Article

2005-05-20 Iraq-Jordan

At home in the rubble: siege city reborn as giant gated community

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Posted by ed 2005-05-20 07:54|| || Front Page|| [3 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Oh, the poor Fallujahians! And our "Draconian" security measures? Standing in line to get in to the city for hours? He#l, I stand in line that long for a new driver's license here in the US of A!

Posted by BA">BA 2005-05-20 08:16|| 2005-05-20 08:16|| Front Page Top

#2 Yet, with the controls in place, it is not clear that the city will ever recover properly.

good - call it "exhibit #1" and leave it in rubble

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2005-05-20 08:27|| 2005-05-20 08:27|| Front Page Top

#3 Article: Each resident must obtain a security pass from the US military. The pass contains the holderâs names, other personal details, a photograph, fingerprints and an iris scan, which is fed into a computer and can be cross-checked with the names of suspected insurgents and former detainees. The cutting-edge biometic technology may give the Americans a security edge, but it has won them few friends.

This is hyperventilation, of course. People from the Arab world are required to produce ID on demand, or face fines or a short jail term. Most of East Asia, too. I don't really see how this is such a big imposition.

Posted by Zhang Fei">Zhang Fei 2005-05-20 09:53|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com]">[http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2005-05-20 09:53|| Front Page Top

#4 ZF: I don't really see how this is such a big imposition

true, and even if it is, I really don't care

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2005-05-20 10:22|| 2005-05-20 10:22|| Front Page Top

#5 I suspect that Fallujah is going to get considerable "urban renewal", being a city designed from below the ground up for mischief. That is, tunnels are going to be filled in, streets are going to be widened, infrastructure will be improved, mostly underground, and centralized, etc. The idea is that a more modern city is more difficult to create nuisance in, being more homogenous, no ghettos or high crime districts, business areas separate from residences. It really makes it harder for troublemakers.

Posted by Anonymoose 2005-05-20 10:24|| 2005-05-20 10:24|| Front Page Top

#6 good points, moose.

Posted by Liberalhawk 2005-05-20 10:48|| 2005-05-20 10:48|| Front Page Top

#7 See the British and Malaysia. This looks to be according to the same blueprints.

Posted by OldSpook 2005-05-20 12:43|| 2005-05-20 12:43|| Front Page Top

#8 Now a tour of Fallujah ... is akin to visiting a violent psychiatric patient after a lobotomy.

A nice turn of phrase, one that adds a useful bit of perspective.

Posted by thibaud (aka lex) 2005-05-20 13:57|| 2005-05-20 13:57|| Front Page Top

#9 It can be surprising what happens when one wages war and loses... to the loser, anyway. The Germans and the Japanese had to put up with this kind of thing for years. Accept reality!

Posted by trailing wife 2005-05-20 14:08|| 2005-05-20 14:08|| Front Page Top

#10 Considering what Fallujah was and what was done there with the assent, if not outright approval, it should have been bulldozed flat and the earth salted as a lesson on the consequences of picking the wrong enemies.

Posted by RWV 2005-05-20 14:51|| 2005-05-20 14:51|| Front Page Top

#11 For those who do live in Fallujah, life is made even more difficult by the draconian security measures that make it difficult to conduct business and trade, the lifeblood of the city.

Tolerating an insurgency run by losers tends to do that...

Posted by Bomb-a-rama 2005-05-20 15:59|| 2005-05-20 15:59|| Front Page Top

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