Make no mistake: If Iraq’s constitution fails to guarantee fundamental human and legal rights to half its population, our mighty efforts will have been in vain. Without women’s rights, from family law to education guarantees, Iraqi democracy will be worthless. The extremists will have won.
This is the bellwether issue in the Middle East and beyond. We don’t think of ourselves as waging a global struggle for women’s rights, but that’s the crucial issue of our time. Because the treatment of women is the best possible indicator of the health and potential of a society, economy and state.
No matter how much oil wealth a country enjoys, if half its population isn’t free the society will re2_kommentar stunted and inhumane. …
Let’s see what Iraq’s political mandarins produce in the coming days. Let’s hope that they can overcome the country’s blood-soaked differences. But let’s not make excuses for a constitution that enshrines the revived slavery of women.
The civilization of Middle Eastern Islam is sick. Only women whose rights are protected can nurse it back to health.”
IRAQ’S DEEP DIVIDES
Ralph Peters
