From: "Mark" 

Eh I agree it's complicated Rich, but why weren't leaflets released by us
explaining the safety aspect and assuring the residents that the walls are
by no means permanent barriers and will be removed by the US or the Iraqi
government as conditions on the ground and in their lives continue to
improve. Perhaps the wall would never come down, down the road, perhaps the
people would like the wall and not complain about its permanence after the
fact.

Instead, the walls start to go up, the terrorists see the effect is bad for
them, throw out a truckload of leaflets and Maliki gets false pressure


"Rich Gauszka"  wrote in
message news:462e8751$1{at}w3.nls.net...
> Why would one surmise that the only one that can print leflets quickly are
> insurgents/al-Qaeda? Of course it's a matter of political opportunity for
> Maliki. That would tell me that he sees stronger support in opposition to
> a wall  than supporting it.
>
> Like you I don't understand the opposition to a wall that might make my
> everyday life safer but that's  another region with a  different mindset
>
>
> "Mark"  wrote in message
news:462e846d{at}w3.nls.net...
>> Looks like we continue to lose the media war, thanks mostly to the
>> division right here me thinks (remember all the screaming when we were
>> placing accurate articles in the Iraqi press -- can't do that now can we?
>> Dumb).
>>
>> Anyway, these guys have proven reliable from the getgo:
>>
>> http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/2007/04/wall.html
>> First and foremost, I don't know why "The Wall" is
becoming such an issue
>> now. Work to construct similar walls started weeks ago in the Amiriya and
>> Ghazaliyah districts. The "news" went utterly unnoticed then.
>>
>> But that's not what matters. What does matter is effectiveness versus
>> side-effects. Neither should be neglected.
>>
>> Yesterday leaflets were distributed in the streets of Adhamiya (or
>> Azamiya, English doesn't have the exact sound anyway). The leaflets -
>> printed and distributed by persons unknown - called on residents to
>> protest the building of the wall. Knowing that the only organized entity
>> capable of such quick response to events in Adhamiya are either the
>> insurgents or al-Qaeda strongly indicates that they were behind the
>> planned protest. More important still is that it indicates they see the
>> wall as a threat to their movement and ability to carry out their
>> actions.
>>
>> From a tactical point of view these walls can be very useful in reducing
>> the levels of violence in targeted areas. Militants will have to stay in
>> their home areas to avoid passing through the controlled gates. This
>> reduces their ability to transport weapons and munitions for storage or
>> operations in other districts. Failing that they will have to relocate to
>> a district where it would be easier for them to operate. In either case
>> the capacity of the militants to sustain their current level of
>> operations would be impaired....
>>
>> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote
in message
>> news:462e7fd1$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>> looks like no wall is politically acceptable for Maliki
>>>
>>>
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/24/world/middleeast/24iraq.html?bl&ex=117756
0000&en=2c500a00cf10dcf9&ei=5087%0A
>>> And it has proved to be an unlikely boon for Prime Minister Nuri Kamal
>>> al-Maliki, making the Shiite politician - at least for now - into a
>>> champion for Sunnis because he publicly opposed the wall's construction.
>>>
>>>
>>> "Adam"
<""4thwormcastfromthemolehill\"{at}the field.near the
bridge"> wrote
>>> in message news:462e7762$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>> Which is more politically acceptable, walls or death
squads roaming at
>>>> will?
>>>>
>>>> You decide...
>>>>
>>>> Adam
>>>>
>>>> Rich Gauszka wrote:
>>>>>
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21604280-2703,00.html
>>>>>
>>>>> IN a fresh clash with his American allies, the Iraqi
Prime Minister
>>>>> has
>>>>> ordered the US military to halt the construction of
concrete walls
>>>>> being
>>>>> built around some of the most violent neighbourhoods in Baghdad.
>>>>>
>>>>> Nouri al-Maliki, the Shia leader, stepped in as Sunni
communities
>>>>> complained
>>>>> that their neighbourhoods were being turned into
ghettoes that could
>>>>> choke
>>>>> off life in their areas.
>>>>>
>>>>> "I oppose the building of the wall, and its
construction will stop,"
>>>>> he said
>>>>> during a visit to Egypt yesterday. "There are
other methods to protect
>>>>> neighbourhoods."
>>>>>
>>>>> The US military had started to build concrete walls around five
>>>>> Baghdad
>>>>> neighbourhoods, most of them Sunni, in an attempt to
stop car bombers
>>>>> leaving them and death squads infiltrating them.
>>>>>
>>>>> Mr al-Maliki, who has often been at odds with his US
backers over
>>>>> security
>>>>> policy in the capital, said that "this wall
reminds us of other
>>>>> walls", in
>>>>> an apparent reference to the Israeli wall running through the
>>>>> Palestinian
>>>>> West Bank.
>>>>>
>>>>> Sunnis living in the newly sealed-off enclaves had
complained that the
>>>>> walls
>>>>> would cause severe traffic congestion and entrench the
sectarian rift
>>>>> already dividing many Sunni from Shia areas.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "Ad"
 wrote in message
>>>>> news:462c5c33$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>>> http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=20462
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I did say a while back that they should build city
walls around
>>>>>> trouble
>>>>>> spots so as to "protect &
control"....I was thinking about whole
>>>>>> towns/cities e.g. Ramadi....but here is an internal wall....
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Residents of Sunni Baghdad district on
Saturday accused US forces
>>>>>> walling
>>>>>> them in behind a five-kilometre (three-mile)
security barrier of
>>>>>> hardening
>>>>>> the city's already bitter sectarian divisions.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On April 10, US paratroopers began hauling
six-tonne (14,000-pound)
>>>>>> sections of concrete wall into place around the
Sunni district of
>>>>>> Adhamiyah, one of the minority community's last
enclaves in Shiite
>>>>>> east
>>>>>> Baghdad.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The wall is designed to prevent Shiite death
squads from launching
>>>>>> attacks
>>>>>> to drive out the Sunnis, and to prevent Sunni
insurgents from using
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> pocket as a base for raids and bombing runs into
Shiite areas.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Eleven days after the project began, the highway
dividing Adhamiyah
>>>>>> from
>>>>>> its Shiite neighbours is lined with tall concrete
barriers. A US
>>>>>> military
>>>>>> statement issued on Tuesday said troops would work
nightly until it
>>>>>> is
>>>>>> completed.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "The idea is to curb some of the
self-sustaining violence by
>>>>>> controlling
>>>>>> who has access to the neighbourhoods," said
Captain Marc Sanborn, a
>>>>>> military engineer from the 82nd Airborne Division,
according to the
>>>>>> US
>>>>>> statement.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The area is to become what the US military called
a "gated community"
>>>>>> protected by barriers and checkpoints manned by
Iraqi troops."
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Adam
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

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