Gated Communities or Ghettos

April 23, 2007 at 9:11 pm | Posted in American politics, Bush Administration, Iraq, Military, War | 1 Comment

What’s in a name these days? The US military wanted to gate certain Sunni communities in an effort to create “security.” They call them “gated communities,” because Sunnis are so like retired Floridians and not say, Jews thrown in ghettos in Warsaw. But seriously, after reading this next paragraph, who doesn’t have a Schindler’s List moment?

In some sealed-off areas, troops armed with biometric scanning devices will compile a neighborhood census by recording residents’ fingerprints and eye patterns and will perhaps issue them special badges, military officials said. At least 10 Baghdad neighborhoods are slated to become or already are gated communities, said Brig. Gen. John F. Campbell, the deputy commander of American forces in Baghdad.

The Nazis had lists too, very detailed, very effective. They even had “special badges” for Jews, Gypsies, and gays. I don’t know what General Petraeus was thinking, but dude, talk about sending the WRONG message! Or maybe the Nazis were on to something. I mean, Jews in those ghettos were certainly no threat to Germans or Poles from behind those walls…