Iraqi women say freedoms slipping away.

Great.
Women’s rights activists in Iraq say rising extremism is restricting their freedom, even as the country prepares to vote on a constitution that is touted as one of the Arab world’s most progressive regarding women.
“Women cannot walk freely out in the street,” said activist Ban Jamil, who directs the Rasafa Branch of Assyrian Women Union, a local non-governmental organisation in Baghdad.
“Women face lack of respect when they walk uncovered,” said Jamil, a Christian, who said women are insulted if they show too much skin or walk in public without wearing the Islamic veil, or hijab, to cover their hair.
She blamed “imported extremist doctrines, which were never experienced in the past” for the new restrictions.
The tide of Islamisation has risen in Iraq as fundamentalist Shiite parties have come to power following the ouster of former dictator Saddam Hussein.
Although not enforced by the newly established laws, which were written under US patronage, a conservative dress code is widely observed in much of the war-torn country.
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They also talk about the role of the US government in protecting women’s rights. This is such a complicated situation. What do we think about this? I know I have argued before that military intervention/western attempts at hegemonic and market rule brings out fundamentalist tendencies. But now it seems some groups have become dependent on the troops to protect their rights. So what now?