Freedom and democracy in Iraq

Try telling that to the women in the country, particularly in Basra, Iraq's second largest city. According to the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 133 women were killed in Basra last year. 47 of those deaths were honor killings and 79 were for violating Islamic teachings. Women are strangled, beheadded, or mutilated, often in front of their children, for crimes as minor as wearing a head scarf that isn't the right color. This sign was seen in a downtown market place: "We warn against not wearing a headscarf and wearing makeup. Those who do not abide by this will be punished. God is our witness, we have notified you." The people who commit these crimes against women are seldom caught. Before the invasion, Iraq was one of the most westernized countries in the Middle East where women had a relatively large amount of freedom. Now they live in constant fear. Another legacy of GWB.