Security analyst Fadel Abu Raghif spoke to Al-Monitor on the nature and form of the wall. He said, “The capital cannot be surrounded by a wall on all sides, given natural obstacles such as forests and bodies of water as well as industrial areas like al-Kasarat and Dhiraat Degla, where gravel and cement factories are located. This is why the Baghdad Operations Command is working to create a belt, not a wall, around Baghdad.”
He added, “Areas where it is difficult to build a wall will be surveilled with all sorts of cameras, such as sensors and night vision cameras. Control towers will be built and trained police dogs will be present. Based on that, the forests and bodies of water will be a natural part of the barrier. The concrete barriers and trenches will only be built where terrorists are expected to infiltrate, especially in the northern and western parts of the capital.”
The wall around Baghdad may help reduce terror attacks, but may deepen the Sunni-Shiite divide as talk grows louder on the establishment of regions, secession and arrangements based on sects in the post-IS era.
Even if the Sunnis are convinced of the security imperatives behind the construction of the wall, their concerns will remain unchanged, as the possibility remains that the wall be used for the potential annexation of Baghdad to the Shiite region or the annexation of parts of the Anbar and Salahuddin provinces to Baghdad.
Instead of a wall you guys should consider building a transportation beltway that would incorporate the structure details of a wall. This way you can circumvent the idea that you are only building something divisive, something that can be protested. A beltway would be seen only as a means of creating a "highway infrastructure" which no one can claim is trying to keep someone or something in or out.