I suppose the media hasn't given this much attention, since they figure Americans don't remember what happened two weeks ago.
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.
"I oppose the building of the wall and its construction will stop," al-Maliki said during a joint news conference with the secretary-general of the Arab League. "There are other methods to protect neighborhoods, but I should point out that the goal was not to separate, but to protect."
He did not elaborate but added "this wall reminds us of other walls that we reject, so I've ordered it to stop and to find other means of protection for the neighborhoods."
Al-Maliki: No Wall in Baghdad Community
But what do we find in an AP article from yesterday?
He lied. The barrier is still going up. It is certainly reminiscent of Bush's famous denial that the U.S. government spied on American citizens without a warrant.
Last month, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, said he had ordered a halt to the construction of the wall, saying "there are other methods to protect neighborhoods" and "this wall reminds us of other walls that we reject."
But his security aides later said he was responding to exaggerated reports in the media and that construction would continue.
So how is this kind of deceit affecting the ability of al Maliki's government to convince all Iraqis that they can have confidence in him and his government? I would not expect it to have a favorable effect. Our soldiers are dying while the Iraqi government has no firm benchmarks. It lies to its citizens and allows Americans to do as they please, giving more ammunition to the insurgents, thus ensuring that more of our soldiers die.
The main subject of the article is the shooting of an unfortunate American soldier. The article explains.
Much of the construction is being done at night by troops wearing night-vision goggles. But the officer was wounded while conducting a daytime survey.
U.S. commander wounded at barrier wall in Baghdad
Obviously the citizens of Baghdad are aware that the barrier is going up at night. It's just harder to hit the workers in the dark. I suppose the next article will describe a nighttime insurgent attack on the barrier.