Confuscius From United States of America, joined Aug 2001, 3652 posts, RR: 2 Posted (6 years 1 month 3 weeks 3 days 3 hours ago) and read 873 times:
Baghdad going upscale with gated communities? Surge finally working?
'Gated Communities' For the War-Ravaged
U.S. Tries High Walls and High Tech To Bring Safety to Parts of Baghdad
By Karin Brulliard
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 23, 2007; Page A01
BAGHDAD -- The U.S. military is walling off at least 10 of Baghdad's most violent neighborhoods and using biometric technology to track some of their residents, creating what officers call "gated communities" in an attempt to carve out oases of safety in this war-ravaged city.
However, the Iraqis are against it. Perhaps they're already satisfied with the mother-of-all-gated communities--The Green Zone.
U.S. criticized for building wall around Sunnis
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Criticism mounted Saturday over a wall U.S. troops are building around a Sunni enclave surrounded by Shiite areas in Baghdad, with residents calling it "collective punishment" and the local council leader saying the community did not approve the project before construction began.
PlymSpotter From Spain, joined Jun 2004, 11251 posts, RR: 63 Reply 1, posted (6 years 1 month 3 weeks 3 days 2 hours ago) and read 852 times:
And how long until it looks like this?
I don't see how this will help, it'll just turn the gates and access points into targets for insurgents, whilst making the enclosed Sunnis feel like prisoners.
SJCRRPAX From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 2, posted (6 years 1 month 3 weeks 3 days 2 hours ago) and read 842 times:
Quoting PlymSpotter (Reply 1): I don't see how this will help, it'll just turn the gates and access points into targets for insurgents, whilst making the enclosed Sunnis feel like prisoners.
I can tell you a couple of ways they work. Some of these gated communities are large market places. Vehicles are only allowed into the market place before the market opens, and after it closes. During the hours when thousands of people are shopping no vehicles are allowed to enter thus no car/truck bombs while the market is open!
Another way it works is there have been death squads that arrive into these neighborhoods in multiple cars. Cars with non residents and cars that don't belong into the neighborhood are not allowed in. Residents are free to come and go and are not prisoners. Now it becomes much harder to sneak in 50 men with AK-47 into the neighborhood.
That sounds nice, but the article above points at something more extreme. Perhaps too extreme.
Closing up markets so cars can't get through, but people can, would be ideal. But checkpoints allowing people in and out, controlling through the use of biometrics and badges seems a bit too far. . .much too restrictive.
"If goods do not cross borders, soldiers will" - Frederic Bastiat
QFA380 From Australia, joined Jul 2005, 2042 posts, RR: 1 Reply 4, posted (6 years 1 month 3 weeks 1 day 14 hours ago) and read 781 times:
Only 5km???? Put that into a square and you have a 1.5km2 area, which isn't really going to fit many people in. Life won't be too great for the people on the edge (outside). They should build a wall around the insurgents instead.
SJCRRPAX From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 5, posted (6 years 1 month 3 weeks 1 day 14 hours ago) and read 774 times:
Quoting QFA380 (Reply 4): Only 5km???? Put that into a square and you have a 1.5km2 area, which isn't really going to fit many people in. Life won't be too great for the people on the edge (outside). They should build a wall around the insurgents instead.
I believe that two sides of the square are protected by the Tigris river, so the wall would enclose 6.25 km/sq. Over all population density for Baghdad is about 1000 people per sq km, so that would be about 6000. Parts of Baghdad population densities go much higer. They have walls for the insurgents, they are called prisons.
Petertenthije From Netherlands, joined Jul 2001, 3239 posts, RR: 13 Reply 7, posted (6 years 1 month 3 weeks 1 day 13 hours ago) and read 766 times:
Considering that insurgents managed to get into the green zone a while back (arguably one of the best protected bits of real-estate in the world), I think this plan won't work.
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