Walls Are Nothing New In Iraq

A proposed 3-mile wall in Iraq that would have partitioned off a Sunni enclave in Baghdad from the surrounding Shiite neighborhoods has invited a storm of controversy from top Iraqi lawmakers, who see it as segregating the neighborhoods by religious sect. U.S. military officials who back the project say that reports have been exaggerated.

It remains unclear whether the 12-foot-high wall will be constructed. The U.S. ambassador to Iraq said the U.S. military would "respect the wishes" of the Iraqi government, while a spokesman for the Iraqi military said construction would continue.

But as U.S. News senior writer Kevin Whitelaw points out, walls are not new in Baghdad.

"Ever since U.S. forces reached Baghdad in April 2003, the Iraqi capital has been a city of blast walls and concrete barriers," Whitelaw tells us. "The Green Zone in the center of the city, which houses the U.S. embassy and much of the Iraqi government, is surrounded by a massive series of giant concrete walls."

What has made this particular wall controversial, Whitelaw says, is its positioning between two neighborhoods of different Islamic sects.

"What's different about the current U.S. effort to build walls is the decision to separate neighborhoods by ethnicity," Whitelaw says. "The aim is to prevent insurgents or militias from one area making a raid into another and retreating back into familiar ground. Iraqis held a small protest in Azamiyah, a Sunni stronghold. Sunnis worry that the walls are intended to hem them in, but this neighborhood is very close to Kazimiyah, a Shiite neighborhood that is home to one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines, and attackers have frequently crossed between the two areas."