Freedom for Afghan, Iraq women?

[Barrett808]

Freedom for Afghan, Iraq women?
By Cathy Young | August 9, 2004

FROM THE start of the war on terrorism, America's mission in fighting radical Islamic fundamentalism has been described not only in terms of protecting the homeland but also of bringing freedom to the oppressed -- particularly to women. But have women in the Islamic world truly benefited from the US intervention? Can we -- and should we -- export women's liberation? Today, these questions remain a focus of intense debate.

Liberating Afghan women from the Taliban's brutally misogynistic rule was often cited as one of the altruistic reasons for going to war in Afghanistan -- and as a major success story. Watching the news, we rejoiced in images of girls going to school for the first time in years, and of women casting off their burkas, going to work, or even going to beauty parlors. "The mothers and daughters of Afghanistan were captives in their own homes, forbidden from working or going to school. Today women are free," President Bush declared in his 2002 State of the Union address.

The victimization of women by Saddam Hussein's dictatorship was also invoked by supporters of the war in Iraq -- though in this case, their oppression was far less gender-specific. Hussein's rule was secular, and while women who ran afoul of the regime could be tortured, raped, or murdered, the men hardly fared better.

Now, more than two years after the fall of the Taliban and more than a year after the fall of Saddam, critics say that the situation of women has not improved much and, in some cases, may have worsened. "For many Iraqi women, the tyranny of Saddam's regime has been replaced by chronic violence and growing religious conservatism that have stifled their hopes for wider freedoms -- and, for many, put their lives in even greater peril," says a recent cover story in Time magazine. The article focuses on "honor killing" -- the murder of women by male relatives after they have "dishonored" the family by committing some sexual infraction (or by being raped). These killings may be on the rise because of the breakdown in law and order and the greater availability of weapons.

Reports from Afghanistan are bleak as well. While few would dispute that things are better for women than they were under the Taliban, particularly in large cities such as Kabul, the country remains in chaos, torn apart by warlords and thugs. Kate Allen, a director of the British chapter of Amnesty International, wrote in The Guardian last March that an aid worker told her, "If a woman went to market and showed an inch of flesh she would have been flogged -- now she's raped."

(more)

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/08/09/freedom_for_afghan_iraq_women/

[NMDemDist2]

1. we sure have a way of winning over those hearts and minds n/t

[IndianaGreen]

2. Iraqi women enjoyed a level of emancipation unequal in Arab countries

Not anymore! Thank you Amerika for once again screwing up women's rights for the sake of a testosterone high!

Afghan women were liberated while under the Marxist government. We fucked that up too!