http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/iraqiwomen/ en-us Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:36:53 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2119149/posts THI QAR PROVINCE — Residents in a southern Iraqi city will soon receive more drinking water thanks to the efforts of three women with remarkable stories. In Fadiliya, the community of 10,000 people currently receives only 60 percent of its water needs from existing infrastructure. A new 200-cubic-meter-per-hour treatment facility is under construction and expected to be complete by the end of the year. Project Engineer Colleen Hickey and Construction Representative Toni Graves with the Gulf Region Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are overseeing the construction of the $748,000 facility located adjacent to the existing water treatment plant there.... Multi-National Force - Iraq http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2119149/posts#comment Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:36:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2079980/posts Although the overall level of violence in Iraq has decreased to a four- year low, the country has recently witnessed a sharp rise in a violent trend that alarms many Iraqis: female suicide bombings. This year the number of suicide bombings carried out by women has more than tripled to 29 attacks, say US military officials. Al Qaeda and other insurgent groups have turned to women to exploit cultural practices that do not allow men to search women. As a result, females can pass through most checkpoints in Iraq without someone so much as looking in their handbags. To combat... The Christian Science Monitor http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2079980/posts#comment Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:14:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2071479/posts Drugged girl, 15, a reluctant bomb martyr Published Date: 30 August 2008 By Tim Cocks in Baghdad RANIA is only 15, but in the past week the softly-spoken Iraqi girl has been drugged and strapped with explosives, before being arrested and thrown into a detention centre. Now she finds herself at the heart of a propaganda war waged by the Iraqi security forces against the al-Qaeda militants who tried to use her as a suicide bomber. Police arrested the teenager on Sunday in Iraq's violent Diyala province, where tADVERTISEMENThe Sunni militants are waging a bitter campaign against US and Iraqi... scotsman http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2071479/posts#comment Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:08:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2068419/posts Tears streaming down her face, she is confronted by police - a teenage girl apparently planning to blow herself up in front of an Iraqi school. The officers handcuffed her to a metal balustrade before moving in with extreme caution to uncover a vest full of explosives hidden under her colourful robe. The dramatic scenes were captured on a video shot by the police.-SNIP- Police in Baqouba, where the girl was caught on Sunday, said she was fitted with the vest by female relatives of her husband, whom she married five months ago. They also claimed that the girl's father... Daily Mail (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2068419/posts#comment Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:14:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2068034/posts Tears streaming down her face, she is confronted by police - a teenage girl apparently planning to blow herself up in front of an Iraqi school. The officers handcuffed her to a metal balustrade before moving in with extreme caution to uncover a vest full of explosives hidden under her colourful robe. The dramatic scenes were captured on a video shot by the police. Daily Mail (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2068034/posts#comment Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:00:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028598/posts ANAH — The usual droning of sewing machines was absent at a textile factory when Marines with the Iraqi Women’s Engagement Team, Detachment 1, Civil Affairs Team 5, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, met with local female workers to discuss working conditions and other city matters. The IWE team had also visited the city of Rawah the previous day in an effort to give the females of that area an ear to listen too. “The goal of the IWE (program) is to give the women a chance to get together and discuss community concerns,” said Capt.... Multi-National Force - Iraq http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2028598/posts#comment Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:44:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027372/posts During the Northern Iraq WomenÂ’s Conference, held in the Professor SaÂ’ad Conference Center in Irbil, Iraq, June 4, women from the northern provinces gathered to discuss major issues affecting the Iraqi women today. Although women spoke one of three languages, they were able to effectively communicate with each other through interpreters. Photo by Spc. Karla Rodriguez Maciel. IRBIL — Many women of Iraq have endured violence, poverty and suppression due to their environment throughout the years. However, more and more women, each day are taking a stand into stopping this trend. Influential women of the northern Iraq provinces, members of... Multi-National Force - Iraq http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027372/posts#comment Fri, 6 Jun 2008 23:23:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2021368/posts Medics in Iraqi Kurdistan said on Saturday that they had seen a surge in violence against women in May, with both so-called "honour" killings and female suicides on the increase. "At least 14 women died in the first 10 days of May alone," a doctor told AFP in the region's second largest city of Sulaimaniyah. "Seven of them took their own lives, the other seven were murdered in still unexplained circumstances" -- apparently the victims of "honour" killings. "Over the same period, we recorded 11 attempted self-immolations. These women were so desperate they set fire to themselves," the doctor added,... France 24 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2021368/posts#comment Mon, 26 May 2008 11:31:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2020927/posts The parents of Iraqi babies with congenital heart problems are facing a dilemma: should they allow their children to be treated in Israeli hospitals when they have been brought up to believe that Israel is their mortal enemy? Hostility towards the Jewish state in Iraq is so strong that many parents refuse to travel to Tel Aviv for free life-saving hole-in-the-heart surgery. Some accept the offer but never reveal where their children were treated, even though the operation has not been available in Iraq since its leading cardiac clinic burnt down after the American-led invasion in 2003. Other parents are... timesonline.co.uk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2020927/posts#comment Sun, 25 May 2008 02:48:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014271/posts Two weeks ago, The Observer revealed how 17-year-old student Rand Abdel-Qader was beaten to death by her father after becoming infatuated with a British soldier in Basra. In this remarkable interview, Abdel-Qader Ali explains why he is unrepentant - and how police backed his actions. Afif Sarhan in Basra and Caroline Davies report * Afif Sarhan in Basra and Caroline Davies * The Observer, * Sunday May 11 2008 For Abdel-Qader Ali there is only one regret: that he did not kill his daughter at birth. 'If I had realised then what she would become, I would have killed her... guardian.co.uk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014271/posts#comment Sun, 11 May 2008 02:11:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014269/posts Two weeks after The Observer revealed the shocking story of Rand Abdel-Qader, 17, murdered because of her infatuation with a British solider in Basra, southern Iraq, her father is defiant. Sitting in the front garden of his well-kept home in the city's Al-Fursi district, he remains a free man, despite having stamped on, suffocated and then stabbed his student daughter to death. Abdel-Qader, 46, a government employee, was initially arrested but released after two hours. Astonishingly, he said, police congratulated him on what he had done. 'They are men and know what honour is,' he said. Rand, who was studying... The Guardian (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2014269/posts#comment Sun, 11 May 2008 02:07:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2012764/posts Iraqi women's committee representatives from all over Iraq sit together for a meeting regarding the needs of women and children of Iraq at the WomenÂ’s Council Social held on May 5 at the Rasheed Nahia City Center, Rasheed, Iraq. U.S. Army Photo by Pfc. Rhonda Roth-Cameron. FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Representatives from four local women’s committees in the Rasheed Nahia met in Mahmudiyah, 20 miles south of Baghdad, May 5. Among those attending the gathering were Soldiers of Multi-National Division – Center and the U.S. State Department’s embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team Baghdad-7, who helped organize the committees. Women’s issues... Multi-National Force - Iraq http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2012764/posts#comment Thu, 8 May 2008 00:41:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2008286/posts The situation for women in Iraq has become critical. US forces and the Iraqi government need to take urgent action to protect them Iraqi women's organisations and international observers point to an escalating war against women in Iraq, aided by widespread chaos and lawlessness under the US occupation. In addition to violence by US troops inside and outside of prisons, women in Iraq face daily violence from militants under the guise of religion and "liberation". In Iraq's second largest city, Basra, a stronghold of conservative Shia groups, as many as 133 women were killed last year for violating "Islamic teachings"... Guardian.co.uk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2008286/posts#comment Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:21:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2003785/posts WASHINGTON, April 18, 2008 – Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division are working with Iraqi Army troops to help create a Daughters of Iraq program to complement the work done by the Sons of Iraq. The Iraqi women in the program would be able to search other females at security checkpoints, expanding the capabilities of the Sons of Iraq currently manning the checkpoints. The Sons of Iraq are an organization of volunteers who have united to stand against terrorists in their homeland. They have been credited with helping bring peace to much of Iraq. Steve Martinez, a law enforcement professional... American Forces Press Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2003785/posts#comment Sat, 19 Apr 2008 01:05:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1993589/posts Iraqi sprinter Dana Abdul-Razzaq has dodged bullets to pursue her love of running, her determination to succeed pushing her to become Iraq's only female athlete at the Beijing Olympics. Few athletes will have faced the obstacles 21-year-old Abdul-Razzaq has overcome to reach Beijing, from a sniper's bullets to a paucity of adequate training facilities and religious and cultural opposition to female athletes. "I love running, I have the persistence to keep practising and I have ambition despite all the problems that I face," she told Reuters at Baghdad's crumbling Shaab stadium. Primetime Politics http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1993589/posts#comment Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:13:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1983590/posts AL TAQADDUM — A team consisting of five female Marines from the 1st Marine Logistics Group and two female interpreters recently conducted a census patrol in a nearby town here. The Iraqi Women’s Engagement Team (IWET) was able to meet and talk with the local Iraqi females one-on-one, segregated from men. A variety of topics were discussed, from any assistance they may need to how the American military has helped them make a better way of life. “It was an eye opener,” said Sgt.Veronica Deleon, 26, a member of the IWET, from Bassett, Calif. “We realized Iraqi people are ordinary... Multi-National Force - Iraq http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1983590/posts#comment Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:36:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1980965/posts BAGHDAD — Iraq has captured an Al Qaida-aligned cell that recruited and deployed women for suicide operations. On March 1, Iraqi and U.S. troops raided a suspected Al Qaida safe house in Al Makhesa, in northeastern Diyala. Officials said scores of suspected women operatives recruited as suicide bombers were arrested. The women suicide cell was said to have consisted of 100 operatives. Officials said Al Qaida has increased its use of women for suicide operations. The women cell was said to have operated in the Diyala province. Officials said some of the women were recruited by their husbands for suicide... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1980965/posts#comment Wed, 5 Mar 2008 22:46:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1978887/posts The U.S. military announced the capture Saturday of an insurgent leader who was recruiting and training women, including his wife, to wrap themselves in explosives and blow themselves up — the latest sign that al-Qaida in Iraq plans to keep using women to carry out suicide attacks. In southern Iraq, a British airman was killed in a rocket attack on a base near Basra late Friday, said Capt. Finn Aldrich, a British military spokesman. Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1978887/posts#comment Sat, 1 Mar 2008 18:22:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1973563/posts BAGHDAD - The U.S. military said Wednesday that two women used as suicide bombers in attacks earlier this month had undergone psychiatric treatment but there is no indication they had Down syndrome as Iraqi and U.S. officials initially had claimed. AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1973563/posts#comment Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:05:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1968144/posts BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers arrested a suspected suicide bomb facilitator during a raid in the Rashid District of the Iraqi capital Feb. 9.Numerous tips led Soldiers from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, Multi-National Division to detain the alleged extremist. He was found with five Iraqi women in a home in Doura. One of the women is suspected of being a possible suicide bomber-in-training.The man was taken to a Coalition Detention Facility for questioning. Two of the women were also detained for further questioning. At this time, there is no indication this event... Multi-National Corps – Iraq Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1968144/posts#comment Sun, 10 Feb 2008 19:42:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1967883/posts BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The images in the Basra police file are nauseating: Page after page of women killed in brutal fashion -- some strangled to death, their faces disfigured; others beheaded. All bear signs of torture. The women are killed, police say, because they failed to wear a headscarf or because they ignored other "rules" that secretive fundamentalist groups want to enforce. "Fear, fear is always there," says 30-year-old Safana, an artist and university professor. "We don't know who to be afraid of. Maybe it's a friend or a student you teach. There is no break, no security. I... CNN http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1967883/posts#comment Sun, 10 Feb 2008 02:58:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1967812/posts Like their colleagues across Iraq, the doctors and nurses at the Emergency Management Centre in Irbil work relentlessly. Chilura Hardi, head of women's radio station and centre Activists say self-immolation reflects Kurdish experience under Saddam The medical specialisms at this hospital are war surgery and burns. With the continuing violence in nearby Mosul and Diyala province, war surgery is in great demand. So too is the burns unit. The chief nurse, Ahmed Mohammad, has done the tour of the women's intensive care unit many times before. "This is ICU burns," he said. "We have four patients here." In the corner... BBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1967812/posts#comment Sat, 9 Feb 2008 23:53:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1948938/posts Umm Doha cuts hair and waxes eyebrows in secret from her living room because making women look pretty can get a person killed in her Sunni-dominated Baghdad neighborhood. Hard-line Muslim extremists who believe it is sinful for women to appear beautiful in public have forced many beauticians to move their trade underground. Sunni and Shiite extremists began blowing up salons roughly two years ago. They killed several stylists and bullied others into putting down their scissors and makeup brushes for good, all in an effort to stamp out what they view as the corrupting spread of Western culture. In addition... Seattle Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1948938/posts#comment Sat, 5 Jan 2008 23:01:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1944456/posts BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Umm Doha cuts hair and waxes eyebrows in secret from her living room because making women look pretty can get a person killed in her Sunni-dominated Baghdad neighborhood. Hardline Muslim extremists who believe it is sinful for women to appear beautiful in public have forced many beauticians to move their trade underground. Sunni and Shiite militants began blowing up salons roughly two years ago. They killed several stylists and bullied others into putting down their scissors and makeup brushes for good, all in an effort to stamp out what they view as the corrupting spread of... AP via SFGate http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1944456/posts#comment Wed, 26 Dec 2007 20:28:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1940175/posts December 16, 2007     Tossed from a car and shot in cold blood   Marie Colvin in Basra   IT WAS just after 11pm and the shopkeeper was closing up for the night when a van screeched to a halt outside. The back doors flew open. “Someone inside threw a woman onto the street,” he said. “She was lying on the road but she was still alive. A man lent out and shot a machine-gun into her body.” As the van raced away, the shopkeeper ran over to her. She was aged 25 to 30 with long dark... The Sunday Times (U.K.) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1940175/posts#comment Sun, 16 Dec 2007 06:31:10 GMT