In Iraq, “On September 9, 2006, a number of Anbar tribal sheikhs went public with their plan to destroy al-Qaeda. They named their movement Sahwa, meaning ‘Awakening.’ Colonel Sean MacFarland, the U.S. brigade commander in Ramadi, met with the Awakening leader, Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, and his tribal allies at the charismatic sheikh’s house. …Abdul Sattar announced to the crowd of some fifty sheikhs, ‘The coalition forces are friendly forces, not occupying forces!’ “
– Peter Bergen, The Longest War, Page 267