURITY 19. SECURITY 20. LIMITATION OF CLASSIFICATION OF CLASSIFICATION OF THIS CLASSIFICATION OF ABSTRACT REPORT PAGE ABSTRACT Unclassified Unclassified Unclassified UU NSN 7540–01–280–5500 Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2–89) Prescribed by ANSI Std. 239–18 i THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK ii Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited THE INVITED LEVIATHAN IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN: STRONG-MEN, THE AFGHAN LOCAL POLICE, AND THE SONS OF IRAQ Michael R Bush Major, United States Army B.A., Wartburg College, 1996 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN NATIONAL SECURITY AFFAIRS (MIDDLE EAST, SOUTH ASIA, SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA) from the NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL December 2012 Author: Michael R. Bush Approved by: James Russell Thesis Advisor Thomas Johnson Second Reader Harold Trikunas Chair, Department of National Security Affairs iii THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK iv ABSTRACT Despite robust scholarship on the general themes of state-building, little scholarship exists on the strategies of exogenous powers on the construction of developing states. Further complicating these strategies is the influence of strong men, local elites who seek to mitigate the influence of both the developing state and the exogenous state on local modes of power and influence—often through the development of armed militias. Appropriating the construct of Barnett and Zurcher’s “peacebuilder’s construct” and utilizing the Sons of Iraq and the Afghan Local Police as case-studies, this thesis seeks to explore the current relationship between local strong men, developing state governments, and the exogenous state (or the “invited leviathan”) in two states where U.S. policy has dictated the deployment of hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops. Powerful arguments can be made regarding U.S. policy in support of, and against, these militias. This thesis will show that U.S. empowerment of these militias can not only improve local security conditions, but it can empower disenfranchised groups at the state level. Understanding the dynamics at play in these circumstances can help inform the nature of future interaction with strong men, militias, and developing governments. v THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK vi TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................1 A. MAJOR RESEARCH QUESTION................................................................2 B. IMPORTANCE ................................................................................................3 C. LITERATURE REVIEW ...............................................................................4 1. STATE-BUILDING AND WAR ........................................................4 2. STRONG MEN AND THE CONSOLIDATION OF POWER .......6 3. THE INVITED LEVIATHAN AND LOCAL MILITIAS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN .............................................................8 4. THE PEACEBUILDER’S CONTRACT: A MODEL OF STATE-BUILDING OPERATIONS ...............................................10 D. THE ARGUMENT ........................................................................................13 1. THE CASE FOR LOCAL MILITIAS .............................................13 2. THE CASE AGAINST LOCAL MILITIAS ...................................15 E. CASE SELECTION.......................................................................................16 1. SONS OF IRAQ (SOI).......................................................................17 2. AFGHAN LOCAL POLICE (ALP) .................................................17 F. METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................18 G. THESIS OVERVIEW ...................................................................................19 II. CASE STUDY: SONS OF IRAQ..............................................................................21 A. INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................21 B. TRIBAL RELATIONS IN THE SADDAM HUSSEIN ERA: ...................22 C. THE U.S. INVASION ....................................................................................26 D. THE ACCENSION OF AL QAEDA IN IRAQ ...........................................29 E. FRICTION DEVELOPS BETWEEN AQI AND THE SUNNI POPULATION ...............................................................................................32 F. THE SAHWA EMERGES ............................................................................35 G. THE U.S. RESPONDS AND THE SONS OF IRAQ ARE BORN ............43 H. THE RESPONSE OF THE IRAQI STATE ................................................47 I. CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................51 III. CASE STUDY: AFGHAN LOCAL POLICE (ALP) .............................................53 A. INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................53 B. THE AFGHAN STATE .................................................................................54 C. TRADITIONAL LOCAL MILITIAS IN AFGHANISTAN ......................57 D. GOVERNMENT MILITIAS SINCE 2001 ..................................................64 E. THE ALP EMERGES ...................................................................................67 F. IMPLEMENTATION OF ALP ....................................................................70 G. DISCUSSION OF PROBLEMS IN THE ALP ...........................................75 H. CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................81 IV. CONCLUSION ..........................................................................................................85