U.S. Builds Wall in Sadr City

Sadr City, the Baghdad neighborhood turned refuge for Iraqi insurgents, is getting a infrastructural makeover this week as workers begin building a wall to isolate the area from the rest of the capital city. U.S. forces say the construction is a security measure to stem anti-U.S. and anti-coalition activity.

The New York Times:

Trying to stem the infiltration of militia fighters, American forces have begun to build a massive concrete wall that will partition Sadr City, the densely populated Shiite neighborhood in the Iraqi capital.

The construction, which began Tuesday night, is intended to turn the southern quarter of Sadr City near the international Green Zone into a protected enclave, secured by Iraqi and American forces, where the Iraqi government can undertake reconstruction efforts.

“You can’t really repair anything that is broken until you establish security,” said Lt. Col. Dan Barnett, commander of the First Squadron, Second Stryker Cavalry Regiment. “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.”

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nytimes.com / Joao Silva

Got a problem? Build a wall. Baghdad’s Al Quds Street, where the barrier is being installed, has become a porous demarcation line between the American- and Iraqi-protected area to the south and the militia-controlled area to the north.