You ladies would believe the women in a country during time of war? Rather than believe the soldiers of your own country? There is bad apples in every tree. Seems like you girls think that life consists of not working and only complaining about everything under the sun...

The lengths that the liberal media and other liberal organizations will go to to "spin" the truth in their favor is apalling.

Fortunately in this age of open information, we no longer have to rely on only one source for our information.

Try spinning this.......

""""""http://www.state.gov/g/wi/rls/18877.htm

Fact Sheet
Office of International Women's Issues
Washington, DC
March 20, 2003

Iraqi Women Under Saddam's Regime: A Population Silenced

Situation for Women in Saddam's Iraq
In 1979, immediately upon coming to power, Saddam Hussein silenced all political opposition in Iraq and converted his one-party state into a cult of personality. Since then, his regime has systematically executed, tortured, imprisoned, raped, terrorized, and repressed the Iraqi people. Iraq is a nation rich in culture, with a long history of intellectual and scientific achievement, especially among its women. However, Saddam Hussein's brutal regime has silenced the voices of Iraq's women, along with its men, through violence and intimidation.

In Iraq under Saddam, if you are a woman, you could face:

[size=+2]Beheading. Under the pretext of fighting prostitution, units of "Fedayeen Saddam," the paramilitary organization led by Uday Hussein, Saddam's eldest son, have beheaded in public more than 200 women throughout the country, dumping their severed heads at their families' doorsteps. Many families have been required to display the victim's head on their outside fences for several days. These barbaric acts were carried out in the total absence of any proper judicial procedures and many of the victims were not engaged in prostitution, but were targeted for political reasons. For example, Najat Mohammad Haydar, an obstetrician in Baghdad, was beheaded after criticizing the corruption within health services. (Amnesty International Report, Iraq: Systematic Torture of Political Prisoners, August 2001; Iraqi Women's League in Damascus, Syria)[/size]

Rape. The Iraqi Government uses rape and sexual assault of women to achieve the following goals: to extract information and forced confessions from detained family members; to intimidate Iraqi oppositionists by sending videotapes showing the rape of female family members; and to blackmail Iraqi men into future cooperation with the regime. Some Iraqi authorities even carry personnel cards identifying their official "activity" as the "violation of women's honor." (U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices-2001, March 2002; Iraq Research and Documentation Project, Harvard University)

Torture. The Iraqi Government routinely tortures and kills female dissidents and the female relatives of Iraqi oppositionists and defectors. Victims include Safiyah Hassan, the mother of two Iraqi defectors, who was killed after publicly criticizing the Iraqi Government for killing her sons after their return to Iraq. Women in Saddam's jails are subjected to the following forms of torture: brutal beatings, systematic rape, electrical shocks, and branding. (U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices-2001, March 2002; U.S. Department of State, Iraq: A Population Silenced, December 2002)

Murder. In 1990, Saddam Hussein introduced Article 111 into the Iraqi Penal Code in a calculated effort to strengthen tribal support for his regime. This law exempts men who kill their female relatives in defense of their family's honor from prosecution and punishment. The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women reported that more than 4,000 women have been victims of so-called "honor killings" since Article 111 went into effect. (UN Commission on Human Rights, Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, January 2002)""""""

In veiw of the previous information, perhaps the situation for woman has gotten better for woman in Iraq in spite of Amnesty Internationals (unbiased and non-judgemental) report.

In summary, Amnesty International has long had an Anti-American bias (even though most of their funding comes from america...go figure). The religous zealots and the Bathists in the MUSLIM community are the oppressors of women. American soldiers(including the female soldiers) are the liberators. Anyone who says otherwise is attempting to decieve you.

Perhaps Jeremy Lovell at Reuters is also displaying a liberal (anti-american) bias? Now there is a real suprise.

Tfreridge - Spin what? You act like they didn't mention the abuses to women under Saddam (they did), or that they fail to grasp the significance of the things you cite in the government report (they don't, in fact they link to lists of the abuses under Saddam AND after, if you look), or that the demise of Saddam's "rape rooms" have taken away the threat. Try dealing with the facts presented to you, rather than trying to obfuscate the point with a red herring.

There are many ways in which the USA could be working toward equality for women in Iraq, and an overturning of the systematic repression, which we are not even trying. The most dramatic, the (CEDAW) Treaty For the Rights of Women has been ratified by Iraq but not the United States, the only Western industrial nation not to do so.

Learn to see past rhetoric by your Great Leader and his party, and look at the real issues that have faced Iraqi women in the past AND the present, and deal with them... but don't loose your venom at the women here in the USA who are working to highlight the problems faced by their sisters overseas, or you are only one tiny step above the men who locked the doors on Uday's rape-room.

I love the claim that a government press release is not "spin."

All "news" is "spin". Eveything is spun, and we all do it. All journalists slant reporting to suit their worldview. Human nature.

China's relationship with the Sudanese government is a much closer one than the media would have you believe, for example. They are allies.

As for women's rights in Iraq, I suspect many Iraqi women think all American women are ammoral impure "Dhimmi" sluts. The American female is not much liked in Iraq, as we have seen from reports that US women soldiers are despised by Iraqi women (and even more hated by the men).

I think Americans would be well advised to stay out of other country's problems. Let Arab women fight their own cause.
US women should be more concerned about other US women.

What spin??

""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." "

There is HUGE difference between rape as a government policy and a "possible"(unconfirmed) rape.

How can you not see the spin? Or are you sypathetic to the idea that the American soldiers are a "threat"?

Now, that we've freed the people of Iraq, people like you (who didn't want to free these people to begin with) will try to tell everyone, how we are doing it wrong. You, Unapologetic Atheist, are an America hater.

Arbiter says, "I think Americans would be well advised to stay out of other country's problems. Let Arab women fight their own cause.
US women should be more concerned about other US women."

This is about as narrow minded and selfish reasoning that I've ever seen. Tribal, if you will. If they're aren't of our tribe, then they aren't human, right? You would have made a good German.

If you've ever doubted who the "good guys" in this world are when it comes to womens rights and equality do a little browsing on this site and check out some of the enlightened attitudes toward women (among other things) that are a way of life in the middle east.

http://www.memritv.org/default.asp

Here's a couple of samples you might enjoy.

Dean of Islamic Studies for Girls at Al-Azhar University on Women in Paradise, Wife Beatings, and Polygamy

The following are excerpts from an interview with 'Abla Al-Kahlawi, Dean of Islamic Studies for girls at Al-Azhar University. Dream2 TV aired this interview on February 1, 2005:

Interviewer: There is an important matter: the black-eyed virgins of paradise. The question which is always raised is: A man marries a woman in this world, but will she get him in the world to come as well?

Dr. 'Abla Al-Kahlawi: Every man will be resurrected with the one he loves. If a man loves his wife and lives a good and happy life with her, and he enjoys her companionship in this world, when he dies, you can rest assured he will choose her in the world to come. But if he was sick and tired of her, when he passes away, he will choose someone else.

Al-Azhar Sheik Farhat Al-Munji Explains Wife-Beating in Islam

The following are excerpts from an interview with Al-Azhar cleric, sheik Farhat Al-Muniji. The interview was aired by Dream TV (Egypt) on February 10, 2005:

Interviewer: Just as Islamic law permits a husband to leave his wife's bed, it also permits him to beat her in certain cases, and to leave her bed in other cases…

Sheik Farhat Al-Said Al-Munji: This wife-beating – I don't want anyone to blame us, because people are watching us all over the world… This wife-beating used to be carried out with a handkerchief. The husband used to hold a handkerchief. They would beat with the tip of a toothpick.

Interviewer: But some people say that the Prophet Muhammad banned the beatings, and that he never beat any his wives.

Sheik Farhat Al-Said Al-Munji: Obviously, he didn't, but why does one beat one's wife? Beatings with a handkerchief and so on were permitted for wives who doll themselves up, wear lipstick and preen before their husbands. At this point the man says, "I don't care about you or the things you do." That's how she knows that she's become vulgar to him, that he doesn't want her, and that he hates her. He lets her know this by beating her with whatever… a handkerchief, a piece of clothing, or something… This is the Islamic law. But taking a cane and flogging her feet or beating her – this is wrong.

Interviewer: But even if this is done with a handkerchief or a toothpick, it still doesn't give the wife the right to beat her husband.

Sheik Farhat Al-Said Al-Munji: This is true, the wife is the one who...

Interviewer: But today there are some women who say, "I'll beat you like you beat me, I'll curse you like you curse me."

Sheik Farhat Al-Said Al-mMnji: This is what's called… What women demand, and it's called "equality" - "You slapped me once, I'll slap you twice. You did this to me, I'll do that to you," and this becomes… A man doesn’t want to marry another man... The best thing in a woman is her submission and weakness. A man loves a woman's weakness. He loves her weakness, tranquility, and quietness…

Interviewer: This is the so-called 'male culture.' They'll be saying that Sheik Farhat Al-Munji calls for… that he wants this male culture, to that wives will be beaten and weak…

Sheik Farhat Al-Said Al-Munji: No! Did I say beatings? I didn't say beatings.

Interviewer: Why does the husband want a weak wife? So he can take all out his complexes on her? They will say that. They will have entire programs about this. Just wait a couple of weeks and you'll see.

Sheik Farhat Al-Said Al-Munji: The wife doesn't want… What I mean by weakness is… I told you a man doesn't want to marry another man. A man wants someone who will be his partner, who'll be calm and obedient, and then they will both cooperate. Why was the issue of the husband's guardianship brought up? Because a ship with two captains is bound to sink.

This stuff is just amazing to me. But then I've been blessed with growing up and living in a free society like America.