Word: ghazaliya
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...first I attributed [the decline in violence] to the American presence and the Iraqi presence," said Capt. Matthew Koehler, 30, who works with the American team advising the Iraqi Army unit that patrols south Ghazaliya. "I thought that was the extent of it, until I saw the insurgents trying to blow up those barriers...
...According to Capt. Jon Brooks, who recently took command of the U.S. unit responsible for south Ghazaliya, the number of civilian bodies dumped in the neighborhood has declined by more than 50% since the barriers went up. An Iraqi who lives in Ghazaliya and reports for TIME agreed that local violence - from kidnappings and killings to sectarian clashes - has been curtailed by the wall...
...less clear, however, whether the decline in violence is due to the wall itself, or to the huge increase in the number of U.S. soldiers living and patrolling in Ghazaliya. For American troops, the clearest indication that the wall is frustrating the insurgents was the fact that they tried to destroy it, in a multiple bombing on April 29 that blew apart several of the large concrete slabs. U.S. forces repaired the damage the following...
...provide easier access to a local school. They're also trying to make it easier to reach a gas station that lies on the wrong side of the wall. But, while the barriers can be modified, it is not possible to so severely limit movement in and out of Ghazaliya without harming the neighborhood's already devastated economy...
...recent foot patrol in south Ghazaliya at least two Sunnis who spoke with American soldiers said they had recently moved from Huriya. That neighborhood north of Ghazaliya is dominated by the Mahdi Army, Moqtada Sadr's Shi?ite militia that has been pushing Sunnis out of their homes in Baghdad. Those refugees, like other Sunnis in Ghazaliya, said they welcomed the American presence but did not trust the Shi'ite-dominated Iraqi Army. The wall is only as effective - and as fair - as the men guarding it. Sunnis must now pass through Iraqi Army checkpoints on their...