Iraqi students say arrested for wearing jeans

[underpants]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050624/od_nm/iraq_jeans_dc

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Students in the Shi'ite Muslim religious Iraqi city of Najaf said that police recently arrested and beat several of them for wearing jeans and having long hair.

"They arrested us because of our hair and because we were wearing jeans," said student Mohammed Jasim, adding that the arrests took place two weeks ago in the city, the spiritual heart of Iraq's newly dominant Shi'ite majority.

"They beat us in front of the people. Then they took us to their headquarters, beat us again, shaved our heads and tore our clothes.

Police in Najaf, a conservative city that some residents say has grown more so since Saddam Hussein was overthrown two years ago and religious Shi'ites gained greater power in Iraq, disputed the students' version of events.

"We didn't oppress any freedoms. We detained them for a while and after we knew that they were students, we released them after they pledged they wouldn't do it again," Colonel Najah Yasir told Reuters.

[meegbear]

1. Let Freedom Reign!

[eleonora]

2. Pledge

"I pledge to never wear denim again and to keep my hair within 3 inches of the base of my skull. Bless America!"

[Frederik]

3. The Christian Right's model for America.

[gratuitous]

4. "We didn't oppress any freedoms. We detained them for a while"

Well, it certainly seems that our clients the Iraqis have learned the delicate art of speaking out of both sides of their mouth simultaneously. Mission accomplished.

[IA_Seth]

5. Republican Dreams

Ya gotd-dang hippies!

Cut yer dang hair and dress like a gentleman!

[BearFlagDemocrat]

6. Yay liberation!

[suneel112]

15. Or rather, Conservativation...

...Oh, Saddam Hussein sure was a troublemaker. He allowed hippies, skirts, guys and girls actually hooking up (oh no!), and, worst of all, was the only Muslim leader to support the side of India concerning the ongoing genocide of Hindus in Kashmir. He didn't support Pakistan (and the waste of an oil pipeline) like a good ol' boy. Bad Saddam!

[Judi Lynn]

7. I'm more concerned about their right to have a safe home

When they have their country back, they can deal with small things like standards of dressing in their OWN culture for themselves, if it's still possible for countries to NOT follow U.S. models.

[OKNancy]

8. and wear burqa's and

other cultural differences? I don't agree with this. I'm against this war, but I'm also against religious tyranny, no matter where it is.

[Judi Lynn]

11. I was raised in a church right here in the U.S. which forbade

women's wearing make-up, jewelry, short sleeves, slacks, etc., etc. Men didn't wear jewelry, short sleeves, etc., etc. It was a very serious group.

They didn't drink, smoke, swear, use ordinary coffee, tea, go to movies, dance, etc.

That church and others like it still remain alive and functioning.

I believe my life would be rather flat and featureless had I not known these people as a child. I also would not have been able to maintain the occassionally faltering belief that people are capable of great love and compassion.

I maintain it is not appropriate for our country to launch wars on countries just to gain the idiot in the White House the "privilege" and "status" (in his own "mind") of being a War pResident. We have spent far too much time poking our long snouts into the precious lives of other people.

[tblue37]

16. Huh???

I didn't know these people as a child, and yet my life isn't flat and featureless, and neither was my childhood.

Obviously these Iraqi boys wanted to wear long hair and denim. The point is that before we invaded, they could have, without being punished for it. And they could also have lived in an air-conditioned home, eaten at a restaurant, or driven or walked along a street without being killed by a car bomb or a skittish American sodlier "lighting them up" at a checkpoint.

We prepared the ground in Iraq for oppressive religious fundamentalism. Saddam was bad enough, but under Saddam, most people had a much better life than they di now. Some were certainly abused, even tortured and killed. But now anyone at all is likely to get that treatment. I don't see how we have improved anything.

[Judi Lynn]

20. I'm certain I don't understand you.I was speaking of AMERICAN

fundamentalist Christians.

I, and no doubt most sane people believe our military should be NOWHERE NEAR IRAQ. I have never supported any part of this war, not even _Bush's war on Afghanistan.

Your hostility at me is unexpected, and uncalled for.

[Anakin Skywalker]

9. Yay! Thank You, Preznit Bush!

Freeeeeeeeeeeeedom!

Hah hah hah.

[Roland99]

10. So, Iraqis go from suppression to repression?

That's "making progress"?

[Voltaire99]

12. Arrested by your police, shot at by invaders...

...who knew freedom would be so messy?

[Oversea Visitor]

13. Haha

To think that in Saddam time they can wear jeans.
Now they get beaten up
Onward Freedom Onward Liberty We bring you Democracy Bush cry

[daleo]

14. Why do authoritarians and religious wackos hate jeans so much?

I suppose it must be some sexual thing, but it always struck me as strange. And the long hair/short hair thing. Anyone who lived through the sixties and/or seventies can probably recall many pointless arguments over these two subjects. I sure can.

[foo_bar]

17. their problem with jeans is they're unisex

their problem with long hair is it's unisex. It defies the entire patriarchal blabittybla, plus women can blend in easier.

[daleo]

19. That's probably it, at least in recent history.

It amused me when I first found out that Lycurgus of Sparta recommended long hair for men - he said it added beauty to a good face and terror to an ugly one. Yet modern militarists of all types usually like a nice short cut.

[deadparrot]

18. Oy.

Yay for freedom of expression.

That's some paradise you created over there, George. Religious fanaticism run rampant. Gotta love it.

[Seeing Red]

21. Iraqi students say arrested for wearing jeans

Life in Bushco's Iraq, where we have supposedly spread "liberty" and "democracy":

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=8888515&src=rss/oddlyEnoughNews">http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=8888515&src=rss/oddlyEnoughNews

"Students in the Shi'ite Muslim religious Iraqi city of Najaf said that police recently arrested and beat several of them for wearing jeans and having long hair.

"They arrested us because of our hair and because we were wearing jeans," said student Mohammed Jasim, adding that the arrests took place two weeks ago in the city, the spiritual heart of Iraq's newly dominant Shi'ite majority.

"They beat us in front of the people. Then they took us to their headquarters, beat us again, shaved our heads and tore our clothes."

[minnesotaDFLer]

22. they'll do anything to get rid of hippies

[SuperCUBE]

23. Hmmm...

Sounds like some inside insurgency, if you know what I mean. As if we have some police over there that still believe strongly in their previous customs and don't want to adopt the "American" image.

[marbuc]

24. Some in the US

would arrest people for showing middrif and/or wearing low rise jeans, so this is not inconsistent.

[MindPilot]

25. looks like there is progress in Iraq after all

just a couple of years ago Iraq was living under a brutal dictatorship; now they have advanced to be just like America in the 1960s :sarcasm:

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. Just like Americans who attend a bushco rally

What is it with the dress code police?