Category Archives: Iraq

NY Times Coverage Biased Against Lancet Study

UPDATE: The Lancet Study can be downloaded here (pdf link). A companion paper, which provides some additional details, can be downloaded here (pdf link). The New York Times coverage of the new Lancet study of Iraqi deaths, while maintaining an … Continue reading

Posted in Iraq, Media criticism | 28 Comments

New Lancet Study: 425,000 – 790,000 Excess Iraqi Deaths Since We Invaded

UPDATE: The Lancet Study can be downloaded here (pdf link). A companion paper, which provides some additional details, can be downloaded here (pdf link). A new study, due to be published on The Lancet’s website today, has found that there … Continue reading

Posted in Iraq, Sexism hurts men | 9 Comments

Making Things Worse In Iraq

Tim at Balloon Juice quotes from news stories (one, two): Torture in Iraq may be worse now than it was under Saddam Hussein, with militias, terrorist groups and government forces disregarding rules on the humane treatment of prisoners, the U.N. … Continue reading

Posted in Iraq | 4 Comments

Michael Scheuer: 5 Years After 9/11, We're Less Safe

Michael Scheuer, a 22-year CIA vet who specialized in studying bin Laden, answers six questions for Harpers. The bit that will be quoted the most, I think, is this: “In the long run, we’re not safer because we’re still operating … Continue reading

Posted in Afghanistan, International issues, Iraq, Palestine & Israel | 4 Comments

Gays in Iraq Targeted For Murder By Insurgents And Government

From the UK newspaper The Observer: Hardline Islamic insurgent groups in Iraq are targeting a new type of victim with the full protection of Iraqi law, The Observer can reveal. The country is seeing a sudden escalation of brutal attacks … Continue reading

Posted in Iraq, Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans and Queer issues | 6 Comments

Conservatives Slander Feminists and Whitewash Harms To Iraqi Women

Judith at Kesher Talk engages in a little feminist-bashing: News flash! Saddam Wasn’t a Feminist. Well, duh, you might say. But some on the left have already started to spin Saddam’s Iraq as a time of equal opportunity for women. … Continue reading

Posted in Anti-feminists and their pals, Iraq | 6 Comments

Ruth Rosen: The Hidden War On Women In Iraq

At TomDispatch, a horrifying but not surprising article by Ruth Rosen on women’s conditions in Iraq post-invasion. There’s no way I can quote all the important parts of this article, but here’s a few samples: Amal Kadham Swadi, one of … Continue reading

Posted in Iraq, Rape, intimate violence, & related issues | 10 Comments

American Soldiers Arrested For Rape/Execution Of 14-Year Old Girl And Her Family

From the New York Times: BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 6 — The United States ambassador and the top American military commander here together issued an unusual apology on Thursday for the rape and murder of a young Iraqi woman and the … Continue reading

Posted in Iraq, Rape, intimate violence, & related issues | 40 Comments

Women's Rights In The Middle East

Interesting-sounding panel discussion of women’s rights in the Mid East. I thought this point – about the attraction of patriarchy in dictatorships – was well-made: Darwish placed the blame on the patriarchy of the Middle East. “In the Middle East, … Continue reading

Posted in Feminism, sexism, etc, International issues, Iraq, Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans and Queer issues, Palestine & Israel | 15 Comments

Iraq: Maybe Sistani didn't call for homosexuals to be killed, after all

In my most recent link farm post, I posted a link to a story about Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani calling a fatwah against homosexuals. The blogger Zeyad apparently translated this from an page in Arabic on Sistani’s website: Q: What … Continue reading

Posted in Iraq, Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans and Queer issues | 15 Comments