Last Ditch Attempt

Via the NYTimes, it appears we're trying yet another strategy for securing Baghdad, after the Styker Brigades weren't enough, and after the huge improvement in violence turned out to be nothing more than another outrageous lie from the Bush Administration.

This last strategy is what you might call a "last ditch attempt."

The Iraqi government plans to seal off Baghdad within weeks by ringing it with a series of trenches and setting up dozens of traffic checkpoints to control movement in and out of the violent city of seven million people, an Interior Ministry spokesman said Friday.

The effort is one of the most ambitious security projects this year, with cars expected to be funneled through 28 checkpoints along the main arteries snaking out from the capital. Smaller roads would be closed. The trenches would run across farmland or other open areas to prevent cars from evading checkpoints, said the ministry spokesman, Brig. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf.
(snip)
The United States has shifted its emphasis to the capital in recent months, after concluding that sectarian violence between Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs was a greater threat than the Sunni Arab insurgency it has fought mainly in the west and north.

The U.S. military confirmed Iraqi plans, announced earlier this week, to restrict access to Baghdad by forcing cars through 28 checkpoints, but denied some Western media reports that the plan involves digging a giant 60 mile trench around the city.

So there you have it. If you can't secure your capital by normal counterinsurgent methods, the Americans will dig you a moat and everything will get better. Just put the Black Knight at the bridge and declare the problem solved.

Clap louder, everyone. You're not doing your part to help fight the war out there. Clap, damnit, CLAP!