When I heard the news that the U.S. military was planning to build a wall in Baghdad, I was flabergasted. Actually flabergasted doesn't quite do it justice, but I don't think there's a word in the English language which can describe my reaction.
U.S. soldiers are building a three-mile wall to protect a Sunni Arab enclave surrounded by Shiite neighborhoods in a Baghdad area “trapped in a spiral of sectarian violence and retaliation,” the military said.
When the wall is finished, the minority Sunni community of Azamiyah... will be completely gated, and traffic control points manned by Iraqi soldiers will provide the only means to enter it, the military said.
Ridiculous. Insane. Absolutely contrary to the idea of building a stable democracy. Well, thank goodness, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki put an end to it today.
Iraq's prime minister said Sunday that he has ordered a halt to the U.S. military construction of a barrier separating a Sunni enclave from surrounding Shiite areas in Baghdad after fierce criticism over the project at home.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Of course, this isn't making the loyal Bushies very happy. In fact, they aren't even sure they want to stop building it, despite the Prime Minister's order.
U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver declined to comment on whether construction of the wall would stop, saying only that all security measures were constantly under discussion.
"Declined to comment." Pardon the language, but what an ass. If we were actually trying to bring democracy to the Middle East, the immediate response would have been, "We respect Mr. al-Maliki's order as the elected leader of this sovereign nation and will halt construction immediately."
I applaud Mr. al-Maliki for listening to his countrymen and seeing clearly what a poor decision The Wall was to begin with.