The Americans are now builing a wall around southern parts of Sadr city, the Shia dominated area of Baghdad. The idea is to prevent more Shia fighters of the Mahdi army from entering the area.
After the Iraqi governemnt’s recent offensive against militants in Basra, a stung Shia strongman Moqtada Al Sadr, has moved his men into Sadr city, his stronghold in Baghdad. The US and Iraqi government forces are fighting a continuous war against the militants since the last few days.
The decision to wall in the area came as a result of that. The aim is to secure it. The US army put it across with a sugary coating. Lieutenant Colonel Dan Barnett, commander of the First Squadron, Second Stryker Cavalry Regiment, currently attached to the Second Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division said,
But that fools no one. The main aim is security.You can’t really repair anything that is broken until you establish security. A wall that isolates those who would continue to attack the Iraqi Army and coalition forces can create security conditions that they can go in and rebuild
Building these kind of walls is not going to solve the basic issues in Iraq. These are security measures. What are needed are political and economic measures. What is needed is a real Iraqi governemnt of national reconciliation, which looks after the interests of not only Shias, but also Sunnis, Kurds and Christians. If Iraq is to stay one country, this is indispensable.
Otherwise Balkanisation of the nation on community lines is inevtable. Building walls will lead to nothing. The Iraqis hate the walls anyway. US should realiize that they may build walls in certain areas of Baghdad, but it is not possible to build a wall around the whole country.
Source: NYT
