U.S. forces erect wall between Shiites, Sunnis

exigent · #1 (**permalink**) 04-20-2007, 09:41 AM

One step forward, two steps back.

Quote:

BAGHDAD - U.S. soldiers are building a three-mile wall to protect a Sunni Arab enclave surrounded by Shiite neighborhoods in a Baghdad area “trapped in a spiral of sectarian violence and retaliation,” the military said.

When the wall is finished, the minority Sunni community of Azamiyah, located on the eastern side of the Tigris River, will be completely gated, and traffic control points manned by Iraqi soldiers will provide the only means to enter it, the military said.

“Shiites are coming in and hitting Sunnis, and Sunnis are retaliating across the street,” said Capt. Scott McLearn, of the U.S. 407th Brigade Support Battalion, which began the project April 10 and is working “almost nightly until the wall is complete,” the statement said.

It said the concrete wall, including barriers as tall as 12 feet, “is one of the centerpieces of a new strategy by coalition and Iraqi forces to break the cycle of sectarian violence” in Baghdad.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18227048/

I see this as wrong on so many levels I dont even know where to begin. As long as this 'wall' is up our mission there will never be accomplished.

JavaBlack · #2 (**permalink**) 04-20-2007, 09:48 AM

The building of this wall sounds to me like an admission of defeat. It is an act of giving in and accepting that these sectarian disputes cannot be resolved. A bad move.

raytri · #3 (**permalink**) 04-20-2007, 09:54 AM

It's not a good sign, true, but in the end it's just a tool. The whole idea is to put an end to the killings so true security and a functioning infrastructure can establish itself.

That said, can anyone say "Green Line"?
http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/900...ine/index.html

exigent · #4 (**permalink**) 04-20-2007, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raytri";p=&quot

It's not a good sign, true, but in the end it's just a tool. The whole idea is to put an end to the killings so true security and a functioning infrastructure can establish itself.

That said, can anyone say "Green Line"?
http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/900...ine/index.html

I hope that's true and not another case of money spent to temporarily fix a not-so-temporary problem.

SpankyTheWhale · #5 (**permalink**) 04-20-2007, 10:42 AM

It looks like they are spending all their money over their, so they won't have to spend money over here.

Our southern border, here in the United States of America, gets ignored while the order moves forward to build a wall over in Iraq. Millions of illegals pour over the border, destroying our infrastructure and way of life. Somehow this was wrong for us to do to the so-called Indians, who didn't even have laws against it, but everybody can do this to us and not only is it okay to them, it is okay to OUR friggin' leader! He is the president of the United States, not the president of Mexico! He is not the President of Iraq! He is the president of the United States! Does he do anything to make life better here? No. Does he care about California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and parts of Colorado and Louisiana? No. Give everybody else everything, but leave his own friggin' citizens left in the dust. And this wall will probably be only temproary, whereas we need a permanent one down on our southern border to keep the illegal Mexican, non-citizens out. He has spent over a trillion dollars on Iraq, and yet he says that we cannot afford a wall that will actually be effective?! If he wanted to be the president of another country, why did he run for president of this one?!

Even if this wall is built and it permanently divides the country that used to be called Iraq into three smaller governments, it would achieve the goals of peacemaking and formation of stable, functional democracies. Peace doesn't always mean "forcing people to live together." Look at the Slavic countries. Even so, don't tell me that you don't have the resources to build a wall over here if you are just going to use the same resources over there. America first, moron!

#6 (**permalink**) 04-20-2007, 01:08 PM

"Are they trying to divide us into different sectarian cantons?" said a Sunni drugstore owner in Adhamiya, who would identify himself only as Abu Ahmed, 44. "This will deepen the sectarian strife and only serve to abort efforts aimed at reconciliation."

"I feel this is the beginning of a pattern of what the whole of Iraq is going to look like, divided by sectarian and racial criteria," Abu Marwan, 50, a Shiite pharmacist, said. "

Because the Israeli wall worked so well, right?
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/...o_resolve.html

chainyanker · #7 (**permalink**) 04-20-2007, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exigent";p=&quot

One step forward, two steps back.

Quote:

BAGHDAD - U.S. soldiers are building a three-mile wall to protect a Sunni Arab enclave surrounded by Shiite neighborhoods in a Baghdad area “trapped in a spiral of sectarian violence and retaliation,” the military said.

When the wall is finished, the minority Sunni community of Azamiyah, located on the eastern side of the Tigris River, will be completely gated, and traffic control points manned by Iraqi soldiers will provide the only means to enter it, the military said.

“Shiites are coming in and hitting Sunnis, and Sunnis are retaliating across the street,” said Capt. Scott McLearn, of the U.S. 407th Brigade Support Battalion, which began the project April 10 and is working “almost nightly until the wall is complete,” the statement said.

It said the concrete wall, including barriers as tall as 12 feet, “is one of the centerpieces of a new strategy by coalition and Iraqi forces to break the cycle of sectarian violence” in Baghdad.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18227048/

I see this as wrong on so many levels I dont even know where to begin. As long as this 'wall' is up our mission there will never be accomplished.

Couple of years ago I posted a piece elsewhere about the possible Balkanizaton of Iraq, maybe this is the start of it. Carve out sections of Baghdad, then carve out provinces, next thing you know you've got 3 mini-Iraqs, maybe four. So why is this wall necessary?...maybe the 'Surge' is not working or the Surge needs a surge?

'Iraq is an ENORMOUS success.' --- 'No doubt' Cheney, March 2007

f100supersabr · #8 (**permalink**) 04-20-2007, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raytri";p=&quot

It's not a good sign, true, but in the end it's just a tool. The whole idea is to put an end to the killings so true security and a functioning infrastructure can establish itself.

That said, can anyone say "Green Line"?
http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/900...ine/index.html

"Green Line"? That is nice Ray

merjoem32 · #9 (**permalink**) 04-24-2007, 07:25 AM

I don't think that the wall will help improve things in the long run. it's only a temporary solution that will not be able to stop the violence and will only deepen the animosity between the two groups.

Ixtellor · #10 (**permalink**) 04-24-2007, 07:32 AM

Whats funny about this story is that the Iraqi Government ordered them to stop building it, and the report last night was that they were going to go ahead and build it anyway.

Ixtellor

P.S. I am still waiting for: Iraqi Citizen says "Mr Bush Tear down this wall".

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