This is the Iraq that George built.

From Baghdad Burning, Riverbend's Blog:

I literally had chills going up and down my spine as I watched Abdul Aziz Al Hakeem of Iranian-inclined SCIRI dropping his ballot into a box. Behind him, giving moral support and her vote, was what I can only guess to be his wife. She was shrouded literally from head to foot and only her eyes peeped out of the endless sea of black. She stuffed her ballot in the box with black-gloved hands and submissively followed a very confident Hakeem. E. turned to me with a smile and a wink, “That might be you in a couple of years…” I promptly threw a sofa cushion at him.

...

... We wanted to have some documents legalized by the ministry, I said loudly, trying to cover up my nervousness. He looked at me momentarily and then turned to the cousin pointedly. My cousin repeated why we were there and asked for directions. We were told to go to one of the rooms on the same floor and begin there.

“Please dress appropriately next time you come here.” The man said to me. I looked down at what I was wearing- black pants, a beige high-necked sweater and a knee-length black coat. Huh? I blushed furiously. He meant my head should be covered and I should be wearing a skirt. I don’t like being told what to wear and what not to wear by strange men. “I don’t work here- I don’t have to follow a dress code.” I answered coldly. The cousin didn’t like where the conversation was going, he angrily interceded, “We’re only here for an hour and it really isn’t your business.”

“It is my business.” Came the answer, “She should have some respect for the people who work here.” And the conversation ended. I looked around for the people I should be respecting. There were three or four women who were apparently ministry employees. Two of them were wearing long skirts, loose sweaters and headscarves and the third had gone all out and was wearing a complete “jubba” or robe-like garb topped with a black head scarf. My cousin and I turned to enter the room the receptionist had indicated and my eyes were stinging. No one could talk that way before the war and if they did, you didn’t have to listen. You could answer back. Now, you only answer back and make it an issue if you have some sort of death wish or just really, really like trouble.

Young females have the option of either just giving in to the pressure and dressing and acting ‘safely’- which means making everything longer and looser and preferably covering some of their head or constantly being defiant to what is becoming endemic in Iraq today. The problem with defiance is that it doesn’t just involve you personally, it involves anyone with you at that moment- usually a male relative. It means that there might be an exchange of ugly words or a fight and probably, after that, a detention in Abu Ghraib.

If it’s like this in Baghdad, I shudder to think what the other cities and provinces must be like. The Allawis and Pachichis of Iraq don’t sense it- their families are safely tucked away in Dubai and Amman, and the Hakeems and Jaffaris of Iraq promote it.

(no subject)

Articles in Mother Jones give a picture of what it is like to be female in Iraq these days.

Al-Obeidy added that those who choose not to wear a hijab should still "respect" those who do, and should cover their heads anyway if they are in the south of the country, which is known for its conservatism. I kept pressing her on what exactly "respect" meant, and what might happen to those who were not respectful, but she declined to answer.

The answer, of course, is obvious. 'Respecting' the hijab means "wear a hijab if you know what is good for you". These are not aliens. These are not exotic Bedouin princesses or repressed slum-dwelling housewives, as if that makes a difference. These are people like you, or your sisters, or girlfriends, or mothers. These are intelligent, modern, university-educated women. And they are being forced to walk behind their men, to be silent, to let their men speak for them, to cover themselves at all times, because some people declare themselves to be offended by their ... well, their existence, really. Their existence as intelligent independant women.

Thanks largely to Bush's & Rumsfeld's & Bliar's & Howard's et al's levelling of Iraq, this is one of the results.

Getting rid of Saddam has pushed Iraq back three hundred years. Well done, guys. Well done.