ANOTHER WARNING

"The potential of women, who make up half of the society, in the service of the revolution and their hidden and suppressed talents and intelligence in creating an entire society based on equality is the most humane and the most radical characteristic of our revolution."
~ PKK 5th Congress Resolution Concerning the Women's Army and the Free Women's Movement.

Earlier I had posted something about the likely effects of permanent military bases in South Kurdistan, part of which had to do with the possible effects on Kurdish women. It's likely that the effects would seriously impact the work of women's rights activists in a region where repression of women is still all too common.

In 2005, Amnesty International issued a report on the situation of women in Iraq and significant examples of abuse in South Kurdistan are included. The examples provide a snapshot of Kurdish women's situation in the recent past, including the sale of Kurdish young women and girls by the Saddam regime, incidents of honor murders, impunity of honor murders as a result of not vigorously applying the law against such murders, and mutilation as a punishment for "honor" crimes.

The report also mentions abuses of US forces against women detainees in Iraqi Arab prisons. These abuses include sexual torture, a fact which finally came out as a result of General Anthony Taguba's investigation of Abu Ghraib.

Now it appears that an American feminist is conducting research into military prostitution around US bases. According to the information she's pulled together already, the Green Zone is one huge kerxane:

Within the Green Zone, a few brothels have been opened (disguised as a women's shelter, hairdresser, or Chinese restaurant) but are usually closed by authorities after reports about their existence reach the media. The U.S. military claims that it officially forbids its troops to be involved in prostitution. But private contractors brag on sex websites that they have sometimes been able to find Iraqi or foreign women in Baghdad or around U.S. military bases. These highly paid security contractors have much disposable income, and are not held accountable to anyone but their companies.

One contractor employee living in the Green Zone reported in February 2007 that "it took me 4 months to get my connections. We have a PSD [Personal Security Detail] contact who brings us these Iraqi cuties." Western contractors' e-mails also suggest that some Chinese, Filipina, Iranian and Eastern European women may also be prostituted to Americans and other Westerners within Iraq. (Other reports indicate that Chinese women might also be prostituted in Afghanistan, Qatar, and other Muslim countries where it may be difficult for rings to find local women.)

I had previously questioned what impact these vermin called mercenaries would have on the situation. It's well known that these American mercenaries have been involved in sex trafficking in other places where they've operated, such as in Bosnia. In her piece, Debra McNutt clearly indicates that they are engaging in the same kind of trafficking in Iraq.

What's worse for Kurds, however, is that the US military and their dirty mercenaries, intend to turn South Kurdistan into a kerxane:

On leave from Iraq in 2005, Army Reservist Patrick Lackatt said that "For one dollar you can get a prostitute for one hour." But as the war has escalated in Baghdad and the other Arab regions of Iraq, it has become too dangerous for Westerners to move around outside of the military bases and the Green Zone. Contractors are now advising each other to do their "R & R" in the safer northern Kurdish region, or in the bars and hotels of Dubai, the UAE emirate that has become the most open center of prostitution in the Persian Gulf. Meanwhile, any prostitution rings in Iraq have to go deeper underground to hide from Iraqi militias.

With that, we come to the crucial question: What is the Kurdistan Regional Government prepared to do to immediately thwart the intentions of these barbarians? Or will it, for the right price, be content to play the role of Uncle Tom when it comes to the warmongering whoremongers of the US military?

If so, I hope YJA-STAR will deploy for operations in South Kurdistan as the only means to maintain the honor of Kurdistan. After all, they don't fight only for themselves.