For people who don understand Iraq, how important are family and tribal connections in that society?
Family and tribal connections are supreme. They come ahead of ideology. They come ahead of commitment to the nation state, they come ahead of all commitments. Saddam Hussein realizes that. This is why, at a certain point, he transferred power from the Ba’ath Party, which put him in power, to his family because he decided that the family can be trusted, but the party cannot be trusted. He weakened the party and strengthened the family, and that is the situation in the country now. His second son is the head of the dreaded security system. His first son, who was a psychopath, runs all types of committees in the country. His brother is on the security system, his cousins are in key positions in the army. The people who come from Al Awja are in other positions in the army. The people who come from Tikrit, the town near Al Awja, are in other positions. It’s a pyramid of relationships, tribal and familial. And this is what he depends on. And, those people are loyal to him, because they belie
