The United States and it allies in Iraq have embraced a tribal strategy to provide security and fight al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia. This approach is not new. Saddam Hussein also sought to use tribal alliances to provide internal security. His experience, and that of the present-day Coalition, demonstrates the prospects and perils of using tribes to provide security. Tension exists between the United States' two main strategic goals of defeating al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia and building a democratic, unified Iraq. There is also the danger that Iraqi tribes will defect from the Coalition in future.