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| Iraq | |
| Iraqi PM orders halt to Baghdad barrier | |
| 2007-04-22 | |
| Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Sunday that he has ordered a halt to the construction of a barrier that would separate a Sunni enclave from surrounding Shiite areas in Baghdad, saying there are other ways to protect the neighborhood. The U.S. military announced last week that it was building a large concrete wall in the northern Azamiyah section of Baghdad in an effort to protect the minority Sunnis from attacks by Shiites living nearby. The decision drew sharp criticism from residents and Sunni leaders who complained it would isolate their community. In his first public comments on the issue, al-Maliki said he had ordered the construction to stop. "I oppose the building of the wall and its construction will stop," al-Maliki told reporters during a joint news conference with the Secretary-General of the Arab League Amr Moussa in Cairo, Egypt. "There are other methods to protect neighborhoods."
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| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #8 STFU, until you can prove you have a plan. I'm afraid we'd be in for an awfully long silence. These stupid fucks can't look beyond gaining revenge on a rival clan for cheating their way to victory in a camel race over 300 years ago. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-22 21:50 |
| #7 So where is the US response, that SHOULD go something like this: STFU, until you can prove you have a plan. if this is needed to give our forces cover to 'assist the Iraqis, then build the freaking wall and let al-Malibu simmer. |
| Posted by: USN, ret. 2007-04-22 21:31 |
| #6 So he's against it, after he was for it? |
| Posted by: KBK 2007-04-22 19:54 |
| #5 Displacement and ghettoization are natural and normal effects of a conflict like this. That old cause and effect mystery biting Middle Easterners in the rear again. Azamiyah's elders might have considered the consequences of abetting yet more murderous violence against their countrymen (or not actually fighting same) when the occupiers rolled in and the old system collapsed. On the whole it's starting to seem that Iraqi Sunnis in mixed areas have a future similar to that of the Germans of East Prussia in 1945. My sympathies are similar, as well. |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2007-04-22 19:20 |
| #4 I suspect that his real reason was that the Sunnis are scared of a wall, because it is like something Saddam would have done to a hated minority--like Sadr City. It goes against what they are hoping for in the new Iraq, that they won't be ghettoized in part of the city. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-04-22 18:09 |
| #3 Fiddling while Iraq burns |
| Posted by: Grumenk Philalzabod0723 2007-04-22 17:48 |
| #2 He did not elaborate but added "this wall reminds us of other walls," in an apparent reference to the wall that divided the German city of Berlin during the Cold War. I'm suprised that the author missed his chance to sideswipe Israel's security barrier. It is supposed to be an equally hateful sign of repression and subjugation. Funny how Palestinian vest bombings have dropped so precipitously since its construction. I guess he didn't want to risk having people make any connection between walls and actual protection. With each passing day Maliki becomes more and more an enemy of our troops. The Azamiyah wall would have established choke points whereby both Sunni and Shiite terrorists could be intercepted. Instead, the mayhem will continue unabated and more of America's finest will die because of it. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-22 17:16 |
| #1 Good luck, Mal! |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-04-22 17:05 |