things just keep getting worse and worse........

a line from a marianne faithfull song, BROKEN ENGLISH keeps coming to mind...............'what are you fighting for. what are you fighting for'

IRAQ: Women attacked for removing headscarves, NGO says
07 Mar 2006 15:00:33 GMT Source: IRIN

BAGHDAD, 7 March (IRIN) - Since the fall of Saddam Hussein in early 2003, the number of women attacked for choosing not to wear head scarves and veils has more than tripled, according to the Women's Rights Association (WRA), a local NGO in the capital, Baghdad.
"Women are being killed because they don't wear headscarves and veils," said WRA spokeswoman Mayada Zuhair. "A life is being taken because of a simple piece of cloth, and someone should prevent more women from being killed by these ignorant people who that believe honour depends on what you're wearing."
According to WRA, there have been 80 attacks to date against women and reports of four women being killed by their families in 2005. This is compared too 22 attacks between 1999 and March 2003 and one death.
"Women's interest in using headscarves/veils in Iraq has decreased, not because they've forgotten their religion, but because, when Saddam's regime was ousted, modernism and development stood before us and everyone wanted to be part of the change," Zuhair maintained. "Not wearing the headscarf/veil is one of the characteristics of modernisation." ..............

..............Compounding the problem, the law allows for abuses against women, say women's rights activists. The Iraqi Penal Code, for example, states that "the penalty for killing a woman should be reduced if a crime was committed for reasons of honour". A so-called "honour killing" is where a woman's relative kills her for what is described as an act which brings dishonour to the family. Not covering up, according to Zuhair, can be perceived as such an act. .............


BROKEN ENGLISH
Could have come through anytime, Cold lonely, puritan What are you fighting for ? It’s not my security. It’s just an old war, Not even a cold war, Don’t say it in russian, Don’t say it in german. Say it in broken english, Say it in broken english. Lose your father, your husband, Your mother, your children. What are you dying for ? It’s not my reality. It’s just an old war, Not even a cold war, Don’t say it in russian, Don’t say it in german. Say it in broken english, Say it in broken english. What are you fighting for ? What are you fighting for ? What are you fighting for ? What are you fighting for? Could have come through anytime Cold lonely, puritan. What are you fighting for ? It’s not my security. It’s just an old war, Not even a cold war, Don’t say it in russian, Don’t say it in german. Say it in broken english, Say it in broken english. Say it in broken english, Say it in broken english.What are you fighting for ? What are you fighting for ? What are you fighting for ? What are you fighting ...