Operation Iraqi Freedom, Part VII

ThinkingMeat points to this story, from The Independent, which details the deplorable state of women's rights in the new, "free" Iraq:

The women of Basra have disappeared. Three years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, women's secular freedoms - once the envy of women across the Middle East - have been snatched away because militant Islam is rising across the country.

Across Iraq, a bloody and relentless oppression of women has taken hold. Many women had their heads shaved for refusing to wear a scarf or have been stoned in the street for wearing make-up. Others have been kidnapped and murdered for crimes that are being labelled simply as "inappropriate behaviour". The insurrection against the fragile and barely functioning state has left the country prey to extremists whose notion of freedom does not extend to women.

(entire story, available to Independent subscribers, here)

Cindy Zawadzki of HeightsMom points to an official report of the U.S. Embassy, which tells of an Iraqi woman who works at the embassy, and was advised "...to wear a veil and not to drive her own car. Indeed, she said, some groups are pushing women to cover even their face, a step not taken in Iran even at its most conservative."

Finally, at Unqualified Offerings, Jim Henley points to this Associated Press report (via Forbes.com):

Iraq's new prime minister promised Tuesday to show "no mercy" to terrorists and said before President Bush arrived for a surprise visit that a long-awaited security plan for Baghdad will include a curfew and a ban on personal weapons.

So, the new, "free" Iraq is implementing a curfew, banning guns, and oppressing women. Yep, freedom is on the march!