Iraqi Women No Better Off Post-Saddam

I suppose after Abu Ghraib, none of this should come as a surprise. One can hope that the lives of women in Iraq would improve over time. But, once we leave, I have little hopes of that happening. If they couldn’t even be protected from our troops (some of whom have allegedly raped some of the women), the people who came to “liberate” Iraq from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, what hope do they have after we leave?

I can’t even imagine what their lives must be like. To be abused in this manner, but to know nothing else or have hope or even knowledge of what life could be.

LONDON -- 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entitled “Iraq -- Decades of Suffering,” it said that while the systematic repression under Saddam had ended, it had been replaced by increased murders, and sexual abuse -- including by U.S. forces.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. (source)