Could Lt. Col. Alan King help turn Iraq around and make Iraq a pillar of freedom for the middle east despite everything? I wish I could bet on it, but after reading this I can hope for it.

The sheik lost hope about working with the Americans until he met Lt. Col. Alan King, an Army civil affairs commander who has made it his personal mission to understand Iraq's labyrinthine tribal system. King impressed al-Shaalan right away by recounting a lengthy parable about the origin of the sheik's tribe. "I realized that he knew the history of some tribes," the sheik said. "So this shows that he is doing his duty."

In the American campaign to win over a skeptical Iraqi public, King is an unlikely ambassador: a Lutheran from Arlington, Va., with a blond crew cut and a wry smile. Unlike T.E. Lawrence, the British adventurer who helped Arab tribes expel their Ottoman rulers in the early 20th century, King does not try to dress like the tribal chiefs or live among them. But King has done more to engage Iraq's tribal leaders than anyone else in the U.S. military or the civilian-led occupation authority.