--- title: Booming Business Behind Baghdad's Walls | TIME description: When U.S. and Iraqi forces built concrete barriers around the five square miles of a Baghdad neighborhood 10 months ago, businesses flourished. canonical: https://time.com/video/Wh1aDIBB/ og:title: Booming Business Behind Baghdad's Walls og:description: When U.S. and Iraqi forces built concrete barriers around the five square miles of a Baghdad neighborhood 10 months ago, businesses flourished. og:url: https://time.com/video/Wh1aDIBB/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Wh1aDIBB/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Booming Business Behind Baghdad's Walls twitter:description: When U.S. and Iraqi forces built concrete barriers around the five square miles of a Baghdad neighborhood 10 months ago, businesses flourished. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Wh1aDIBB/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Booming Business Behind Baghdad's Walls > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Booming Business Behind Baghdad's Walls [Watch (HLS stream): Booming Business Behind Baghdad's Walls](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Wh1aDIBB.m3u8) (1:58)  _Published 2008-11-07. When U.S. and Iraqi forces built concrete barriers around the five square miles of a Baghdad neighborhood 10 months ago, businesses flourished._ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:03 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Voices in Baghdad, Six Years On](/video/B45R6F0H/) ### Voices in Baghdad, Six Years On [Nightlife in Baghdad](/video/8fvBX2GW/) ### Nightlife in Baghdad [Displaced Families Return to Baghdad](/video/fKnZqg9E/) ### Displaced Families Return to Baghdad --- ## Transcript >> The Saidya District of Baghdad is one of over six walled neighborhoods in the city. Ten months ago, the street was a no man's land. Residents and business owners were caught in a crossfire between al- Qaeda and Iraq- backed Sunni fighters and Iranian- backed militia. Now, businesses are open, and 95 percent of the residents have returned. When the U. S. military and Iraqi army built concrete barriers around five square miles of Saidya. Fahruq Altumeni saw a business opportunity and reopened the Sun City restaurant. The security provided by the walls in the military allowed him to re- open. But the walls also make it harder for customers to reach his restaurant. >> Is it-- it's a trade- off. You have to give up some of your customers for more security. Is it worth it? -[ Foreign language ] >> It's an acceptable trade- off, but it's still-- we are losing a bit. -[ Foreign language ] >> Especially it has a large number of employees and cost a lot. >> The U. S. military is also stimulating economic activity through small lounging grounds. This shop owner used his $ 2, 500 grant to buy new smoothie machine, new chairs, and the monkey. The monkey attracts children to his shop and helps him sell more smoothies. Life is improving inside the walls. But at [ unk ] the market last week reminded everyone why the walls are here. And for the time being, why the walls will stay. This is Brian Bennett for TIME. com. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Booming Business Behind Baghdad's Walls","description":"When U.S. and Iraqi forces built concrete barriers around the five square miles of a Baghdad neighborhood 10 months ago, businesses flourished. 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