posted on March 13, 2007 07:53:16 AM new
Published on Friday, December 22, 2006 by the Baltimore Sun (Maryland)
Women's Rights Another Victim of the Iraq Catastrophe
by Kavita N. Ramdas
The Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq recently issued a frightening report documenting the growing practice of public executions of women by Shiite militias. One of the report's more grisly accounts was a story of a young woman dragged by a wire wound around her neck to a close-by soccer field and hung from the goal post. They pierced her body with bullets. Her brother came running, trying to defend his sister. He was also shot and killed. Sunni extremists are no better: Organization of Women's Freedom members estimate that at least 30 women are executed monthly for honor-related reasons.
Almost four years into the Iraq war, Iraqi women are worse off than they were under the Baathist regime in a country where, for decades, the freedoms and rights enjoyed by Iraqi women were the envy of women in most other countries of the Middle East.
Before the U.S. invasion, Iraqi women were highly educated. Their strong and independent women's movement had successfully forced the government to pass the groundbreaking 1959 Family Law Act, which ensured equal rights in matters of personal law. Iraqi women could inherit land and property; they had equal rights to divorce and custody of their children; they were protected from domestic violence within marriage. In other words, they had achieved real gains in the struggle for equality. Iraqi women, like all Iraqis, certainly suffered from the political repression and lack of freedom, but the secular - albeit brutal - Baathist regime did not impose tribal and religious fundamentalist laws that are now in effect and are contributing to women being kidnapped, raped and executed.
The invasion of Iraq, however, changed the status of Iraqi women for the worse. The United States elevated a new group of leaders, most of whom were allied with ultraconservative Shiite clerics. Among the Sunni minority, the quick disappearance of their once-dominant political power led to a resurgence of religious identity. Consequently, the Kurds, celebrated for their history of resistance to the Iraqi dictator, were able to reclaim traditions such as honor killings, putting thousands of women at risk.
Iraqi sectarian conflict has exacerbated violence against women. My organization, the Global Fund for Women, and the humanitarian community have long known that the presence of military troops in a region of conflict increases prostitution, violence against women and the potential for human trafficking.
Although many believed that interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq would result in greater freedoms for women, international women's rights organizations, including the Global Fund for Women, were highly skeptical of the Bush administration's claims from the start. U.S. representatives in Iraq failed to listen to the voices of independent and secular Iraqi women leaders like Yanar Mohammed, co-founder of the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq, during the process of drafting the constitution. As a result, the Iraqi constitution elevated Islamic law over constitutional rights for matters pertaining to personal and family matters.
For the first time in more than 50 years, Iraqi women's right to be treated as equal citizens has been overturned. This disgrace has happened on the watch of the United States. In many ways, it is no less shameful than the human rights abuses that occurred at Abu Ghraib. If left unchallenged, it has the potential to affect many thousands more innocent lives.
Because the United States has failed to protect Iraqi women, United Nations Secretary General-designate Ban Ki Moon should step in and make this cause a priority of his new tenure. The women of Iraq deserve nothing less.
Kavita N. Ramdas is president and chief executive officer of the Global Fund for Women. Her e-mail is [email protected].
posted on March 13, 2007 12:28:57 PM new
I remember when someone here was ignorant that Iraqi women ever had the rights they did even though Saddam was in power. It makes me wonder if Bush and his government are aware of this or if they even care. All the children in Iraq are growing up living in fear also. So much for bringing them Democracy!
posted on March 13, 2007 01:11:10 PM new
What a shameful situation.
_____________________
People who want to share their religious views with you almost
never want you to share yours with them.
posted on March 19, 2007 09:12:52 AM new
Poll: Fear, Anger, Stress Grip Iraqis
Updated 11:44 AM ET March 19, 2007
By WILL LESTER
WASHINGTON (AP) - The optimism that helped sustain Iraqis during the first few years of the war has dissolved into widespread fear, anger and distress amid unrelenting violence, a survey found.
The poll _ the third in Iraq since early 2004 by ABC News and media partners _ draws a stark portrait of an increasingly pessimistic population under great emotional stress. Among the findings of this survey for ABC News, USA Today, the BBC and ARD German TV:
_The number of Iraqis who say their own life is going well has dipped from 71 percent in November 2005 to 39 percent now.
_About three-fourths of Iraqis report feelings of anger, depression and difficulty concentrating.
_More than half of Iraqis have curtailed activities like going out of their homes, going to markets or other crowded places and traveling through police checkpoints.
_Only 18 percent of Iraqis have confidence in U.S. and coalition troops, and 86 percent are concerned that someone in their household will be a victim of violence.
_Slightly more than half of Iraqis _ 51 percent _ now say that violence against U.S. forces is acceptable _ up from 17 percent who felt that way in early 2004. More than nine in 10 Sunni Arabs in Iraq now feel this way.
_While 63 percent said they felt very safe in their neighborhoods in late 2005, only 26 percent feel that way now.
The major cause for this sharp reversal in Iraqi attitudes is the continuing violence _ bombings, attacks by roving gunmen and kidnappings _ that has overwhelmed the country since the U.S. invasion four years ago this week.
Eighty percent of Iraqis surveyed reported some kind of violence nearby, according to the nationally representative survey conducted Feb. 25 to March 5 among 2,212 Iraqis, including oversamples in Anbar province, the Sadr City section of Baghdad, Basra and Kirkuk. Results were subject to a sampling error margin of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. The survey was done by D3 Systems, a pollster specializing in conflict countries
Iraqi civilian deaths are estimated at more than 54,000, possibly much higher. More than half of Iraqis surveyed said a friend or relative has been hurt or killed in the violence, while almost nine in 10 worried that a loved one will be hurt.
The levels of stress soar outside relatively peaceful Kurdistan, especially in Baghdad and the Sunni-dominated Anbar province, the poll found.
Fewer than half in the country, 42 percent, said that life in Iraq now is better than it was under Saddam Hussein, the late dictator accused of murdering tens of thousands during a brutal regime.
Iraqis pessimism about safety spills over into their views of most aspects of life _ the economy, basic needs like power and clean water, even the risks of sending their children to school.
But views of the U.S. military presence are contradictory among Iraqis _ just as they are in this country.
About four in five Iraqis oppose the presence of U.S. troops but only a third want those U.S. troops to leave Iraq immediately.
Conducting the face-to-face poll was a difficult ordeal in such a violent country. More than 100 Iraqi interviewers conducted the poll and some reported seeing bombings, beatings and even a mass kidnapping. Several teams of interviewers were detained by police _ but every interviewer made it home safely.
___
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
That pretty much says all that needs to be said....IF this poll is even representative to begin with.
"While the democratic party complains about everything THIS President does to protect our Nation": "What would a Democrat president have done at that point?"
"Apparently, the answer is: Sit back and wait for the next terrorist attack."
posted on March 20, 2007 08:29:47 AM new
On the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, two polls of public attitudes about the prolonged occupation indicate Iraqis are tiring of the U.S. presence and are deeply skeptical of its motives, even as they differ on whether life is now better without Saddam Hussein.
More than half of Iraqis believe the security situation would improve immediately after U.S.-led forces withdraw from the country, according to a face-to-face survey last month of 5,000 peoplecommissioned by Opinion Research Business, a London market research firm
Nearly a quarter in that survey said they believe the purpose of President Bush's plan to add more than 20,000 troops to Iraq was to use the country as a base from which to attack other Middle Eastern nations.
Despite the ravages of sectarian warfare and rocky delivery of basic services such as electricity, nearly half said life was better now than under Hussein's regime, while 26 percent said it was worse.
A separate poll commissioned by media groups, including ABC, BBC News and USA Today, indicated the number of people who felt life was "going well" had declined to 39 percent from 71 percent in November 2005.
Only 18 percent said they had confidence in U.S. troops, and half said they thought violence against American forces was "acceptable," according to the media poll of 2,212 Iraqis. The media poll, conducted Feb. 25 to March 5, found sharply different responses from Iraqis along sectarian and ethnic lines.
Most Shiites and Kurds say things have improved in their lives and for the country as a whole, while fewer than 1 in 10 Sunnis felt that way. The Sunnis were favored over other ethnic groups under Hussein.
Nearly half of the Iraqis in that poll--49 percent--believe that bringing more U.S. forces into Baghdad and Anbar province, an insurgent hotbed, will worsen security in those places. Fifty-nine percent said they believe the U.S. government "controls things in our country."
A quarter of the respondents in the Opinion Research Business poll said a relative had been murdered in the last three years, and nearly half said they believe Iraq had either devolved into full-blown civil war or was close to it.
Still, 45 percent said they believe the new joint security crackdown by U.S. and Iraqi forces will work.
In the media poll, 53 percent said a family member or friend had been physically harmed by the country's violence.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- The duty of a patriot in this time and place is to ask questions, to demand answers, to understand where our nation is headed and why. If the answers you get do not suit you, or if they frighten you, or if they anger you, it is your duty as a patriot to dissent. Freedom does not begin with blind acceptance and with a flag. Freedom begins when you say 'No.'
posted on March 20, 2007 03:07:54 PM new
Obviously the dem party isn't concerned about this .....as they STILL don't want to use their constitutional powers to end the wars.
tsk tsk tsk
Meanwhile their supports rage on and on....but their party leaders AREN'T LISTENING.
"While the democratic party complains about everything THIS President does to protect our Nation": "What would a Democrat president have done at that point?"
"Apparently, the answer is: Sit back and wait for the next terrorist attack."
posted on March 21, 2007 10:46:53 AM new
I never saw all those democrats who voted FOR this war being madmen....as you describe them.
But what was a huge disappointment is to find out when the going got tough.....they lacked the character to actually stay with it. They 'ran' like cowards....and want to admit defeat to our enemies....just as they did during the VN war. tsk tsk tsk
But...it's not really too important....because we ARE continuing the fight against the taliban/AQ and others who don't wish to see Iraq be a free nation. We have a strong leader who has committed himself to not being a quitter...to seeing the mission through.
Thank God for men like this President....strong men who know how to lead....know how to ignore the cowards who work to see American FAIL.
"While the democratic party complains about everything THIS President does to protect our Nation": "What would a Democrat president have done at that point?"
"Apparently, the answer is: Sit back and wait for the next terrorist attack."
posted on March 21, 2007 11:52:00 AM new
Excuse me. What is so brave and strong about sending other people's children, husbands, wives, brothers and sisters to fight in a disastrously ill-conceived war?
The brave and strong ones are those who face death and destruction every day because our president is unable to admit a mistake.
posted on March 28, 2007 07:48:24 AM new
Great point Coincoach !!!!!
HERE'S MORE ON WHO OUR TROOPS ARE BEING MUTILATED AND DYING FOR :
Shiite Cops Reportedly Rampage Vs. Sunnis
Updated 9:08 AM ET March 28, 2007
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN
BAGHDAD (AP) - Shiite militants and police enraged by massive truck bombings in the northwestern town of Tal Afar went on a revenge spree against Sunni residents there Wednesday, killing as many as 60 people, officials said.
The gunmen began roaming Sunni neighborhoods in the city, shooting at residents and homes, according to police and a local Sunni politician.
Ali al-Talafari, a Sunni member of the local Turkomen Front Party, said the Iraqi army had arrested 18 policemen accused of being involved after they were identified by the Sunni families targeted. But he said the attackers included Shiite militiamen.
He said more than 60 Sunnis had been killed, but a senior hospital official in Tal Afar put the death toll at 45, with four wounded.
The hospital official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, said the victims were men between the ages of 15 and 60, and they were killed with a shot to the back of the head.
Police said earlier dozens of Sunnis were killed or wounded, but they had no precise figures, and communications problems made it difficult to reach them for an update. The shooting continued for more than two hours, the officials said.
Army troops later moved into the Sunni areas to stop the violence and a curfew was slapped on the entire town, according to Wathiq al-Hamdani, the provincial police chief and his head of operations, Brig. Abdul-Karim al-Jibouri.
"The situation is under control now," said al-Hamdani. "The local Tal Afar police have been confined to their bases and policemen from Mosul are moving there to replace them."
Tal Afar, located 260 miles northwest of Baghdad, is in the province of Ninevah, of which Mosul is the capital. It is a mainly Turkomen city with some 60 percent of its residents adhering to Shiite Islam and the rest mostly Sunnis.
The violence came a day after two truck bombs shattered markets in the city, killing at least 63 people and wounding dozens in the second assault in four days. After Tuesday's bombings, suspected Sunni insurgents tried to ambush ambulances carrying the injured out of the northwestern city but were driven off by police gunfire, Iraqi authorities said.
The carnage was the worst bloodshed in a surge of violence across Iraq as militants on both sides of the sectarian divide apparently have fled to other parts of the country to avoid a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown, raising tensions outside the capital.
The city was an insurgent stronghold until an offensive by U.S. and Iraqi troops in September 2005, when rebel fighters fled into the countryside without a battle. Last March, President Bush cited the operation as an example that gave him "confidence in our strategy."
But even though U.S. and Iraqi forces put up sand barriers around Tal Afar to limit access, the city has suffered frequent insurgent attacks.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Iraqis detained in the U.S.-led security crackdown in Baghdad are being held in two detention centers designed to hold at most a few dozen people, The New York Times reported Wednesday, citing an Iraqi monitoring group.
The report said 705 people were packed into an area built for 75 at one of the detention centers, in the town of Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad. The other center, on Muthana Air Base, held 272 people, including two women and four boys, in a space designed to hold about 50.
Officials from the monitoring group said they did not know the sectarian composition of the detainee populations.
Also Wednesday, explosions struck the government center in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, but there was no immediate word on casualties, officials said. Maj. Jeff Pool, a Marine spokesman in the area, said initial reports indicated that two suicide car bombers had attacked the building but detonated their explosives at the gates.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
posted on March 28, 2007 08:33:01 PM new
It makes me sick to see what is happening and then have to listen to these dissembling blowhards try to manipulate us into believing
their fear propaganda.
posted on March 29, 2007 01:31:20 PM new
Notes From Baghdad
Open liquor stores and other signs of the surge's success.
BY MOHAMMED FADHIL AND OMAR FADHIL
Wednesday, March 7, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST
BAGHDAD--The new strategy to secure Baghdad has been dubbed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as "Operation Imposing the Law." After weeks of waiting and anxiety it is finally under way, and early signs are encouraging.
The government information campaign and the news about thousands of additional troops coming had a positive impact even before the operation started. Commanders and lieutenants of various militant groups abandoned their positions in Baghdad and in some cases fled the country. Diyala province, to the east of Baghdad, was the destination for many Sunni extremists, while Shiite militiamen went to Babil and Diwaniya in the south. Some higher-ranking members of Shiite and Sunni militant groups fled to Iran and Syria respectively. This migration motivated the government to announce supporting security measures in five provinces around Baghdad, to make sure that fleeing bad guys do not regroup in other cities.
This indicates that both the addition of more troops and the tough words of Prime Minister Maliki are doing the job of intimidating the militants. The extremists understand only the language of power, and any reluctance or softness on the part of the Iraqi or U.S. government would only embolden them. In this way the clearly voiced commitment of President Bush and Prime Minister Maliki was exactly the type of strong message that needed to be sent.
One difference between this and earlier--failed--attempts to secure Baghdad is the willingness of the Iraqi and U.S. governments to commit enough resources for enough time to make it work. Another important point is the insistence of the Iraqi government that political factions not interfere with the progress of military action. The commanders and the prime minister have made it clear that no one will be above the law, and that even places of worship and the offices of politicians will be subject to searches and raids if evidence of involvement in violence is found.
The Iraqi commanders are also trying to give the operation a national stamp by including troops from across the country--even from Kurdistan and far provinces like Basra, where politicians and officers have been long opposed to being involved in Baghdad. Yet another aspect that makes "Imposing Law" unique is its ascending intensity. Unlike other operations that always started from a peak and soon lost momentum, this plan is becoming stricter and gaining momentum by the day as more troops pour into the city, allowing for a better implementation of the "clear and hold" strategy. People here always want the "hold" part to materialize, and feel safe when they go out and find the Army and police maintaining their posts--the bad guys can't intimidate as long as the troops are staying.
The Iraqi people themselves are playing their role in the plan. Recent figures from U.S. officers in Baghdad show that the joint forces have been receiving an average of 250 security tips from civilians since the beginning of the operation, about twice previous figures. With help from a government-appointed committee, people in some Baghdad neighborhoods are returning occupied mosques to their original keepers and worshippers, and holding joint prayers between the two sects in mixed neighborhoods.
So after only a couple weeks we can feel, despite the continuing violence, that much has been accomplished. Many Baghdadis feel hopeful again about the future, and the fear of civil war is slowly being replaced by optimism that peace might one day return to this city. This change in mood is something huge by itself.
The brightest image of the past two weeks was the scene of displaced families returning home; more than a thousand families are back to their homes under the protection of the Army and police. This figure invites hope that Baghdad will restore its social, ethnic and religious mosaic.
Marketplaces are seeing more activity and stores that were long shuttered are reopening--including even some liquor stores that came under vicious attacks in the past. This is a sign that extremists no longer can intimidate people and hold the city hostage. All of this gives the sense that law is being imposed.
Checkpoints are not seen as scary threats to the innocent. They look more professional and impartial as they include members of the police, army, multinational forces and even traffic cops with laptops verifying registration papers. We've lost the fear that checkpoints might be traps set by death squads; they search everyone, even official convoys and ambulances.
We feel safer about moving in the city now, and politicians who used to hide behind the walls of the Green Zone are venturing out. Watching Mr. Maliki walking on Palestine Street in central Baghdad gave a positive impression that the state, and not the gangs, owns the streets.
It is true that not all of Baghdad has seen the same amount of progress, but we realize that patience is necessary. People do not complain about delays at checkpoints but instead say they'd like to see stricter inspection.
Military-wise, the results are not humble either; hundreds of militants have been killed, more hundreds arrested, and dozens of weapons caches discovered and destroyed. The frequency of attacks has declined drastically, and the terrifying scene of bullet-riddled bodies has become a rarer incident.
Our people want to see this effort succeed. We know it's not going to be an easy fight. Rescuing all of Baghdad's districts from the grip of militants and terrorists will require sacrifice and hard work. We hope the troops and the governments in Baghdad and America do not lose their resolve.
Mohammed and Omar Fadhil write a blog, IraqTheModel.com, from Baghdad.
It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.George S. Patton
posted on March 29, 2007 06:49:38 PM new
The liberals will never believe or even consider there are positive things that have occured in Iraq...and still are.
They live in denial. According to those in denial - here is no threat to the US and to other Nations from these terrorists. We're just trying to 'scare' them.
Talk about burying their heads in the sand.....it will take another 9-11 for them to finally wake up....and even then I doubt they can allow themselves to see the reality of our post 9-11 world.
==========
coincoach. Try and grasp this: NO ONE forced these soldiers to go to war. Okay? They are GROWN adults, NOT CHILDREN, and THEY made the choice to join in service to our Nation. And they KNEW full well exactly what they were being trained to do.
I so resent people who continue to imply that this administration has 'sent other peoples children of to war for a lie. You've NEVER been able to prove it's a lie and secondly you'll never GRASP the type of person who WISHES to serve our Nation.
I thank God we still have those who ARE willing to do so. Rather than all being cowards who believe our way of life - our National history of bringing freedom and liberty to other nations - is NEVER worth it.
So again....no one has sent the children of others off to war. THEY made these decisions themselves. TRY to grasp that concept....
"While the democratic party complains about everything THIS President does to protect our Nation": "What would a Democrat president have done at that point?"
"Apparently, the answer is: Sit back and wait for the next terrorist attack."
THAT'S all you can find to say about the abysmal situation in Iraq ?