As Fears Ease, Baghdad Sees Walls Tumble (Victory is on the Horizon)

New York Times ^ | October 12, 2008 | Alissa J. Rubin, Stephen Farrell and Erica Goode

[SeekAndFind]

BAGHDAD — Market by market, square by square, the walls are beginning to come down. The miles of hulking blast walls, ugly but effective, were installed as a central feature of the surge of American troops to stop neighbors from killing one another.

“They protected against car bombs and drive-by attacks,” said Adnan, 39, a vegetable seller in the once violent neighborhood of Dora, who argues that the walls now block the markets and the commerce that Baghdad needs to thrive. “Now it is safe.”

The slow dismantling of the concrete walls is the most visible sign of a fundamental change here in the Iraqi capital. The American surge strategy, which increased the number of United States troops and contributed to stability here, is drawing to a close. And a transition is under way to the almost inevitable American drawdown in 2009.

There are now more than 148,000 United States troops in Iraq, down from the peak of around 170,000 a year ago, and President Bush has accepted the military’s recommendation to remove 8,000 more by February.

Iraqis are already taking on many of the tasks the Americans once performed, raising great hopes that the country will progress on its own but also deep fears of failure.

[SeekAndFind]

A crane worker stood on a section of blast wall being moved in Baghdad. The walls protect neighborhoods but hinder commerce.

[Rocco DiPippo]

Because this is a New York Slimes article, rest assured that things in Baghdad are even better than this article reluctantly says they are. My Iraqi and American friends there confirm that.

I was in Baghdad while our boys and girls were cleaning out Dora, which at the time was a close second to Sadr City in terms of being a violent sinkhole. Man, the sound of 500lb bombs detonating is pretty sobering. One night, while phoning my wife back in the US, a barrage began and I ran outside to see what was up. Man, the sky above Dora looked like an intense thunderstorm was going on. The sheer power you could feel as the bombs detonated was mind blowing — and I was a good distance away. I remember thinking, “Man, I’m glad I’m not under that!” Now, a little more than a year later and the blast walls are coming down. Incredible! Thank you, GI Joe and Jane. Thank you, Mr. President and the Congressmen who stood by your side. Thank you, General Petraeus. Thank you, to the Iraqis who grew balls and stood up to the Democrat and Old Media-enabled terrorist swine who wanted to destroy their nation.