March 4, 2007
In Baghdad, Sectarian Lines Too Deadly to Cross

By DAMIEN CAVE; AHMAD FADAM AND MUHAMMAD AL-SATTAR CONTRIBUTED REPORTING.
After centuries full of vibrant interaction, of marrying, sharing and selling across sects and classes, Baghdad has become a capital of corrosive and violent borderlines. Streets never crossed. Conversations never started. Doors never entered.

Sunnis and Shiites in many professions now interact almost exclusively with colleagues of the same sect. Sunnis say they are afraid to visit hospitals because Shiites loyal to the cleric Moktada al-Sadr run the Health Ministry, while Shiite laborers who used to climb into the back of pickup trucks for work across the Tigris River in Sunni western Baghdad now take jobs only near home.

The goal of the new Baghdad security plan is to fix all of this -- to fashion a peace that stitches the city's cleaved neighborhoods back together. After three weeks, there are a few signs of progress. The number of bodies found daily has decreased to 20 or fewer from 35 to 50. In some areas closely patrolled by American troops, a few of the families that fled the violence are said to be returning.

But even in neighborhoods that are improving or are relatively calm, borders loom. Streets once crossed without a thought are now bullet-riddled and abandoned, the front lines of a block-by-block war among Shiite militias, Sunni insurgents, competing criminal gangs and Iraqi and American troops.

Some Americans who have seen both Bosnia and Iraq say Baghdad has come to resemble Sarajevo as it began to unravel in the 1990s, latticed with boundaries that are never openly indicated but are passed on in fearful whispers among neighbors who have suffered horrific losses.

Like jagged wounds, the boundaries mark histories of brutal violence. And for Iraqis, they underscore a vital question at the heart of the new plan: can scarred neighborhoods ever heal?

Fadhil/Sadriya

Sybaa Street used to be wall-to-wall people: sidewalks were crammed with shoppers, and roads were snarled with cars. In the heart of central Baghdad, Sybaa was known as the road to get from the automotive shops on one side of the market district to the hardware stores on the other.

Back then -- as recently as two years ago, residents said -- no one seemed to care that it was the border between the mostly Sunni neighborhood of Fadhil and the largely Shiite areas to the south, Sadriya and Sheik Omar.

But that has all changed. After six months of fighting between Sunnis and Shiites, Sybaa Street is now deserted and forsaken. On a recent afternoon, the only sign of life was a lone mechanic working inside a dark garage, his efforts lighted by a single bulb. Bullets from earlier battles punctured nearly everything -- buildings, utility poles, even rusted mufflers hanging outside shuttered shops.

Um Shaima, 48, a garrulous Sunni widow who used to sell yogurt in the Sadriya market, lives just north of Sybaa Street in Fadhil. She said she used to visit the stores there for clothes. Her cousin Samir worked for years on the Sadriya side of Sybaa Street as a mechanic without any trouble.

Then a few months ago, Ms. Shaima said, he received a threat. ''They told him, 'You are a Sunni, and all Sunnis are infidels and their women are prostitutes, so stop coming to Sadriya or you will be killed,' '' she said.

''He didn't listen,'' she added.

The next day, he was kidnapped. Witnesses said Shiite militants yanked him off his motorcycle and threw him in the trunk of a sedan.

''They called his wife at 9 a.m. the next day,'' Ms. Shaima said, ''telling her that they will kill all the Sunnis, and your husband is dead.''

A Shiite nephew of Samir's later recovered his uncle's mutilated body from a trash pile east of Baghdad.

Ms. Shaima said her two sons now carried guns at night to protect her and her neighbors. The Shiite-led Iraqi government will not protect them because the Shiites ''want to finish us,'' she said. ''They will start breaking into our houses, raping us in front of our children, then killing us with our kids,'' she added. ''They will let Iraq reach a point where Palestinian misery will seem like a picnic.''

Across the border, in Sadriya, lies a mirror image of anger and fear. The response is similar, too: young men with guns who view themselves as protectors, who justify violence as the reasonable response to violence.

Nazar Sharif Abd Hussein, 35, a carpenter and a member of the Mahdi Army militia, said he did not hate all Sunnis; one of his sisters who lives outside of Baghdad just married one.

Mr. Hussein hardly looked fierce, at 5 feet 7 inches tall, wearing jeans and a gray sweater, with a short beard and sunken dark eyes. But he said he could be vicious when called upon because Sunni gangsters and insurgents in Fadhil had shown no respect for life.

Last May, he said, his 17-year-old best friend, Salar, was shot dead while they both guarded an area near the edge of Fadhil. He said Salar was wearing a flak jacket but a stream of .50-caliber bullets perforated his side and ripped through his chest.

''I still remember that night,'' Mr. Hussein said, adding, ''He was standing in the middle of the street.''

The sectarian border now seems to define him. He said he lived alone, worked near his apartment by day and was a guard for the Mahdi Army at night. Because the militia has shut down bars and other places where people socialize (he offered no opinion of the policy), he said his life remained stalled. He said he expected it to stay that way.

''I don't want to get married because maybe I'll be killed or tortured,'' he said. ''I'm afraid to bring a wife into this.''

Saydia/Dora

Baghdad's relentless violence has also created a deeper divide that may prove equally hard to eliminate: the line between the known and the stranger.

As the unfamiliar has become the dangerous, Iraqis have developed elaborate disguises to help them pass as members of the other sect: ruses like adopting identification cards with false family names or developing elaborate fictional histories.

Even then, being a member of the same sect or a relative is no guarantee of safety in a city, Iraqis say, where Shiites have killed Shiites and Sunnis have killed Sunnis out of uncertainty over whom to trust.

Ali Abu Zainab, 50, a mechanic and a journalist, said the border between his neighborhood, Saydia, and Dora had left him and his three young daughters cut off from his extended family. Both neighborhoods have historically been populated by a mixture of Sunnis, Shiites and Christians. But because Dora has been a battleground for various militant groups for at least a year, he said, crossing over is impossible.

The Hilla highway, a wide road heading south that separates the two areas, and the Dora highway -- the main road into the neighborhood of the same name -- are nearly empty except for gunmen. A relative who was forced to drive down the Dora highway three months ago because of a surprise checkpoint saw bodies littering the streets, Mr. Zainab said.

So even though his favorite aunts and cousins in Dora live less than two miles away, he has been unable to visit for more than a year. In the fall, he said, he missed a cousin's wedding. After another cousin was killed by Shiite militants, he missed the funeral.

''I used to go frequently to Dora just like everyone else in Saydia,'' he said.

Now, he shops near home. When he leaves, he exits from the opposite side of the neighborhood. Still, the border's dangers seep in. Because Saydia has remained less violent than Dora, fewer residents have fled and security is not as tight. Fighters pushed out of Dora consider Saydia a good place to hide because they can blend in with civilians.

Three weeks ago, Mr. Zainab said, after American and Iraqi troops started an operation against insurgents in Dora, a battle broke out near his home. When the gunfire stopped, 10 people were dead. He said no one in the neighborhood seemed to know who had been fighting or what had set it off.

''Sectarian extremism is the reason for all of this,'' he said. ''Iraqis are sentimental and their emotions lead them to follow those who pretend to be religious.''

Noting that his neighborhood still contained both Sunnis and Shiites, he said that Iraqi politicians, with the help of the American-led invasion in 2003, seemed intent on stirring up hatred. ''The problems are between them,'' he said. ''Not between the people.''

Kadhimiya/Huriya/Shuala

Some Iraqis draw the border at their own doorsteps.

Saadi Khazaal Jawad, 60, a Shiite former government worker and restaurateur, said his neighborhood was so dangerous, he was a virtual shut-in. He lives in Chikuk, a mixed area squeezed among the Sunni neighborhood of Huriya to the south and the Shiite Kadhimiya to the east and Shuala to the west.

As Shiites from the north and east have begun expanding their turf into Chikuk, Sunnis from Huriya have been fighting back, making every corner here a potential danger zone.

Mr. Jawad has a dusty blue Chevrolet Caprice that he almost never drives. He has two daughters and four sons whom he tries to keep home lest he lose them. He has forbidden his 16-year-old daughter to go to school.

On most days, Mr. Jawad said, he prays, eats, naps, reads newspapers and watches television. Oprah Winfrey and Rachael Ray are among his favorites.

He also escapes with his birds, a gaggle of passenger pigeons in cages on his roof. The birds come from places he used to visit on vacations, like Mosul and Basra. They offer a way, he said, to flee.

''I spend about two or three hours here,'' he said as he fed the birds. ''I forget everything when I'm here. And besides, I can't go anywhere. It's dangerous to go out.''

Even Mr. Jawad has not entirely lost hope; he said he was rooting for the Iraqi government's efforts to shore up security, which he considered sincere. Some residents in Fadhil and Sadriya also said the recent Iraqi-American operation there had given a few of their friends enough confidence to leave their apartments and return to work.

But Iraqis all across Baghdad said it could take years for men like Mr. Hussein, the Mahdi militant in Sadriya, to give up their weapons, and for residents to let go of their fears. With American helicopters overhead every day and gunfire and explosions as regular as morning alarm clocks, Iraqis' sense of being trapped has yet to recede.

''I try to kill time,'' Mr. Jawad said. ''We try to busy ourselves because when I have nothing to do, it makes time last longer.''

Correction: March 6, 2007, Tuesday An article on Sunday about the tendency of Shiites and Sunnis to interact less and less with one another because of the violence in Iraq referred incorrectly to birds kept on the roof of a Shiite restaurateur and former government worker who said that he is a virtual shut-in because his neighborhood is so dangerous. While the birds are pigeons, they are not passenger pigeons, which are extinct.

Here is a very insightful commentary on current state of affairs in Baghdad and where it is likely to lead.
This is not a war where ‘victory’ looks like a WWII ‘surrender’.

The dissing of tribal leaders at the outset of the war, proves to be one of the costly mistakes which could have marshalled this war with its 1000 year old infrastructure in place. Understanding and incentives to these players would have been far less costly than the strategy which “no tribal sheik” would have a place in the NEW IRAQ. Very naïve on our war planners part, but so we learn and move forward.

======

ARTICLE: “In Baghdad, Sectarian Lines Too Deadly to Cross,” by Damien Cave, New York Times 4 March 2007, p. A1.
ARTICLE: “Is the surge beginning to work?” The Economist, 3 March 2007, p. 51.

The ISG said it would be too hard. Critics of Joe Biden said his thinking was unrealistic.
But this outcome is inevitable, because none of the three players (Kurd, Sunni, Shiite) are willing to give the central government sufficient power to prevent it.
As smart as Petraeus is, he’s trying to keep a three-way marriage intact when none of the parties want to stay married--at least until each feels like they’ve exhausted their chances for something better (for Kurds and Shiaa, it’s called relative independence; for the Sunnis, it’s called trying to get it all back).
Tell me this doesn’t sound exactly like the Balkans:
After centuries full of vibrant interaction, of marrying, sharing and selling across sects and classes, Baghdad has become a capital of corrosive and violent borderlines. Streets never crossed. Conversations never started. Doors never entered.
The essence of Gapdom. You can say we did it to them and you’d be right. You can also say they do it to themselves and you’d also be right.
There’s all sorts of ethnic enclaving in America. You simply can’t tell people where to live or with whom they should consort.
What you can do, however, is give them all the economic incentives to play with one another nicely, primarily out of the greedy desire to do better, get more, and share it with loved ones.
We’ve let the ethnic enclaving occur. Big deal.
But we’ve also let the economy withdraw from normal life, and that’s our huge mistake.
If you don’t give them the chance for the Lexus (buy it, sell it, build it--whatever), they fight over the olive trees. They fight over identity.
It’s pathetic all right, like watching dogs fight over bones.
Over time, the talent leaves and the concentration of losers and incapables grows ever more dense.
We are responsible for this vicious cycle, but the behavior within belongs to those who engage in it.
Still, the separation process isn’t necessarily all bad. I have a slide near the end of my brief now where I talk about the journey from fake states to real (I gave three models of jumping the Bremmer J-curve in a recent column), noting that the disaggregation of political power, despite creating chaos and violence typically, can also pave the wave for a sort of corporatist economy to emerge, with the corporations in this instance being ethnic tribes.
Both the good and the bad about Baghdad right now might be very much the same: this divorce must happen, but a good after-marriage is completely possible once everyone comes to the realization that they can live in separate political houses, so to speak, but still engage in the logic of economic interaction (the great black hope of the still murky oil revenue-sharing legislation).
As I have argued in the past, success in these interventions won’t look much like a classic military victory (“Are we winning?” “Are we losing?”), in large part because we’re an enabler to these processes (both the killing and the rebuilding) but we’re in charge of neither, except in tactical, episodic moments

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1530762.ece

Iraqis: life is getting better
Marie Colvin
MOST Iraqis believe life is better for them now than it was under Saddam Hussein, according to a British opinion poll published today.

The survey of more than 5,000 Iraqis found the majority optimistic despite their suffering in sectarian violence since the American-led invasion four years ago this week.

One in four Iraqis has had a family member murdered, says the poll by Opinion Research Business. In Baghdad, the capital, one in four has had a relative kidnapped and one in three said members of their family had fled abroad. But when asked whether they preferred life under Saddam, the dictator who was executed last December, or under Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, most replied that things were better for them today.

Only 27% think there is a civil war in Iraq, compared with 61% who do not, according to the survey carried out last month.

Related Links
Resilient Iraqis ask what civil war?
Violence slashed as troop surge hits Baghdad
By a majority of two to one, Iraqis believe military operations now under way will disarm all militias. More than half say security will improve after a withdrawal of multinational forces.

Margaret Beckett, the foreign secretary, said the findings pointed to progress. “There is no widespread violence in the four southern provinces and the fact that the picture is more complex than the stereotype usually portrayed is reflected in today’s poll,” she said

Gandhi's Way Isn't the American Way
Collective Suicide Is No Foreign Policy
By Fred Thompson
Posted: Friday, March 16, 2007

ARTICLES
National Review Online
Publication Date: March 15, 2007

Editor's note: Click here to listen to the original radio commentary this transcript is based on.


Visiting Fellow
Fred Thompson

I feel bad for Nancy Pelosi, and her neighbors. Anti-war activists from the group Code Pink have been giving her the same treatment the president gets at his Crawford, Texas, ranch. Camping on her San Francisco lawn, they're demanding she cut off funds to the troops in Iraq.

Besides coolers and mattresses, protesters have brought along a giant paper mache statue of Mahatma Gandhi, who is pretty much the symbol of the anti-war movement. Code Pink was founded on his birthday, and when Saddam Hussein was being given a last chance to open Iraq to U.N. weapons inspectors, posters appeared around America asking "What would Gandhi do?"

And that's a pretty good question. At what point is it okay to fight dictators like Saddam or the al Qaeda terrorists who want to take his place?

It turns out that the answer, according to Gandhi, is never. During World War II, Gandhi penned an open letter to the British people, urging them to surrender to the Nazis. Later, when the extent of the holocaust was known, he criticized Jews who had tried to escape or fight for their lives as they did in Warsaw and Treblinka. "The Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher's knife," he said. "They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs." "Collective suicide," he told his biographer, "would have been heroism."

The so-called peace movement certainly has the right to make Gandhi's way their way, but their efforts to make collective suicide American foreign policy just won't cut it in this country. When Americans think of heroism, we think of the young American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, risking their lives to prevent another Adolf Hitler or Saddam Hussein.

Gandhi probably wouldn't approve, but I can live with that.

Fred Thompson is a visiting fellow at AEI.

http://www.geocities.com/saveamerica1/bylaws.html

The Patriot Underground By-LawsPurpose: To explain the mission, goals and organizational structure of the Patriot Underground.
1. STATEMENT OF ETHICS:

Under no circumstances will the Patriot Underground tolerate immoral behavior or racism.

2. GOALS:
1. TO PRESENT itself to the citizens of this region as a well regulated, well trained, well equipped, and well educated militia.

2. TO ASSIST citizens and civil authorities in the event of a national disaster, civil defense or in the defense of self and state.

3. TO ESTABLISH a cohesive command structure able to instruct and to delegate tasks as needs arise.

4. TO TRAIN members in many disciplines necessary to the function of the militia as a whole and as members individually.

5. TO EDUCATE members in areas of history, law, and principles from knowledge imparted by this country's historical foundations.

6. TO INFORM its members of local, national, and global events that would imperil the Constitution and impact the direction of the country.

7. TO ENCOURAGE members to stand against tyranny, and any person, entity, or force which threatens to undermine our republic.

8. TO SEEK the protection, wisdom, and leadership of Almighty God as we submit to Him to do His will in protecting the liberty and freedom He has given to all Americans.

3. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE:

In order to achieve the goals listed, a militia Command Staff has been created. Subordinate to the Command Staff will be other support elements. Each element will be make up of subordinate units necessary to perform the mission of the group as a whole. The Command Staff is made up of commissioned officers selected and appointed by the existing staff.
4. AUTHORITY:

Officers and Non-commissioned Officers elected and appointed to command, as well as support positions, are given their authority by you. As a member you are expected to support and follow the lawful orders and directives of the Chain of Command. Trust and teamwork are the cornerstones of our organization. If you feel compelled to disobey or openly reject the Chain of Command, you should immediately withdraw from the militia, without prejudice. Provision is made to remove members who discredit the militia through a hearing, (court martial) conducted by the Command.
5. UNIFORMS AND EQUIPMENT:

As a member of the Patriot Underground, you are encouraged to procure and maintain items of uniform and equipment. When in uniform, you represent the Patriot Underground . Therefore your uniform will be clean, buttons buttoned, shirts tucked in, and patches sewn on properly. Proper impressions are very important to the public. The militia member's backpack shall consist of necessary items (to be determined), based on the member's assignment. The militia member will keep the backpack, thus outfitted, available at all times for rapid deployment. If you are restricted by funds, set your priority on proper uniforms and attire rather than exotic military hardware. A professional image is more creditable than a lot of neat toys. Militia members WILL be expected to obey All CONSTITUTIONAL state and local firearm laws.
6. WEAPONS:

The primary weapon of a member of the Patriot Underground will be the rifle. It will be required of all militia members not otherwise opposed for conscience sake, to have his own rifle, ammunition, and backpack. Militia members are required to remain proficient in the maintenance and safe operation of the rifle and to have a minimum of 200 rounds of ammunition and 75 rounds per side arm available at all times. Militia members are normally expected to carry military style firearms. Only in self-defense will a militia member discharge his weapon in any area not specifically designated as a practice site or firing range.
7. ASSEMBLY MEETINGS:

Periodic meetings and assemblies are necessary and shall be called to achieve the overall goals of the unit. Members must discipline themselves to set aside time each month for assembly. Members will be notified of actual assembly times and places.
All members will be required to provide information about themselves in order to best utilize their experience and backgrounds. Information provided will be kept confidential and will be used only for the functioning of the Patriot Underground.
Under no circumstances are militia members to discredit the Patriot Underground by pressuring citizens to join or to contribute material or financial support. All material and financial contributions will be accepted with the clear understanding that the unalienable rights of all will be protected without qualification. All material and financial contributions will be considered property of the Patriot Underground.
8. MEMBERSHIP:

Membership in the Patriot Underground shall be open to any citizen over the age of 18 regardless of sex, race, religion, physical characteristics or national origin. Membership is voluntary and will last until the member withdraws or is dismissed by proper authority.
Types of membership:
a) Member- An active participant in the Patriot Underground activities while abiding by the rules and regulations of the Patriot Underground will undergo a 90 day probationary period, providing information required by the Command Staff and take an oath.
b) Supporter- An active supporter, who due to his or her profession, temperament, or employment must remain anonymous. A supporter does not take the oath, has no voting rights, or input in the operation of the Patriot Underground.
Withdrawal or Dismissal:

A member, (including officers), may voluntarily withdraw his or her membership in the militia by notifying the Commanding Officer, in writing, of his/her decision to withdraw. Following the 90-day probationary period, a member (including officers, but excluding the Commanding Officer) may be removed from membership only after a formal hearing by the Chain of Command, conducted by the Chief of Staff. A two-thirds vote from the Command Staff will be required to remove any member.
9. GUIDELINES:

All militia members will be required to take and sign the Oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America and to protect it from all enemies.
While it is intended that the militia intrudes as little as possible in the private lives of its members, it is also clear that individual members are volunteers and must be ready to meet periodically and deploy as the need arises. It will be the objective of the Staff to infringe as little as possible on the time of militia members recognizing their responsibilities to their families and their jobs.

Militia members are highly encouraged to live exemplary lives. Blatant violations of the law place the legitimacy of the Patriot Underground at risk. Therefore, in order to protect the militia as a whole, members in violation will be subject to a court martial, comprised of the Command Staff, convened to hear the facts of the case. Members may stand trial for such acts that would discredit the Patriot Underground or place it at risk. The member will stand accused at his or her own defense. No charge will be brought to court martial unless supported by at least two witnesses. The maximum penalty for any offense will be permanent dismissal from the militia. After counsel, the convened Command Staff will vote on action. Any militia member may voluntarily withdraw from the militia without prejudice at any time for conscience sake, when not under fire. In such cases any issued equipment must be returned.

10. CODE OF CONDUCT:
I am an American serving with the unorganized civilian militia, which guards my homeland, our Constitution and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.
I will never surrender of my own free will, if in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while the have the means and will to resist.
If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means possible. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.
If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information or take part in any action that might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will support them in every way.
When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am bound to give only my name, rank and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my beloved homeland and its citizens or harmful to their continued struggle for liberty and freedom as prescribed in the Constitution of the United States .
In all cases, I will endeavor to instruct and to inform members of organized militia units seeking to persuade them to join the Patriot struggle, urging them for justice and conscience sake to return America to the Constitutional Republic our forefathers envisioned.
I will never forget that I am an American, a citizen of the greatest nation on earth, fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will place my trust in Almighty God, the United States of America and the goodness of her people.