U.S. Erects Baghdad Wall to Keep Sects Apart

As far as I see it, for all the naysayers here, they've had little solution amongst themselves:

i. If not a wall, then what? 'Getting out' is not an option, and if you have an inkling of the current situation, you'll recognize why.

ii. Can it be denied walls work? Thus far, the only comparisons here are to other walls which don't have any relation to the current one. Just because it is a 'wall' doesn't mean it can be relative to all others which have ever existed.

On a completely un-though-out note:

i. Guns and RPG's will not have much effect on the wall, and would only serve to waste ammunition, or fill its intended objective to deter aggression.

ii. Better a bomb be wasted on something replaceable like a wall, than a human life.

iii. We'll have formed, I believe, 'mini-states' of the opposing religions, much as the nay-sayers of the occupation suggested years ago.

iv. These walls will enable our forces to keep much better watch of neighborhoods. You see a truck unloading something against the wall? Not so sneaky.
You see a generic truck with a covered back going down the street, only to detonate near a heavily-populated mosque? Hard to notice.

Simply points.

Just another point in the list that is the examples of how we do not learn form our mistakes from the past.

That being said, short term, not the worst idea, at least there should be credit for TRYING something new. However this will only center the attacks that would be hapening on fixed locations also.

Things just seem to be getting bad to worse its just a shame to see so many innocent lives lost

I think it is so funny that many of the people that are saying that we need to pull out, or that bush/co need to be impeached, have no idea how the US would look if it pulled out, or what would happen look what happened in Vietnam.

Before you people go off shooting your mouth, can you come up with a better suggestion on how to curb the violence in Iraq?

I think the wall idea is a good step, it will help cut down, on the amount of open land the solders have to watch. And it will help shift troops towards the more troubled areas.

I have an idea, how about these people stop killing themselves and 1000s of innocent people in crowded market places? You know what separates you from others more then a wall? A bomb in your car or strapped too you, that will separate you quick.

on a side note, I cant stand bush, and the reasons for the war. But if we left now it would be even worse for everyday people ( I know how could it get worse .. just wait and see when we leave how bad its going to get.) Walls may not be the answer, but maybe it came tame some, until a something solid can be worked out. I doubt it. I think the walls intention is to help people who are getting caught in the middle of this "I am better then you" religious BS

A wall will hardly divide anything or anyone. This is a huge waste of time and resources. How long will it take for them to blow up the wall? I'll bet that it get targeted before it even near completion.

I used to be in the middle on this war but now with the idiotic decisions being made and the useless deaths on both sides I'm leaning towards pulling out. I don't know the answers on what to do but so far we aren't doing squat.

I saw a clip on the news of the burned out hulks of cars and buses lined up. Is that supposed to be the reinforcement inside this wall before they place the concrete? Guess that's one use for them.

But yes, my initial reaction was 'Berlin' and Nazi ghettos all over again.

We'll still not win many hearts and minds with this kind of plan.

Originally posted by apc
Shiite, "Alright! Now we don't have to worry about each other!"

Sunni, "Yup! Wait a second... all the restaurants are on your side of the wall!"

Shiite, "Heeeeey... and the library is on your side of the wall!"

Sunni, "OK... you can come over the wall to use the library if we can come over the wall to go to the restaurants."

ug... this is gonna be fun.

No one could have said that better.

Wonder what other brilliant idea's Bush has... Can't wait to hear them.

Originally posted by Harvestfreak

I think the wall idea is a good step, it will help cut down, on the amount of open land the solders have to watch. And it will help shift troops towards the more troubled areas.

Until the wall is destroyed...the wall won't do anything. I already had a proposition for a long time, install another dictator! One curbed the violence before, I think another could do it again.

RR, you are correct, IMO. A dictatorship is all that the people of Iraq know. Saddam did a good job of that. Granted there were things that he did that the world may not have approved of, but he kept the people in order.

By trying to instill ideas from the west, of which Iraqi's have no understanding of (historically speaking), Bush has done nothing but create total mayhem. They're lost without having someone there to tell them what to do and when to do it.

Originally posted by shots
Here they are doing it to keep peace . I doubt it will work but it is a method or approach to use when you consider what they
are doing.

Which is exactally why it will be a failure! There are NO clear boundries in Iraq, this is a civil war! All it will achieve is to cut down on what little communication and cooperation they have now. This wall will be an Expensive Exercise in futility.

Tim

So you think another dictator would work. In that case, would Saddam build a wall to keep his people safe from one another?

Originally posted by psyopswatcher
So you think another dictator would work.

No, I never said anything of the sort! Just because I'm saying the "Wall" idea is doomed to failure doesn't mean I'm advocating another tyrannical dictator. Please DON'T put words in my mouth.

If I get another Idea, I'll let you know!

Tim

Not you Ghost, RR and Infoholic, whoever thinks installing another dictator is what will stop the civil war. Would a dictator--a new Saddam, consider segregation as a means of achieving peace?

(sounds rather ludicrous when put it that way)

Of course if they did this right, they could always use it for the base of a light rail system in the future. But I doubt they'd actually plan ahead like that.

This is a desperation move, imho.

Here is an update.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has ordered a halt to the construction of a US military-built wall designed to separate Shiite and Sunni communities in Baghdad.

Mr al-Maliki says he wants alternatives found to protect a mainly Sunni area of the Iraqi capital.

The US military said last week it would build a five-kilometre security wall around the Adhamiya quarter of east Baghdad

source

IMO the wall just re-enforces the need to partition Iraq along tribal lines . There appears to be no other way of preventing Islamic wackos from coming to power in Iraq.

You are comparing apples to oranges. Your thought process, IMO is trying to make Iraq into what once was East and West Germany.

You, like the administration that chose to change the regime in Iraq, wish to force upon them your views of how they should run their country. That won't work.

The people of Iraq have lived for how long under a system that worked? You can't tell me that their system didn't work, however, I'm almost certain you'll throw up how bad Saddam was. I'm not discussing his atrocities. We all know what he did... but you fail to see what he did do, and that was to run a country, whether or not he might simply have been a pawn for something bigger.

Now we know why is not money to build a wall here in our nation between Mexico and the US. . . .

The funds have been diverted to Iraq

Really people, who do you think is paying for such great idea? I bet Rove was the one with the brilliant idea.

Wait when the bombings against the wall starts . . . more wasted tax payer money.

We have American soldiers in Iraq right now? And they are building a wall?! What's that all about?

Originally posted by Infoholic
The people of Iraq have lived for how long under a system that worked? You can't tell me that their system didn't work, however, I'm almost certain you'll throw up how bad Saddam was. I'm not discussing his atrocities. We all know what he did... but you fail to see what he did do, and that was to run a country, whether or not he might simply have been a pawn for something bigger.

Infoholic,

Ok, and for 50 years, Communism and holding a constant nuclear threat worked to hold the peace and prevent many smaller conflict from blowing up. The Russians made it under the tyannical rule of notables like Stalin, Khrushchev. Hell, the world even survived coming within an hour of all out Nuclear War.

Would you like to see that come back as an alternitve to all these regional conflicts?

Tim

I fail to see what Communist Russia has to do with the Dictatorship style government that took place in Iraq before the Coalition decided they knew best.

If you're trying to make the point that "Russia changed for the better", I'm going to have to call BS.