One of the crazier excuses for killing a few hundred thousand Iraqis and displacing several million was that it helped feminism. So much for that one. I especially remember that noted feminist Laura Bush taking that tack, at least in Afghanistan. Oops, Bush-Cheny committed a war crime. I don't think there is a statute of limtiations on that. Remember Pinochet? I know: Lighten up; have a good day. let's just focus on now and forget what happened 7 years ago. antiwar.com today *********** Women Miss Saddam Abdu Rahman and Dahr Jamail, March 13, 2010 Email This | Print This | Share This | Comment | Antiwar Forum BAGHDAD – Under Saddam Hussein, women in government got a year’s maternity leave; that is now cut to six months. Under the Personal Status Law in force since Jul. 14, 1958, when Iraqis overthrew the British-installed monarchy, Iraqi women had most of the rights that Western women do. Now they have Article 2 of the Constitution: "Islam is the official religion of the state and is a basic source of legislation." Sub-head A says "No law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam." Under this Article the interpretation of women’s rights is left to religious leaders – and many of them are under Iranian influence. "The U.S. occupation has decided to let go of women’s rights," Yanar Mohammed, who campaigns for women’s rights in Iraq, says. "Political Islamic groups have taken southern Iraq, are fully in power there, and are using the financial support of Iran to recruit troops and allies. The financial and political support from Iran is why the Iraqis in the south accept this, not because the Iraqi people want Islamic law." With the new law has come the new lawlessness. Nora Hamaid, 30, a graduate from Baghdad University, has now given up the career she dreamt of. "I completed my studies before the invaders arrived because there was good security and I could freely go to university," Hamaid tells IPS. Now she says she cannot even move around freely, and worries for her children every day. "I mean every day, from when they depart to when they return from school, for fear of abductions." There is 25-percent representation for women in parliament, but Sabria says "these women from party lists stand up to defend their party in the parliament, not for women’s rights." For women in Iraq, the invasion is not over. The situation for Iraq’s women reflects the overall situation: everyone is affected by lack of security and lack of infrastructure. "The status of women here is linked to the general situation," Maha Sabria, professor of political science at Al-Nahrain University in Baghdad tells IPS. "The violation of women’s rights was part of the violation of the rights of all Iraqis." But, she said, "women bear a double burden under occupation because we have lost a lot of freedom because of it. "More men are now under the weight of detention, so now women bear the entire burden of the family and are obliged to provide full support to the families and children. At the same time women do not have freedom of movement because of the deteriorated security conditions and because of abductions of women and children by criminal gangs." Women, she says, are also now under pressure to marry young in family hope that a husband will bring security. Sabria tells IPS that the abduction of women "did not exist prior to the occupation. We find that women lost their right to learn and their right to a free and normal life, so Iraqi women are struggling with oppression and denial of all their rights, more than ever before." Yanar Mohammed believes the constitution neither protects women nor ensures their basic rights. She blames the United States for abdicating its responsibility to help develop a pluralistic democracy in Iraq. "The real ruler in Iraq now is the rule of old traditions and tribal, backward laws," Sabria says. "The biggest problem is that more women in Iraq are unaware of their rights because of the backwardness and ignorance prevailing in Iraqi society today." Many women have fled Iraq because their husband was arbitrarily arrested by occupation forces or government security personnel, says Sabria. More than four million Iraqis were estimated to have been displaced through the occupation, including approximately 2.8 million internally. The rest live as refugees mainly in neighboring countries, according to a report by Elizabeth Ferris, co-director of the Brookings Institution-University of Bern Project on Internal Displacement. The report, titled, "Going Home? Prospects and Pitfalls For Large-Scale Return Of Iraqis," says most displaced Iraqi women are reluctant to return home because of continuing uncertainties. The Washington-based Refugees International (RI) says in a report "Iraqi Refugees: Women’s Rights and Security Critical to Returns" that "Iraqi women will resist returning home, even if conditions improve in Iraq, if there is no focus on securing their rights as women and assuring their personal security and their families’ well-being." The RI report covered internally displaced women in Iraq’s semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region and female refugees in Syria. "Not one woman interviewed by RI indicated her intention to return," the report says. "This tent is more comfortable than a palace in Baghdad; my family is safe here," a displaced woman in northern Iraq told RI. The situation continues to be challenging for women within Iraq. "I am an employee, and everyday go to my work place, and the biggest challenge for me and all the suffering Iraqis is the roads are closed and you feel you are a person without rights, without respect," a 35-year-old government employee, who asked to be referred to as Iman, told IPS. "To what extent has this improved my security?" she asked. "We have better salaries now, but how can women live with no security? How can we enjoy our rights if there is no safe place to go, for rest and recreation and living?" (*Abdu, our correspondent in Baghdad, works in close collaboration with Dahr Jamail, our U.S.-based specialist writer on Iraq who reports extensively on the region) (Inter Press Service)
Before the first gulf war, Iraqi society was probably the most progressive Arab country when it came to women rights. It has really regressed since then.
We've known for years basso really has no interest in the wellbeing of Iraqis. That's nothing new. What's slaughtering a few 100,000 people if it advances your ideology?
well there's a reason to spend the resources on this war. and now you want to complain about deficits
No wmd; no threat to the US; no Al Qaeda threat; no improvement for women. Yeah, we killed a couple hundred thousand, but it was worth it for gay rights. : BTW please provide any links showing that Islamic Iraq is more tolerant of gays than Sadam
This is really, really, really old news. Pretty much everyone knows and agrees that Iraq today is a much, much, much worse place to live for not just for women but also for some minority groups. There was a good article on this in Foreign Policy highlighting the plight of Iraqi women who fled the country to Syria and other places. It is long but very much worth reading, and it presonally almost made me weep as an Arab man http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/03/09/dancing_for_their_lives
Pinochet was the least evil of the latin american dictators, some of the worst ones got free one million dollar housing and protection in the U.S, like somoza. Why is it offensive to compare the republican's foreign policy to Nazi Germany's approach? Sure, those of us living in the states don't suffer from the wreckless Ideals of the mighty republican leaders, but those around the world would beg to differ. Tell your catholic brothers in latin america that you're offended, tell those who lost family members to death squads that you're offended. The "we didn't know" defense did not work in the nuremberg trials, and it should not work with reagan, no.41, and no. 43. If Dick cheney's name was ricardo chente, an extreme leftist in colombia, I can guarantee you he would be awaiting execution. Incredible, the things The Party can get away with. It'll happen again since there is no accountability. The obama administration is just a welcomed vacation for the right. They will be back, with a new way to exploit america's short term memory.
