Iraqi women no better off post-Saddam - Amnesty

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L21687827.htm

LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Nearly two years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, women there are no better off than under the rule of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, the human rights group Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

In a report entitled "Iraq -- Decades of Suffering," it said that while the systematic repression under Saddam had ended, it had been replaced by increased murders, and sexual abuse -- including by U.S. forces.

Washington promised that the overthrow of Saddam would free the Iraqi people from years of oppression and set them on the road to democracy. But Amnesty said post-war insecurity had left women at risk of violence and curtailed their freedoms.

"The lawlessness and increased killings, abductions and rapes that followed the overthrow of the government of Saddam Hussein have restricted women's freedom of movement and their ability to go to school or to work," Amnesty said.

"Women have been subjected to sexual threats by members of the U.S.-led forces and some women detained by U.S. forces have been sexually abused, possibly raped," it added.

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[purduejake]

1. It's hell on earth...

I don't really know how else to explain what's going on over there anymore.

[proudbluestater]

2. From what I've read, women enjoyed a fairly decent life under

Saddam. Unlike other countries in the region, women were encouraged to get an education and have a career. They were probably no more oppressed than the men which counts for a lot in the Middle East. They were far freer than most women in the region.

[Tinoire]

3. Well they certainly look ... happy about this wonderful democracy

Joyous. Exhilarated even!


;(



"Can anything be more moving than the joyous throngs swarming the streets of Baghdad"

http://www.zonaeuropa.com/01467.htm

Oh that wonderful "new-found sense of freedom"!



Yes, "Let’s have those parades on the Mall and down Constitution Avenue"!!!



FREEDOM! "Liberation is at hand"!!!



"the scent of victory is in the air...".

[LynnTheDem]

4. bush maintains his perfect record of 2 for 2; women in Afghanistan are

no better and "in many cases worse off" than before he bombed the shit out of them, too:

Afghan Women No Better Off; US accused of not fulfilling promises
Chicago-Tribune , Sep.23, 2004

http://www.rawa.org/election-w.htm

That's bush; f*cking up everything for everyone in every way every time.

[AliceWonderland]

5. What really upsets me about reports like this is

that this situation was entirely predictable. Bombing the crap out of a country, regardless of whose tinpot dictator is in power, only adds to the structural violence in a country. And the people most affected by structural violence (in its social, economic, and environmental forms) are women and children. Any humanitarian or human rights worker could have said this before the invasion.

Oh wait, they did say it before the invasion.

[struggle4progress]

6. kick