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Backgrounder: Securing Baghdad

Council on Foreign Relations

Author: Lionel Beehner, Staff Writer
July 18, 2006

Introduction

A month after the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted terrorist, and the naming of Iraq's interior and defense ministers, Baghdad remains as insecure as ever. A recent wave of sectarian killings and kidnappings has erupted despite efforts by Iraqi security forces to stabilize the city. News reports describe a city beset daily by bloodshed, as Iraqis of all sects and income brackets are fleeing for safer neighborhoods. Even the highly fortified Green Zone has not been sheltered from the violence. Experts say the instability in Baghdad threatens to undermine efforts by the newly formed Iraqi government to consolidate its monopoly on the use of force and carry out crucial improvements to living standards in the capital.

What steps are being taken to secure Baghdad?

On June 14, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki launched "Operation Together Forward," a citywide operation of raids and checkpoints, and called for a state of emergency, blanketing the city with 75,000 police officers and coalition forces. "The effort in and around Baghdad is being led by Iraqi security forces," says Andrew F. Krepinevich, executive director of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. "We're going to find out how good they are." The U.S. military, led by Lt. General Peter W. Chiarelli, recently established a so-called "Focused Reconstruction" plan to secure Baghdad—sometimes referred to as a "clear, hold, and build" strategy—which entails a highly concentrated number of U.S., Iraqi, and coalition forces clearing urban areas of insurgents and reviving local governance and other basic services. Finally, the Iraqi government stepped up its advertising campaign on television and billboards throughout the city to educate Iraqis on how to avoid terrorist attacks. "For the eyes of Iraq, open your eyes," reads one popular television ad.

Read the rest of this article on the cfr.org website.

Copyright 2006 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.