De-Moat-ed

It's a 21st-century war over there in Iraq, but apparently 15th-century technology is going to win it:

Iraq said it will ring Baghdad with trenches in a bid to restrict movements of insurgents, as more than 100 people were reported killed in sectarian attacks in the past three days... The new security measures were spelled out Friday by Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf... "We will surround the city with trenches," Khalaf told AFP. "The entry to the capital will be permitted through 28 roads as against 21 at the moment, but at the same time we will seal off dozens of other minor roads with access to Baghdad."

This is so crazy and stupid I can hardly wrap my tiny mind around it. Surely, somehow Halliburton has its tentacles around the trench-digging contract.