In den ACCORD derzeit zur Verfügung stehenden Quellen konnten im Rahmen der zeitlich begrenzten Recherche keine Informationen zum Einfluss des Stammes al-Ubaidi im Irak gefunden werden. Es konnten lediglich die folgenden Informationen zum Stamm al-Ubaidi gefunden werden:

 

Eine Presseaussendung der multinationalen Streitkräfte im Irak vom Juli 2007 erwähnt ein Friedensabkommen zwischen Stammesführern der Stämme Ubaidi und Anbakia, das während eines Treffens in Baquba geschlossen worden sei, um Jahrzehnte alte Stammeskonflikte zu beenden und gemeinsam gegen al-Qaida und andere Terrororganisationen in der Provinz Diyala aufzutreten:

„Key tribal leaders from the Ubaidi and Anbakia tribes signed a peace agreement, July 10, during a meeting at the Baqouba Government Center to end tribal conflicts that have been occurring for decades and stand together against al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations. ‘The strength of the tribes comes from the sheiks’ courage,’ said Col. David W. Sutherland, commander, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. Sheik Hamed Hazber Hasan Abdal al-Anbak, paramount sheik for the Anbakia tribe, and a key tribal leader from the Ubaidi tribe, have been meeting for the past several months to discuss and work through grievances between their respective tribes. By signing the peace agreement, the tribes agreed to ‘swear by God and his holy book Koran that we will unite in fighting terrorism in our areas.’ ‘The commitment of the tribes to sign this treaty signifies that the people of Diyala continue to feel disdain toward the hatred of al-Qaida and other terrorist groups throughout the province,’ said Sutherland. ‘Just as the people of Buhriz, Tahrir, Mufrik and Khatoon have done, the Ubaidi and Anbakia tribes will show the terrorists that the people control the area because of their strength through unity.’ Key promises of the agreement include ending tribal infighting and kidnappings; providing names of tribal members operating against the people; fighting al-Qaida within Diyala; cooperating and working with the Iraqi Security Forces to assist in discovering improvised explosive devices and locating corrupt individuals within the government and security forces; honoring the law; solving agricultural disputes within tribes and assist in returning displaced families to their homes.” (Multi-National Corps – Iraq, 13. Juli 2007)

Reuters berichtet in einem Artikel vom Jänner 2008 über den Anthropologie-Professor David Matsuda, der den US-Truppen im Irak helfen soll, lokale Kulturen besser zu verstehen. In dem Artikel wird die Aussage eines Soldaten wiedergegeben, wonach Matsuda ihm die Geschichte des Ubaidi-Stammes vermittelt habe. Sehr viele Menschen seien Mitglied dieses Stammes, er habe zuvor gar nicht realisiert, wie groß dieser Stamm sei:

“Matsuda is part of the U.S. military ‘Human Terrain Team’ (HTT) program, which embeds anthropologists with combat brigades in Iraq and Afghanistan in the hope of helping tactical commanders in the field understand local cultures. […] ’He gave me so much information that had I known it a year ago I could have done things differently,’ he [Staff Sergeant Dustin ‘Boogie’ Brueggemann] said. ‘He gave me a history of the Ubaidi tribe. A lot of people here are members of that tribe. I knew a little bit about them, but I didn't realise just how big they were.’” (Reuters, 10. Jänner 2008)

In seinem Buch zur Geschichte des Irak erwähnt Charles Tripp die Ubaidi im Zusammenhang mit prominenten Familien in Mosul, die während des Osmanischen Reichs bestimmte Teile der Stadt dominiert hätten (Tripp, 2002, S. 11)

 

Die jordanische Historikerin Dr. Hala Fattah veröffentlichte im August 2004 auf der Webseite History News Network einen Beitrag, der sich mit der Geschichte und der Bedeutung der al-Ubaydi im Irak auseinandersetzt. Sie schließt an eine Anekdote von einer Begegnung mit einem irakischen Wissenschaftler in den 1980er Jahren an, der sich lediglich mit „Ich bin ein Ubaydi“ („ana ubaydi“) vorgestellt hatte. Im Anschluss an diese Anekdote erläutert sie die Bedeutung dieser Aussage und einige bekannte Fakten zu den Ubayd, die ein bekannter Stamm waren und noch immer seien. Der Stamm habe sich in vorislamischer Zeit im Irak angesiedelt, er sei in einige Clans und Familien aufgesplittert, einige davon in Mosul, die bekannteren Clans in Bagdad. Im allgemeinen seien die Ubayd Sunniten gewesen, was Schiiten jedoch nicht abgehalten habe, sich mit ihnen zu assoziieren. Die Ubayd seien verhältnismäßig erfolgreich bei urbanen Unternehmungen in Bagdad gewesen. Durch die rasante Entwicklung der Hauptstadt habe der Stamm seinen physischen Zusammenhalt verloren und sei zu einer „Überidentität“ geworden, die verwendet werden könne, um einige Facetten der kollektiven oder individuellen Identität einer Person zu erklären oder auch zu verschleiern. Dr. Hala Fattah habe also aus der Vorstellung des irakischen Wissenschaftlers annehmen können, dass er aus einer Bagdader Familie stamme, wahrscheinlich Sunnit gewesen sei und wohl keine starke Verbindung mehr zur Infrastruktur seiner Stammesvergangenheit habe:

„For Iraqis, or anyone who knows Iraqi society well, this was a clue that put this particular scholar’s identity within a readily identifiable social, religious, economic and political context. However, that context was prone to interpretation. On one level, the statement, ‘ana 'ubaydi’ unravelled the man’s identity as if it were a loosely knit sweater. On the other, it enveloped him with even more ambiguity. Let me start with the ascertainable facts. The ‘Ubayd were, and still are, a famous tribe that had settled in Iraq some time before the Islamic era (in other words, before the seventh century). Eventually, they carved out diras or territorial districts over which they held full sway, challenging any visitor or stranger to pay a khuwa or transit tax to traverse the district, or use the tribe’s wells. The Ubayd were split into several clans or families; some settled in Mosul (northern Iraq) but the more famous clans established themselves in Baghdad. The Al-Shawi family became the most important liason between the Iraqi tribes and the Mamluk government of Baghdad in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, until one of their leaders quarreled with a Mamluk governor and their star eventually waned. The Ubayd were, generally speaking, Sunni but as I have suggested in a previous post, this did not preclude Shi’a clans from associating with the parent tribe. Finally, it is worth noting that the ‘Ubayd tribe in Baghdad settled down to urban pursuits more successfully than other tribes in Iraq; in fact, their leaders became so urbane that the name itself became but a calling card. While it still recalled a glorious tribal past, the tribe’s historic exploits were not matched by its physical presence in twentieth century Baghdad. Partly because of the rapid development of the capital, the ‘Ubayd’s core constituency, the tribe lost its physical cohesion and became primarily a supra-identity that could be used to explain, or obscure a number of facets of a person’s corporate or individual personality.

And so to get back to the ‘Ubaydi scholar I met in the majma’ al-ilmi. The Ubayd’s long-standing affiliation with Baghdad was such that I could assume that he was from Baghdadi family, that he was most probably a Sunni, and that he no longer was strongly tied to the infrastructure of his tribal past (in other words, he was not likely to pay a visit to the tribal mudhif or assembly house, if one still existed, in Baghdad). But what did that mean, in the end? Did it get me any closer to the man's INDIVIDUAL identity, or was I only ascertaining his abstract, CORPORATE affiliation? In this case, the category of ‘Ubaydi’ could be used either as an institutional marker (delineating origin, religious background and social status), or as a cloak in which all of these things were to be preceded with a question mark. By throwing out the term, ‘ubaydi’, the scholar I met in the majma' al-ilmi knew full well that he was protecting himself by hiding behind the known facts, which would not give him away.” (Fattah, 13. August 2004)

 

·       Fattah, Hala: The Multiplicity of Iraqi Identities, and What It All Means, 13. August 2004 (veröffentlicht auf History News Network)

·       Multi-National Corps – Iraq, Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory: Ubaidi, Anbakia Tribes Sign Peace Agreement in Diyala, 13. Juli 2007

·       Reuters: U.S. deploys latest tactic in Iraq: anthropology, 10. Jänner 2008

·       Tripp, Charles: A History of Iraq, Second Edition, 2002