A gated communities strategy for Baghdad

Times:

The American general taking on the task of purging Baghdad of insurgents plans to establish several “gated communities” to provide extra security for Sunnis and Shias, according to a senior US defence official.

General David Petraeus, who takes over command of the multinational force in Iraq today, believes that Fallujah, the Sunni stronghold 40 miles (64km) west of the capital, seized by US Marines two years ago after driving out extremists, is a model for other communities, the official said.

Fallujah was set up as a gated community in which all the inhabitants were required to have biometric ID cards, after Operation Phantom Fury when US Marines wrested back control from Sunni extremists and Muslim clerics.

The official said: “I think there are certain areas in Baghdad where we will have to control access with checkpoints because otherwise there will be people trying their best to blow them up.”

In tackling the problems of Baghdad, where violence has been increasing steadily, the official said that General Petraeus had made it clear “nowhere would be off limits” in the capital, although “we’re not going to rush straight into Sadr City”, one of the poorest districts in the capital with a mostly Shia Muslim population. “We’ve got to get out in the neighbourhoods,” the official said.

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Lieutenant-General Graeme Lamb, who has known General Petraeus for many years — they served together in the Balkans as well as during previous tours of Iraq — has been asked to stay on longer in his post of deputy commander of the multinational force. The two men will work together on solving Baghdad’s security challenges. “General Lamb is a kindred spirit,” the official said.

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General Petraeus, who has an unrivalled reputation as an intellectual and is an expert in counter-insurgency, plans to set up hubs of troops in the most divided sectors of Baghdad, keeping them in place to work with the communities instead of returning to base after counter-insurgency raids.

The senior official said that they would seek out empty buildings to set up local bases from where they would mount constant patrols to keep the insurgents in check. “The challenge will be to keep the areas secure, and Fallujah is the best example, a gated community with ID cards for all the residents. There will have to be more gated communities to ensure security,” the official said.

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If Baghdad could get down to Fallujah's level of violence it would be a success. The Marines have executed a similar plan there and it should also work in Baghdad. It is interesting that many have fled Baghdad for Fallujah because it is safer. When you examine the plan as described in this story, you can see the effect of getting an increased force to space ratio and keeping it in the area. It denies real estate to the enemy and makes it easier to kill or capture him as he attempts to move to contact.