Women’s Rights, Democratic Elections and the Stop the War Coalition

Norman Geras has three posts at his blogsite today that our readers will want to check out.

First, a survey conducted by the Iraq Center for Research and Strategic Studies (CSSR) into the views of 1,000 Iraqi women in Baghdad, Mosul, and Basra about their opinions, needs and hopes for the future (results in pdf form are downloadable).

Second an article from The Times of 9 January by Amir Taheri on the upcoming elections in Iraq.

Third, Norm reports on Nick Cohen’s article in the Observer of 9 January. Cohen, as fearless and insightful as ever, observes that:

“Hadi Salih, international officer of the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions, was tied and blindfolded and tortured by Baathist 'insurgents' loyal to Saddam Hussein before being forced to kneel, strangled by electric cord and shot.

I shouldn't be shocked that there hasn't been a squeak of protest from the anti-war movement at the killing of a brave socialist, but I am. Two years ago I believed that after the war people who opposed it for good reasons would vow to pursue Blair and Bush [-] for what they had done [-] to their graves, but have the intellectual honesty to accept that Saddam's regime was fascist in theory and in practice and the good nature to offer fraternal support [to] Iraqi socialists, democrats and liberals in their deadly struggle.

More fool me. The Stop the War Coalition, which organised one million people to march through the streets of London, told the kidnappers and torturers from the Baath Party and al-Qaeda that the anti-war movement 'recognises once more the legitimacy of the struggle of Iraqis, by whatever means they find necessary'. Its leading figures purport to be on the left, but have cheered on the far-right and betrayed their comrades by denouncing Iraqi trade unionists as 'Quislings' and 'collaborators'. There have been a few honourable protests: Mick Rix, the former leader of the train drivers union, walked out in disgust saying that the anti-war movement was putting the lives of Iraqi trade unionists at risk. (Its denunciations of better and braver men and women than the British pseudo-leftists could ever be were reported in Arab newspapers which circulate in Iraq.” (AJ)