Shock and Awe, Freedom and Democracy?
"We thought there would be freedom and democracy and women would have their rights. But all the things we were promised have not come true. There is only fear and horror."
CNN has an article up right now about conditions in Iraq for women that follows in a long line of stories reporting on the continued deterioration (for example, here). This isn't "breaking news"... (unfortunately) Just another straw on the camel's back. I wish I could write as righteous of a rant as Grand Moff Texan did last night, but, well... I am at a loss for words about it. Instead I'm just going to have to let the horrible truth speak. The infuriating irony of it all is that our leaders have the gall to call this "liberation" and claim to have improved things for women!
This is what liberation looks like:
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.
Violence against women in Iraq is still increasing. I remember the ominous postings of Riverbend's in the early months of the occupation when she began to feel pressure to where a head scarf and dress more conservatively. Now, women are being brutally murdered in Iraq for what they wear, in so-called "honor killings", indeed just for being women, it seems. And it appears there's nothing the police can do about it.
"I think so far, we have been unable to tackle this problem properly," [Basra's police chief] says. "There are many motives for these crimes and parties involved in killing women, by strangling, beheading, chopping off their hands, legs, heads."
"When I came to Basra a year ago," he says, "two women were killed in front of their kids. Their blood was flowing in front of their kids, they were crying. Another woman was killed in front of her 6-year-old son, another in front of her 11-year-old child, and yet another who was pregnant."
These children -- pray for them -- are going to grow up, "liberated".
Fundamentalism has the same goals around the world, especially oppression of women through fear:
Politically active women, those who did not follow a strict dress code, and women [who are] human rights defenders were increasingly at risk of abuses, including by armed groups and religious extremists," Amnesty said in a 2007 report.
Sometimes, it's just the color of a woman's headscarf that can draw unwanted attention.
This is what violence begets. This is what right wing fundamentalism begets. We empowered these barbarians, unleashed this horror. We fucked up this country. This is on our backs.
Update [2008-2-8 23:12:41 by shock]: mcjoan has now posted a front-page story on this with some good discussion.