Office of the Independent Blogger

I’ve a couple of notes to make before we get to the bottom of the hot sauce. First, the Treasury is putting the First Ladies on gold coins and they’ll be worth three hundred dollars. They will also be selling a bronze version for three to four dollars. The stated purpose of this is in inciting interest in dollar coins. I ask, Why would we want people to want dollar coins? and How is a three hundred dollar coin going to interest people in dollars? By setting up a contrast? I doubt the Congress is that stupid-clever. What a joke.

Now, the tragedy:

As Islamic fundamentalism seeps into society and sectarian warfare escalates, more and more women live in fear of being kidnapped or raped. They receive death threats because of their religious sects and careers. They are harassed for not abiding by the strict dress code of long skirts and head scarves or for driving cars. For much of the 20th century, and under various leaders, Iraq was one of the most progressive Middle Eastern countries in its treatment of women, who were encouraged to go to school and enter the workforce. Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party espoused a secular Arab nationalism that advocated women’s full participation in society. But years of war changed that.

In the days after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, many women were hopeful that they would enjoy greater parity with men. President Bush said that increasing women’s rights was essential to creating a new, democratic Iraq. But interviews with 16 Iraqi women, ranging in age from 21 to 52, show that much of that postwar hope is gone. The younger women say they fear being snatched on their way to school and wonder whether their college degrees will mean anything in the new Iraq. The older women, proud of their education and careers, are watching their independence slip away.

To be fair to the West’s efforts in Iraq, all war-torn societies deal with issues like this and in that sense, this isn’t as unique an occurrence as it might seem. The really disturbing thing is, Iraq is a Muslim country and Islam is not a Progressive religion. It is not and never will be a model for the treatment of women, and precious few of its “leaders” treat it as such. Unless something changes real fast, this is the immediate and intermediate future for Iraqi women and for that, the American government deserves blame. “We’ll secure the country with 100,000 troops.”

You can win a War like that and screw up the country for the long-term, too. Behold, the duality of President Bush!

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 16th, 2006 at 10:22 am and is filed under Outside Retort (Current Affairs).