The US rulers have constructed many false pretexts and downright lies to justify their invasions, occupations and exploitation of other nations. In the Middle East, the "liberation of women" has been a common rationale in Washington's effort to win the support of ordinary people in the West for its brutal foreign policy.
Washington's alleged desire to free Afghan women from the Taliban's male supremacist repression was a major part of the propaganda push accompanying the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Now, more than three years later, far from winning new-found freedom, daily life for women in Afghanistan is marked by violence, poverty and gross discrimination.
"Trafficking of women is on the rise in Afghanistan, as is rape, forced marriage, drug use, and senseless acts of everyday violence", stated a March 1 media statement issued by the US division of ActionAid International charity organisation. "In the meantime, a third of women living in Kabul are not permitted to leave their homes. They have no inheritance rights, find it nearly impossible to divorce, and are struggling to regain their health, livelihoods, and a sense of place."
Fewer and fewer people now believe the US and Australian governments' lies about why the "coalition of the killing" continues its murderous occupation of Iraq, which has killed more than 100,000 Iraqis. More and more people have long forgotten the transparent, false promises of the "liberation" for the Iraqi people as the US-led occupation has been exposed for what it is — the brutal securing of profits for giant oil companies.
The US government, however, continues to peddle its lies about helping Iraqis to achieve "democracy" and "freedom", yet a new report by Amnesty International lays to rest any idea that the US war and occupation have improved the lives of Iraqi women.
The report, Iraq — Decades of Suffering, released on February 22, says that women are not better off now than they were under Saddam Hussein's regime. In fact, Iraqi women have been subjected to increased murders and sexual violence, including at the hands of the US forces themselves.
According to Amnesty, "Women have been subjected to sexual threats by members of the US-led forces and some women detained by US forces have been sexually abused, possibly raped".
Amnesty interviewed women who spoke of beatings, humiliation, solitary confinement and threats of rape when they were detained by US troops.
Insecurity for women has increased since the invasion and many basic freedoms have been curtailed, such as women's freedom of movement, including to attend school and work. The law continues to allow men to beat their wives without punishment, and perpetrators of "honour killings" are treated leniently.
Women suffered greatly under the rule of Saddam Hussein and the decade of crippling United Nations sanctions against Iraq. Now they face a deadly imperialist occupation that is opposed by an overwhelming majority of Iraqi people.
The first step toward Iraqi women gaining control of their own lives will be when every last coalition soldier leaves their country. An end to the barbaric occupation is a precondition for democracy and freedom in Iraq, and for furthering the struggle for the real liberation of Iraqi women.
Rally for the rights of Iraqi women and demand that the Australian government withdraw its troops immediately — join the March 20 international protest actions in your city!
Kerryn Williams
From Green Left Weekly, March 16, 2005.
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