A Historical Echo

RE: With Steel and Asphalt, Bridge Helps Seal Baghdad’s Division (Feb 18th, 2010).

To the Editor:

This article written by Anthony Shadid, describes a divided place in Baghdad which has been further defined by the implementation of a bridge. This new development will join two Shiite neighborhoods to ease the journey from Greihat to the sacred, gold-leafed shrine in Kadhimiya. In the past they had to trek through a very violent and dangerous path in Sunni territory. With the bridge the article states that travelers feel much safer going to their destination. But my issue with this is something they quote Winston Churchill in saying, “we shape our buildings and afterward our buildings shape us.” This bridge gives an echo into the Berlin wall and the divisions made during North and Main Ireland. I've been to Ireland and seen the walls that separated people based on religion. Even though the tensions in nearby cities to the main conflict in Ireland have come to a mutual agreement of peace, the different colored "British" sides and the "Irish side" sidewalks speak to the conflict still embedded in the country. I fear something like this bridge will further deepen the wound, and is only a temporary solution.