Larvatus Prodeo

I’m sure you’ve all seen this. Since we on the left aren’t outraged enough about acts of violence, death and destruction, I just thought I’d remind you all of these sobering statistics:

Iraq Body Count and the Oxford Research Group, the two independent researchers behind the study, say the figures in the report should be regarded as the “baseline of the minimum number of deaths”.

It concluded that at least 24,865 civilians were killed up to March 19 this year - 37 per cent died at the hands of American or coalition forces.

The second largest cause of death (36 per cent) was criminal violence, while anti-occupation forces have been responsible for 2353 deaths.

Call me cynical, but this is a very high death toll for a country that has supposedly been ‘liberated’ for the good of its own people. Why have so many civilians been killed by American or coalition forces? Caught in the crossfire? Indiscriminate bombings? Mistaken for insurgents? This report, if accurate, indicates that the insurgents aren’t the ones causing the deaths of Iraqi civilians, as claimed by the British Government.

More good news for women’s rights, too.

The draft chapter, circulated discreetly in recent days, has ignited outrage among women’s groups, which held a protest on Tuesday morning in downtown Baghdad at the square where a statue of Saddam Hussein was pulled down by American marines in April 2003.

One of the critical passages is in Article 14 of the chapter, a sweeping measure that would require court cases dealing with matters like marriage, divorce and inheritance to be judged according to the law practiced by the family’s sect or religion.

Under that measure, Shiite women in Iraq, no matter what their age, generally could not marry without their families’ permission. Under some interpretations of Shariah, men could attain a divorce simply by stating their intention three times in their wives’ presence.

I don’t think Islam = terrorism and that you can draw a simple link between the religion and acts of terrorism without taking into consideration numerous other historical and cultural factors. Of course, I do not accept what is posited as the inverse position; that any criticism of Islam is invalid, either, before anyone accuses me of being a two-faced lefty.

Some sects of fundamentalist Islam, those who believe in Shariah law, for example, have an appalling record on women’s rights. And certainly, this amendment to the Iraqi constitution does not seem to be designed to protect the rights of women in any way.

It certainly seems as if Islamic fundamentalism is becoming a growing force in Iraq. If democracy manages to get off the ground there, to what extent will religious fundamentalism play a role in the country’s future? And what will be the result for women?

Here’s another worrying report about the newfound freedoms of the Iraqi people, especially women, courtesy of Feministe and DED Space:

“A month ago I was walking from my college to my house when I was abducted in the street by three men. They dropped acid in my face and on my legs. They cut all my hair off while hitting me in the face many times telling me it’s the price for not obeying God’s wish in using the veil,” Hania Abdul-Jabbar, a 23-year-old university student, recounted…

According to local police, dozens of women have had parts of their bodies burned by religious conservatives in a string of incidents throughout the capital in recent weeks. Maj Abbas Dilemi, a senior police investigator in Baghdad, said that most of the acid attacks had occurred in the Mansour and Kadhmyia districts of the city.

“Our sources have found that many children are being used to conduct such violence. The one adult we have arrested for this crime cannot accept Iraqi women wearing Western clothes and walking without veils, alleging that it’s a prohibition by God,” Dilemi said.

Anyway, I think that’s enough from me about Iraq. I don’t have a finely tuned grasp of these events, just a sick feeling in my stomach at the statistics.