Keep that face covered

[Winnow]

Violations of 'Islamic teachings' take deadly toll on Iraqi women


http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/ ... index.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The images in the Basra police file are nauseating: Page after page of women killed in brutal fashion -- some strangled to death, their faces disfigured; others beheaded. All bear signs of torture.

[Midnyte_Ragebringer]

I'm sure America is to blame.

[Spang]

Of course, people didn't start getting murdered in that country until America showed up.

[Sueven]

It is worrisome. The article says that this wasn't a problem until British troops left and Iraqi security forces took over. The success of the entire Iraqi enterprise rests on the ability of Iraqi security forces to effectively maintain peace and order. Hopefully this is just a speed bump and not a sign of problems to come.

[Tyek]

Yeah, it will be interesting to see what happens when we do leave. We cannot just pull up stakes and go or there is going to be some massive destruction and death. I am curious how the world community is going to react. We already know we will be blamed, but will they demand we go back and calm things down?

[Keverian FireCry]

At least we can all take solace in the fact that western European culture has never abused women or religion and will have no problem in cleansing the earth of such unjust behavior.

[Zaelath]

America is to blame in that the religious fundies didn't have sway in Iraq under Saddam's rule; he did, and he didn't have any particular problem with women doing rediculous things like walking around without a tarpaulin drapped over them, going to school, or (god forbid) having a job.

Now the Iraqis are liberated, they can freefall backwards into religious fundamentalism and pretty much the kind of society that flourished in Afghanistan and created a safe haven for Bin Laden and his buddies.

Good job all round.

[Winnow]

This is what happens to women in Muslim countries:

Names have power, so let us speak of hers. Her name is Sharbat Gula, and she is Pashtun, that most warlike of Afghan tribes. It is said of the Pashtun that they are only at peace when they are at war, and her eyes—then and now—burn with ferocity. She is 28, perhaps 29, or even 30. No one, not even she, knows for sure. Stories shift like sand in a place where no records exist.

If we would only have acted sooner, she'd sill be hot like she was in on the left. She's estimated to be 29-30 on the right.

That would have made her around 12-13 years old on the left...oops! Maybe that's why they marry so early over there. The aging cycle is about ten years faster.

--
Seriously though, this is still my favorite National Geographic cover:

[Nick]

No Mid, America is totally innocent of any death in Iraq hurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr