Ten days in Tojbi

The Washington Post has a very interesting article detailing how easy it is for sectarian violence to overcome a neighborhood. The story covers ten days in Tojbi, a neighborhood in north-central Baghdad, and details an escalation of sectarian violence that all began with a dispute over the price of ice.

"He was selling a block of ice for 20,000 dinars. Its actual price is 5,000 dinars," said Abu Mohammed. "When we told him he should lower the price, he slapped one of our guys. We didn't like that. So we beat him up as punishment."

Shortly afterward, unfamiliar cars started to drive toward the Egheidat section of Tobji, Abu Mohammed said. Then came the rumors: The cars were to be used for drive-by attacks or suicide bombings…"

Army General John P. Abizaid, chief of the U.S. Central Command stated this past Wednesday that a reduction of forces in Iraq would debilitate efforts to secure the country.

"This level will probably have to be sustained through the spring and then we will reevaluate. I do believe that the secular tensions, if left unchecked, could be fatal to Iraq . . . and the center of the problem is Baghdad. It's the main effort” more

The General went on to say that there was the possibility of further troop increases should the need arise, though he denied any plans to increase troop levels in the troubled province of Anbar despite the recommendations of a senior Marine intelligence officer in Anbar made in a classified report last month.