Iraqi Women Pay the Price

Whether or not you believe this war should have taken place, the fact is that it has and the Coalition has forces stationed there.

For those that say those forces should be withdrawn immediately, the attached article shows yet another reason why that would be the worst thing that could be done - to the iraqi people.

This article is mainly about Basra, where security was handled by the British - until political pressure at home forced their withdrawal.

CNN Article

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.


Police chief Gen. Abdul Jalil Khalaf holds a book cataloging the dead.

1 of 3 The women are killed, police say, because they failed to wear a headscarf or because they ignored other "rules" that secretive fundamentalist groups want to enforce.

"Fear, fear is always there," says 30-year-old Safana, an artist and university professor. "We don't know who to be afraid of. Maybe it's a friend or a student you teach. There is no break, no security. I don't know who to be afraid of."

Her fear is justified. Iraq's second-largest city, Basra, is a stronghold of conservative Shia groups. As many as 133 women were killed in Basra last year -- 79 for violation of "Islamic teachings" and 47 for so-called honor killings, according to IRIN, the news branch of the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

[edit on 2/8/2008 by centurion1211]

You know it is a shame that these women suffer in the name of religion. Beaten, raped, killed all because they wore some makeup or did not wear a head scarf. Centurion, you are right, when we leave the militias and fanatical groups will take over. It is clear the Iraqi police cannot or will not do anything about these issues.

What will it take to get that country on its feet? It seems the only type of government that can control the radical factions is a tyrannical dictatorship. We can't stay there forever, so how do we help remedy the problem? Is it even possible?

How sad. How sad to have to live in such fear day in and day out and be under such a repressive religion. I hope that some kind of order can be established and they stop these monsters.

The attacks on the women of Basra have intensified since British forces withdrew to their base at the airport back in September, police say. Iraqi security forces took over after British troops pulled back, but are heavily infiltrated by militias.

And tracking the perpetrators of these crimes is nearly impossible, Khalaf says, adding that he doesn't have control of the thousands of policemen and officers.

"We're trying to trace crimes carried out by an anonymous enemy," he says.

Amnesty International has raised concern about the increasing violence toward women in Iraq, saying abductions, rapes and "honor killings" are on the rise.

"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.

This is the thing that I have been concerned with all along. Things aren't getting better for women - they're getting worse. I get so angry when I hear about this sort of thing. I feel like we've let these women down.

This is also the aspect of islam that I cannot abide. It's women's fault that MEN cannot control their lusts so they have to hide and be covered up?

I haven't forgotten that it wasn't all that long ago that women weren't allowed to vote, or own property, or many other things here in the West. I guess I can't believe that we're still fighting that fight in the world, that people and cultures can still be so ignorant that treat women like property and second class citizens.