Iraqis protest as Baghdad neighborhood walled off

[lily]

You know, we were told that the surge was there so that the Iraqi government could get their act together......then (again) when Maliki says something, we slap him down. Make up your frigging mind!


http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/...rss_topstories

Iraqis protest as Baghdad neighborhood walled off
POSTED: 3:26 p.m. EDT, April 23, 2007



BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets Monday to
protest a concrete wall surrounding Adhamiya, a Sunni neighborhood in
Baghdad.

The U.S. and Iraqi militaries say the wall is a temporary structure to
prevent insurgent attacks.

But many Baghdad residents fear walls will exacerbate the sectarian divide
that is fueling the insurgency in the Iraqi capital. (Watch why the wall was
controversial )

"The aim of this wall is to isolate Adhamiya," one resident told CNN. "It's
a step we think that is not for the good of the people, but it's to isolate
them like Falluja and other Sunni cities."

Police estimated 7,000 Iraqis peacefully took to the street to voice their
disapproval with the wall around Adhamiya, a Sunni enclave surrounded by
Shiite neighborhoods.

Video showed the streets crowded with demonstrators, some carrying banners
that read in English, "No to the sectarian barrier."

While it is a known insurgent stronghold, Adhamiya has also been the target
of Shiite death squads.

On Sunday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki expressed outrage, saying
"the construction will stop."

In response, the U.S. military issued a statement Monday saying "the
construction of the wall is under review" and vowing to "coordinate with the
Iraq government to establish effective appropriate security measures."

But at a joint news conference later Monday, spokesmen for the U.S. and
Iraqi militaries said there are no plans to stop erecting the security
barriers, which they stressed are temporary.

The spokesman for the Baghdad security plan, Brig. Gen. Qassim Atta said
al-Maliki was responding to "groundless" media reports that a permanent
wall -- 40 feet (12 meters) high and 3 miles (5 kilometers) long -- is being
constructed.

"The prime minister is in agreement with the work of the security forces and
the issue of security barriers," Atta said at the news conference in
Baghdad. "We will continue to set up these barriers in Adhamiya and other
areas."

A combination of sand barriers, trenches, barbed wire and concrete barriers
will be put in place temporarily to secure certain areas within the 10
Baghdad security districts, Atta said. They will be moved after each area is
secure, he said.

"We have noticed a big drop in terrorist attacks in areas where we already
set up these security barriers," he said.

The U.S. and Iraqi militaries have started setting up security barriers in
Baladiyat, Zafaraniya, al-Shu'la, Baya'a, Adhamiya, and the outskirts of
Sadr City, Atta said.

"It's a fluid situation and none of these barriers that we're erecting are
permanent," U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm. Mark Fox said during Monday's
news conference. "We will be able to employ them as necessary."

At a news conference in Cairo on Sunday, al-Maliki said he expressed his
"fear (that) this wall might have repercussions, which remind us of other
walls we reject."

He was apparently referring to the wall Israel constructed in the West Bank,
and to the wall that divided Berlin during the Cold War.

[Gaffer]

It's a tactic used before in other area's so why is this particular wall getting so much attention?

A wall allows check points to be established which bottlenecks the population going in and out allowing the forces to check the people going in and out. It also encloses the area and traps those inside that you want to kill or arrest. Seems like a logical plan to me.