The Baghdad Wall

The Big 5 of American mainstream media haven't reported this. A 3 mile long, 12 foot high concrete wall has been under construction in Baghdad since April 10.

There was confusion about the wall at US HQ. Major-General William Caldwell, the usual US spokesman in Baghdad, said on Wednesday he was unaware of efforts to build a wall. "Our goal is to unify Baghdad, not subdivide it into separate [enclaves]," he said. But a US military press release from Camp Victory provided extensive details about the construction. It said: "The area the wall will protect is the largest predominately Sunni neighbourhood in east Baghdad. The wall is one of the centrepieces of a new strategy by coalition and Iraqi forces to break the cycle of sectarian violence."

It sounds like someone had a brainstorm and decided to try a suburban approach. When you are born and raised in a suburban gated community that keeps people out of where you live it's bound to effect your world view. If it works Dunwoody it'll work in Baghdad, right?

(Dunwoody, for those not from Atlanta, is an upscale suburban enclave of gated communities situated among office parks and big box stores.)