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Iraqi Women -- The Sacrificial Lambs

 

It seemed that Bush would have done anything to get us into war with Iraq. Now, if I just read this article correctly, he'll do anything to get us out ... and women are the sacrificial lambs.

An obscure paragraph at the end of a New York Times article August 20, 2005, indicates that the Bush adminstration has supported Shiite efforts in Iraq to bring women under Islamic Law:

Iraqi leaders said they had also reached a tentative agreement to relegate marriage and family matters to adjudication by clerics, an arrangement opposed by secular leaders and women's groups here, Iraqi leaders said.

The tentative agreements on Islam were brokered by the American ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, according to a Kurdish negotiator who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing the delicacy of the talks. The Kurdish leader said that in both cases, Mr. Khalilzad had sided with Shiite leaders in backing a more expansive role for Islam. That, the Kurd said, angered many of the secular-minded Iraqis who have been fighting for a stricter separation between Islam and the state.

According to the Kurdish leader, the secular Iraqis had pushed for language that would have narrowed the circumstances under which legislation would be deemed to be in conflict with Islam. And, according to the Kurd, the secular Iraqis had wanted marriage and family disputes to be adjudicated by civil courts, not by clerics.

"Your American ambassador is giving an Islamic character to the state," the Kurdish leader said. "You spent all this money and all this blood to bring an Islamic republic here."

"We are very worried," he said.

Last updated: August 20, 2005