Word: neighborhooding
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Iraqi politicians of all stripe may have protested, but the wall around the Baghdad neighborhood of Ghazaliya has gone up anyway. U.S. and Iraqi soldiers have ringed the southern part of the neighborhood with concrete barriers, a move that has improved security but also prompted fears among local Sunnis that they are being ghettoized...
...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...
...insurgents aren't the only ones trying to bypass the walls. Local civilians have also dragged the barriers aside just to ease access to their own neighborhood. The U.S. has tried to accommodate residents' desire for normalcy by modifying the barrier to 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...
...almost literally a 50-50 split of people who love 'em and people who hate 'em," said 1st Lt. Matthew Holtzendorff, 36, who commands a platoon in the neighborhood. "It's a mixed blessing, I guess. You have to ask the question, 'Do I want to stay alive and stay safe or do I want to make money...
...inconvenience and the effect on the local economy, their greatest fear is for the long-term survival of their community. They worry that the wall isn't about security at all, but is rather an effort to fence them in while Shi?ite militia clear the rest of the neighborhood of its Sunni residents...