Italy considers withdrawing female troops from Afghanistan to protest Shi'ite marital law

[bigtree]

April 4, 2009

Italy could withdraw its female troops stationed in Afghanistan to protest against a new law for the country's Shi'ite minority that has been attacked as a blow to women's rights, the Italian defence minister said.

Italy, which is the sixth largest troop contributor to the NATO-led military operation in Afghanistan, is the latest to express concern on the Shi'ite Personal Status Law after some Afghan lawmakers criticised it as legalizing marital rape.

"I realise that it would not be a very easy choice," Ignazio La Russa told Corriere della Sera newspaper in an interview on Saturday.

"But a temporary withdrawal of our women in uniform, perhaps with the exception of those involved in health services, could represent a very significant gesture on the role of women."

report: http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINL463527820090404

[Hello_Kitty]

1. Good for Italy.

We'd never make a statement like that. Hell, there are too many fundies here who think husbands should be free to rape their wives.

[Cass]

2. Good. The law is an outrage. nt

[tocqueville]

3. I would do exactly the contrary, reinforce

just to show them how the future looks like. Those female haters are only cowards with small dicks, like all male fundies. They are so afraid of women that they need laws to "justify" their oppression of them. Anyway, they will remain that way until history removes them from the scene, probably with a bullet.

besides Italians should start at home :

'Molesters in uniform' are blamed for drop in women recruits to Italian army

Recruitment of the first women soldiers to the Italian army has plummeted due to sexual discrimination by "molesters in uniform" who pester young female recruits with salacious text messages and make indecent proposals to them.

Recruitment of the first women soldiers to the Italian army has plummeted due to sexual discrimination by "molesters in uniform" who pester young female recruits with salacious text messages and make indecent proposals to them.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/molesters-in-uniform-are-blamed-for-drop-in-women-recruits-to-italian-army-555253.html

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. 
[link:www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html|Click
here] to review the message board rules.

[Mari333]

4. let them have their fucking shi ite laws

get all the troops out of there.

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/afghanistan/

[kiva]

5. Kudos to Italy.

No nation that supports equal rights for women should be sending any troops to support this government.

[biopowertoday]

6. and protest this............

but what good does it do??

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/02/taliban-pakistan-justice-women-flogging


Video of girl's flogging as Taliban hand out justice

[pleah]

7. I think this is a stupid move. It looks to me like they are punishing the

women in their military by pulling them out of operations.

[daleo]

9. You have a good point

I doubt whether the anti-female traditionalists in Afghanistan will be bothered by the absence of female western troops. In fact, I would say that they will be quite pleased by this result.