BAGHDAD, April 20, 2007
U.S. Walls Off Sunni Enclave In Baghdad
Military Says Barricade Is Necessary To Protect Sunnis Surrounded By Shiites
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Iraqi troops secure the area around a mosque in Baghdad on April 20, 2007. Clashes erupted between gunmen and U.S. and Iraqi forces around a Shiite mosque in western Baghdad just before Friday prayers. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
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Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrives at Camp Fallujah, Iraq, after visiting Baghdad, April 19, 2007. He is greeted by soldiers and top military commanders. Gates met with Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Peter Pace and the top commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David Petraeus. (AP Photo/Lolita Baldor)
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Defense Secretary Robert Gates pauses as he signs the guest book during a visit at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem April 19. 2007. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
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A girl carries a baby past the scene of the previous day's car bomb attack that killed least 127 people and injured 148 at the Sadriyah market in Baghdad on April 19, 2007. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
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Residents gather at the scene of the previous day's car bomb attack that killed least 127 people and injured 148 at the Sadriyah market in Baghdad on April 19, 2007. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
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When the wall is finished, the minority Sunni community of Azamiyah, on the eastern side of the Tigris River, will be gated, and traffic control points manned by Iraqi soldiers will be the only entries, 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.
As the wall went up, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates continued his surprise trip to Iraq by hammering home his message that the U.S. was not interested in an open-ended presence in the country.
"Our commitment to Iraq is long-term, but it its not a commitment to having our young men and women patrolling Iraq's streets open-endedly," Gates said at a news conference in Baghdad.
Gates said he encouraged the Iraqis to pass legislation on political reconciliation and the sharing of oil revenues among the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. He told them whether they take action on these measures will be taken into consideration when he and the commanders review the military buildup later this summer.
Gates said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki assured him that he and the governing council want to "work very hard" to bring about these changes, but also reminded Gates that the council is an independent body.
But as the U.S. troops rushed to build a wall around Sunnis in the middle of Baghdad, little evidence of Iraq's various sects beginning to accept each other was to be found on the streets of the capital city.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have long erected cement barriers around marketplaces and coalition bases and outposts in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities such as Ramadi in an effort to prevent attacks, including suicide car bombs.
American forces also have constructed huge sand barriers around towns such as Tal Afar, an insurgent stronghold near the Syrian border.
There has been little sign, however, of the U.S. military using concrete barriers to divide Baghdad neighborhoods by sect, but at least one similar construction has been reported in the capital.
U.S. Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, the top spokesman for coalition forces in Iraq, was quoted as saying Wednesday that he was unaware of any effort to build a wall dividing Shiite and Sunni enclaves in Baghdad and that such a tactic was not a policy of the Baghdad security plan.
"We have no intent to build gated communities in Baghdad," Stars and Stripes, the U.S. Department of Defense-authorized daily newspaper, quoted Caldwell as saying. "Our goal is to unify Baghdad, not subdivide it into separate (enclaves)."
Currently, the U.S. strategy for stabilizing Iraq involves getting Iraqis to reconcile and support the democratically elected Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad, and a security plan in the capital that calls for 28,000 additional American troops and thousands of Iraqi soldiers.
The Azamiyah barrier will allow authorities to screen people entering and leaving the area of northern Baghdad "while keeping death squads and militia groups out," the U.S. military statement said.
Security in the three Shiite communities on the other side of the wall also will be stepped up, and the barrier is expected to make it harder for insurgents to plant roadside bombs in the area targeting coalition forces, the military said.
The construction work by the U.S. military involves flatbed trucks carrying concrete barriers weighing 14,000 pounds. Operating under bright lights, the cranes lift the barriers into place while being protected by U.S. tanks.
As work continued Friday, the day of worship in mostly Muslim Iraq, several Sunnis living in Azamiyah welcomed the effort to improve their security, but said the wall was another sign of the deep hostility between Sunnis and Shiites.
"It is good from one hand to curb violence and have control of terrorists. But it's bad on the other hand to be separated from others. We should live in one area like brothers, not be separated from one another," said Bashar Abdul Latif, a 45-year-old teacher.
"I don't think this wall will solve the city's serious security problems," said Ahmed Abdul-Sattar, 35, a government worker. "It will only increase the separation between our people, which has been made so much worse by the war."
In other developments:
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See all 210 CommentsAs we have already seen, not all Iraqi Soldiers can be trusted to perform the duty they are intended to - their religious beliefs often dictating their actions.
They're not ready for--or capable of--democracy as the oil companies would liked to have seen it.
They're not ready for--or capable of--democracy as the oil companies would liked to have seen it.
Posted by Monty_4 at 11:55 AM : Apr 20, 2007
Monty, They were better off in some ways. They would be better off now if THEY would settle down and talk. But you are right, they are not ready for Democracy because they use Religion to run their Government. Most religions call for their people to 'base' the laws on religion, but most stop short of 'demanding' that they be the final authority. The Christian Jesus said "render unto Caesar that which is Caesars and unto God that which is Gods." He also came down hard on "Organized Religion".
separation of Church and state is essential to a well run country. Separation does not mean freedom 'from' it means freedom 'OF'. If the Muslims would realize that and practice it things would be much better for them.
Whait a second , why did I mention Israel??
what Israel has to do with Iraq ???
OR MAYBE...
Americans men and women are KILLING and DYING for NEOCONS and ISRAEL !!!!
Posted by irishbitch1 at 01:07 PM : Apr 20, 2007
The finest military in the world is also run by the most misguided bunch of micro-managing crooks in the world. You don't get to be president by being 'stupid' but that still doesn't stop you from being a 'crook'
Why are "US forces" building a wall in Iraq?
Shouldn't the "sovereign Iraqi government" *ROFL* be building their own walls?
It's time to remove our wall builders from Iraq.
And, we could use a wall around my community. So long as US taxpayers are building gated communities, why not start in the US?
problem with walls, is that they rend fall down after time and the people forced to live inside get real nervous and angry.
Posted by karlimhof at 01:54 PM : Apr 20, 2007
The real problem with walls is the airplane (rockets, missiles) eliminated their effectiveness.
"Gated communities" are useful only in areas that have stable communities & viable police forces. Iraq does not qualify.
Building walls in Iraq is a complete waste of time & money. And, one more example of the gross incompetency of the Bush administration.
Walls were breached long before airplanes (rockets, missiles) were invented, so we can reasonably conclude they will be breached in Iraq (or anywhere else).
This same Grand Mufti was the maternal uncle of Yassir Arafat! The Mufti's war continues today worldwide.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=grand+mufti of jerusalem
If you believe that, then we need a draft to do it,, Our military is allready to small to complete the missions they have now, & still protect our nation from attack in a real war... Privatization has destroyed our military -- You would be called up & people like Bush would never serve.
Sure sounds like the "surge" is working just fine!
Posted by RandalDS at 02:05 PM : Apr 20, 2007
I seriously doubt the Bush administration has any such plan.
It appears the Bush administration has no plan other than to deny, delay and obfuscate until the next administration takes over.
After which, he (or she) can be blamed for "losing" in Iraq.
But, if US forces were ordered to firebomb the Sunni ghetto, it is unlikely they would refuse to obey those orders. When have US forces ever refused to engage in wholesale slaughter of the "enemy"?
Posted by j-whitman at 02:15 PM : Apr 20, 2007
sure it will.... they were defeated about 100 years ago and 200 years ago..... and they will always be defeated...... non muslims will not submit to their arab paganism slavery....
But for a Muslim to keep his word to an infidel at the expense of opportunities to expand Islamic power is the Islamic equivalent of a mortal sin. In 1807, Muslim pirate attacks on American ships began anew. As a result Americans led by President James Madison fought Algerians in the Second Barbary War in 1815, leading to another treaty under which the Muslims paid American $10,000 for damages. The Algerian ruler almost immediately repudiated the new treaty after the U.S. departure and again began piracy and the enslavement of captured Christian sailors necessitating an 1816 Anglo-Dutch shelling of Algiers and ultimately the colonization of Algeria in 1830 and Tunisia in 1881 by France and Libya in 1911 by Italy. By then most of the Islamic world was under Christian domination. With the Ottoman Empire defeated in WW1, secularist Turkish rebels in 1923 overthrew the last Islamic Caliphate,
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?6bdec278-6a71-4436-bc4d-29d1c54b0ad7
I agree it's not likely, but I still wouldn't put it past them if all of a sudden, now that the bulk of Sadr's militia is in one place and walled off, there popped up reason after reason to call in air strikes on home after home there because they are "suspected" insurgent sites. Of course the hundreds of children that will be murdered will just be "collateral" damage and the right wingers here will crow that the "enemy" is hiding among the population. Of course the fact that 80+ percent of Iraqi want us out will slide right by them. I have a very bad feeling about this wall and the thousands of women and children who I think are going to die with it's help. I still think this has all the makings of a new Warsaw ghetto, if they're actually planning it this second or not.
"Apr. 17 - ABC News/Washington Post poll finds 51 percent think U.S. will lose war, 66 percent think Iraq was not worth fight..."
Even the top leader of our weak and complicit "opposotion" party has come to terms with this reality:
"Senator Reid On Iraq: "This War Is Lost""
www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/20/politics/main2709229.shtml
We have reached the tipping point. Our next step must be to get out of Iraq, apologize to the Iraqis and to the global community, create a reparations fund, and bring the members and supporters of the Bush cabal before a judge, so that they can be imprisoned, brought before a firing squad, hanged, or whatever punishment applies under the rule of law.
www.ipetitions.com/petition/OutNow
But, if the fascist nazi islamic muslim jihadists forces were ordered to firebomb the the non muslims, it is unlikely they would refuse to obey those orders. When have fascist nazi islamic muslim jihadist forces ever refused to engage in wholesale slaughter of the "non muslims"?
the war is legal
the resumption of hostilities was only a matter of time since iraq broke the ceasefire agreement.....
blame saddam for iraq%u2026%u2026. Even clintoon and the dems wanted the resumption of hostilities back in 1998
"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." - Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998
http://www.house.gov/pelosi/priraq1.htm
"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line." - President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998
http://www.cnn.com/US/9802/04/us.un.iraq/
"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program." - President Bill Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/02/17/transcripts/clinton.iraq/
WASHINGTON (Feb. 18) -- In preparing the nation for a possible war with Iraq,
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/02/18/iraq.political.analysis/
we left behind is still killing children
http://www.fas.org/news/iraq/1998/02/20/98022006_tpo.html
"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983." --Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998
http://www.usatoday.com/news/index/iraq/iraq172.htm
"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs." Letter to President Clinton, signed by: -- Democratic Senators Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others, Oct. 9, 1998
"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." -Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998
http://www.house.gov/pelosi/priraq1.htm
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1584/is_9_10/ai_59021377
Adversarial Myopia
http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=8570
Posted by RandalDS at 02:34 PM : Apr 20, 2007
I agree that is a very poor idea and the outcome is likely to be yet another disaster for the Iraqi people, thanks to the incompetent Bush administration.
But, I do not agree that it is planned that way.
It does not appear the Bush administration plans anything beyond the next 24 hours, if that.
If I were an Iraqi, I would be doing everything possible to rid my community of a hostile foreign occupation army. Especially one being led by incompetent & corrupt commanders as demonstrated by the US military.
Re: "the war is legal"
"the resumption of hostilities was only a matter of time since iraq broke the ceasefire agreement....."
How many people have you managed to persuade by repeating this feeble idiocy?
Will you ever manage to overcome your cowardice and join the fight, or will you remain shivering under your bed, urging others to murder women and children on your behalf?
How about getting your Bushies to take action in the Sudan to stop the genocied Bush has ignored since July 2003
Posted by j-whitman at 02:49 PM : Apr 20, 2007
i thought you said we have to get UN permission first jihad j.......
Posted by feelfree1 at 02:48 PM : Apr 20, 2007
we get to murder women and children now???
well then that should slow those fascist nazi islamic muslim cowards down......
Hamas: Kids 'fight in the resistance'
Website features Palestinian children in combat roles, dress
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49433
Child Abuse: The New Islamic Cult of Martyrdom
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/publication/faultlines/volume16/Article3.htm
Thou shalt Un-teach it to Your Children
http://www.jr.co.il/articles/politics/books2.txt
Palestinian Hate In The Classroom
http://the-american-israeli-patriot.blogspot.com/2007/02/palestinian-hate-in-classroom.html
New Palestinian high-school textbooks reject existence of Israel, peace
http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=180767
New Textbook Reportedly Teaching Palestinian Kids to Fight Israel
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,263666,00.html
Death Cult Family Moments from Hamas TV
http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=24792&only&rss
Hamas TV shows daughter telling suicide bomber mother she will follow her path
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17803/hamas-tv-shows-daughter-telling-suicide-bomber-mother-she-will-follow-her-path
Re: "we get to murder women and children now???"
You could, if you joined the U.S. military, or one of the various gangs of mass-murderers for hire, like Blackwater.
The U.S. military has lowered the minimum standards enough that even you should be qualified to join. You would not even have to gain U.S. citizenship to do so. If you could find a way to overcome your extreme cowardice, you could kill innocent women and children as well.
Think about it. Not only could you appease your own paranoid delusions, but you could please your bloodthirsty god at the same time.
Put the blame and blood where it belongs, on the hands of these indiscriminant murderers and their proxy war sponsors.
Posted by feelfree1 at 03:09 PM : Apr 20, 2007
sorry..... i am not a fascist nazi islamic muslim that prays to the lord of the devils...... as muhammad called him....
O Allah, Lord of the Devils
Ishaq:510 %u201CWhen the Apostle looked down on Khaybar he told his Companions, %u2018O Allah, Lord of the Devils and what into error they throw, and Lord of the winds and what they winnow, we ask Thee for the booty of this town and its people. Forward in the name of Allah.%u2019 He used to say this of every town he raided.%u201D
-- Petreaus & Gates are reling on private contractors who have never been accountable to our military & still isn't accountable... Change the course is what Reed is saying.
Try again..
yep, living in fear behind walls and gates, so glad we could export that.
Posted by j-whitman at 03:18 PM : Apr 20, 2007
not according to clintoon and the demonic-rats...
"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." - Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998
http://www.house.gov/pelosi/priraq1.htm
"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line." - President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998
http://www.cnn.com/US/9802/04/us.un.iraq/
"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program." - President Bill Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/02/17/transcripts/clinton.iraq/
WASHINGTON (Feb. 18) -- In preparing the nation for a possible war with Iraq,
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/02/18/iraq.political.analysis/
Oh good, former quotes.
"You can support the troops but not the president" ---Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX)
"[The] President . . . is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation's armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy." ---Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)
"If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they have a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy." ---Karen Hughes, speaking on behalf of George W. Bush
"I had doubts about the bombing campaign from the beginning . . . I didn't think we had done enough in the diplomatic area." ---Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)
"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is."
-Governor George W. Bush (R-TX) discussing Kosovo, Houston Chronicle, 04-09-99
"No goal, no objective, not until we have those things and a compelling case is made, then I say, back out of it, because innocent people are going to die for nothing. That's why I'm against it."
-Sean Hannity, Fox News, 4/5/99
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