In Najaf, Justice Can Be Blind but Not Female

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/31/international/worldspecial/31JUDG.html

The United States Marine colonel supervising the reconstruction of this Shiite holy city's government indefinitely postponed the swearing in of its first-ever female judge today after her appointment provoked a wave of resentment, including fatwas from senior Islamic clerics and heated protests by the city's lawyers.

The sudden firestorm was emblematic of the tension between the American desire to leave an imprint on the levers of government in Iraq versus a conservative religious establishment determined to fight what its sees as a military invasion dragging Western cultural norms in behind the tanks.

Some of the Iraqis protesting the appointment were women, leaving the Americans even more surprised and confounded.

"There is a woman on the Governing Council and nobody batted an eye," said Lt. Col. Christopher C. Conlin, the senior commanding officer here. "Sometimes you just don't know until you hit a point of sensitivity."

[Maple]

1. Well sheesh....

people were reacting like that over here when I was in my twenties!

So going in and imposing it on Iraq out of the blue is naturally going to produce an uproar.