Iraqi Women Tours US, Speaks Against the War

by Karen Button

On the eve of the third anniversary of Iraq’s invasion, a small delegation of Iraqi woman are in the US to talk about what life under US occupation of their country looks like. They arrived in time for International Women’s Day when a couple thousand women and a few men marched to the White House protesting the war. Their message was clear. Bearing pink signs in both Arabic and English that read “Leave Iraq Now!” and “No to Occupation,” the Iraqi women led the march organised by CodePink: Women Say No to War.

At a later press conference where debate about what the minutia of American troop withdrawal would entail, delegation member Entisar Mohammad Ariabi, began crying out of frustration. “It is not fair,” she said, “that on Women’s Day we are not talking about women’s lives in Iraq!”

Dr. Entisar, pharmaceutical head at Al-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital in Baghdad, has been documenting Iraq’s deteriorating health system. The reality, she said, is that “in Iraq a woman is either looking for her children under the rubble of her [bombed] house or for her husband in the prisons! I would also like to remember the pregnant women who cannot find sufficient care, where there is no hospital or delivery room for her because so many doctors have left, or she cannot take an ambulance because they are shot at.

“Many hospitals have been destroyed in Baghdad, Haditha, and al-Qaim during military bombings. Many of the doctors in these places have been beaten, killed or arrested by US troops.

“So many of the diseases under control under Saddam are now back, especially for children—meningitis and hepatitis because of no medicines or vaccines. There are also health problems due to bad water and lack of sanitation.” According to UNICEF, said Dr. Entisar, before the invasion Iraq was number 80 on the list of countries ranked according to death of children under the age of five. This was also during sanctions. Iraq now ranks number 36.

“We [Iraqi women] are sitting here safe. You cannot imagine how we feel being here because we are very worried about our families. We are calling them every day just to make sure they are still alive. End this occupation! It is the reason for all these things!”

Earlier, the delegation had attempted to meet with a number of congressional members to discuss the situation in Iraq, only to be stymied by tight schedules and what some of the women felt was a lack of interest.

“Most were too busy to meet with us,” said journalist and human rights worker Eman Ahmed Khammas. “One actually met us in the hallway. Some did not even take notes.”

Dr. Entisar said she told them, “I’m talking about the deaths of thousands of Iraqis. If you don’t have even five minutes, I refuse to talk!”

“This is the problem,” said Khammas, pointing to a story in The Washington Post about how well things are going in Iraq. “This is the way issues in Iraq are covered in the media unfortunately; [American] people know almost nothing except the ‘happy image’ that really does not exist.”

“We want to tell you this story of Iraq because the media is not telling you the real story.” Faiza Al-Araji, a religious Shi’a who’s married to a Sunni, explained that she used to be a civil engineer until the invasion made a blogger out of her. (afamilyinbaghdad.blogspot.com) “This is a kind of documentation about what is happening in Iraq. I can tell you from personal experience, six months after the war started, I had guns put in my face and was robbed. I went to the Iraqi police and to the US troops and they both said, ‘sorry, we can’t do anything.’

“Last August the Ministry of Interior arrested my son. They put a bag over his head and took him for four days. These were the worst four days in my life! And, this is the story of most Iraqi women now.”

Fortunately, another prisoner had a cell phone, so Al-Araji’s son was finally able to call her. He told her that the “seniors” within the Ministry told me if his family would pay, he would be released. “We had to pay the seniors in the Ministry $1000 and they released him. This is now the face of the government in Iraq.” Al-Araji’s son was lucky. Most who are arrested by the Ministry are severely tortured, many end up dead. In fear, Al-Araji’s family fled to Jordan where they now live.

Khammas continued, “We hear about horrible stories of torture in the Iraqi prisons, which are unfortunately worse than the American ones. The Iraqi authorities deny their existence,” she says, though too many witnesses have sworn to their presence. “We don’t know the exact number of those detained, but many people are missing in Iraq.

“Another big problem are the continuing military operations. Bush said they ended in May 2003, but this is not true. They have taken place in Najaf, Samarra, the west of Iraq. When they make these raids life stops; school stops, everything stops, and people end up as refugees. For example, with Steel Curtain operations [in Al-Qaim] 8,400 families were left homeless.
“Nearly 50 percent of those who have died during the war are women and children. Death is the king of the streets in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq.”

As to sectarian divisions and the resulting violence, Al-Araji was clear. “It was Bremer who began dividing us; he is the one who named the Sunni Triangle. He put the principles sectarian division in the constitution of Iraq. We never had this before; this is not Iraq. [The Americans] created this story.”

Nadje Al-Ali, a writer and researcher who specializes in women in the Middle East elaborated, “The UK and the US have fueled these differences especially by not securing the borders before now.”

She also attributes the violence to frustration. “After three years, basic services haven’t even been rebuilt,” She pointed to destroyed schools, lack of electricity, and sanitation services.
With this the current situation, asked Al-Araji, “how could I trust [the Americans] to stay another 3 years in Iraq? If [the Americans] are doing anything good for us, give me facts on the ground that Iraq is better and I will never say another word!!”

Instead, Al-Araji charged, “What really exists is a country in absolute chaos! After three years, Iraqis have lost the ‘key.’ We aren’t even the decision-makers in our own country!”

The solution, they all concluded, “Pull out troops!”

Meanwhile, as these Iraqi women tour the US speaking at rallies commemorating the third anniversary of the war in Iraq, American and Iraqi forces have begun Operation Swarmer. Being conducted north of Baghdad, the American military is calling the operation the "largest air assault" in nearly three years.

For information about where the Iraqi women’s delegation are speaking, go to www.womensaynotowar.org