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KIRKUK — The use of non-governmental organizations to champion social issues is often a successful method of combating social and cultural woes. Some examples include anti-smoking and –litter campaigns in the United States. While the government of Kirkuk continues to develop, private citizens are encouraged to take on social challenges. The role of women in Iraq, and their contributions to Kirkuk, was the subject of a conference Nov. 19 at the Kirkuk Government Building. Non-Governmental Organizations representing women's issues attended the conference, which included groups who addressed issues ranging from illiteracy, domestic violence, small business development and civil rights awareness....

AL MUTHANA, Iraq, Nov. 5, 2009 – The Iraqi army graduated 42 women here as the first all-female class to complete its enlisted basic combat training course. Iraqi Staff Brig. Gen. Mohammed Abdul Razq, deputy director of the tactical training directorate, and Iraqi Staff Col. Mohammed Abdul Rahman Essa, deputy commander of the Regional Training Center, delivered congratulatory remarks to the pioneering women at an Oct. 29 graduation. Iraqi army recruit Junde Lubab Ibrahim Kaleel said she was very excited about graduation. "It is important for me, for Iraqi women and for Iraq because we have a chance for a...

Representatives from eight Iraqi women's associations meet to discuss possible business training with members of the Ninawa Provincial Reconstruction Team in the town of Qare Qosh in Ninawa province, Oct 27. Photo by 2nd Lt. Jeff Orban, 1st Cavalry Division. Iraqi business women here are taking advantage of a program instituted by the Ninawa Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) to train them on business administration practices. Tony Daza, an economics advisor for the Ninawa PRT, and representatives from eight women's associations held an open dialogue here about the details of the training program, Oct. 27."After we meet with these women’s associations,...

Midtown Manhattan this week has been turned into an extra-specially intense maze of flashing lights, motorcades and those dudes selling noxious candied peanuts -- the former heralding the advent of the U.N. General Assembly and the latter simply a New York Thing That Will Not Go Away, Ever. This year's festivities will probably best be remembered for Muammar Qaddafi's theatrical hijinks (the tent, the rant, the shredding) and for the triumphant return of the United States to the world forum -- but on the sidelines of these conventions, there's been some significant (and long overdue) attention paid to the role...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, Aug. 6, 2009 – Iraqi women discussed opportunities in business development and contracting with U.S. soldiers and contractors during a meeting at Basra Airport in Iraq. Army Capt. Ann Demapan, a women’s initiatives coordinator for Multinational Division South, discusses business opportunities available to educated Iraqi women at a conference at Basra Airport, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Stephanie Cassinos  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The conference highlighted opportunities with Joint Contracting Command Iraq’s women-owned business initiative, a program that reserves Defense Department contracts for businesses primarily owned by women. “The target audience for...

Army Capt. Jennifer Glossinger, Women’s Initiatives Program coordinator for Multi-National Division - South, learns more about the specific talents of Iraqi women at a conference in Zabir, July 7. Glossinger hopes to find women who are willing to teach others new skills. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Stephanie Cassinos. BASRAH — The role of the Women’s Initiatives Program (WIP) here is to be a voice for the Iraqi women, including thousands of widows who live in rural areas and whose families may be more susceptible to terrorist activities. By speaking to women from various locations, the WIP can assess their...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, July 15, 2009 – The view from a Humvee window in rural Iraq is a confusing sight. Small, broken structures disrupt long stretches of sand. Closer to town, abandoned vehicles corrode on the side of the road, trash collects in puddles and ditches, and people herd animals mere yards away from shops on the street. Army Capt. Jennifer Glossinger, Women’s Initiatives program coordinator for Multinational Division South, learns more about the specific talents of Iraqi women at a conference in Zabir, Iraq, July 7, 2009. Glossinger hopes to find women who are willing to teach...

There has been an unprecedented unleashing of violence against women in Iraq in recent years. What is the link between the US-led invasion of the country and the rise in women's rights violations? Before the invasion of their country in 2003, women formed forty per cent of Iraq's public work force. Today, ninety per cent of them are unemployed. Polygamy, previously virtually unheard of in Baghdad is making a comeback as women become second and third wives in order to survive economically.

Apparently it's totally acceptible for a woman to be raped and/or beheaded because she happened to disagree with Saddam. And now, because things are a bit rough in Iraq regarding electricity and such, women are wishing they could go back to the way things were under Saddam. At least that is what my liberal friends say. :/

Iraqi Member of Parliament Safiya Talib al-Suhail was keynote speaker at an Iraqi women's business seminar June 20 in Baghdad. Al-Suhail has a long history of promoting the rights and status of Iraqi women. USACE Photo by Rick Haverinen. BAGHDAD — Sustainment contracting was the focus of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Gulf Region Division (GRD)-sponsored women's business seminar here, June 20, as 35 Iraqi businesswomen attended this half-day event, part of a continuing series of meetings for the Women's Advocate Initiative. "Our goal is to encourage and support Iraqi businesswomen to be more involved in the execution and...

Sgt. Frankie Hibberd (far right), of 150th Armored Reconnaissance Squadron, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, uses hand gestures and animated facial expressions to teach nine members of the Daughters of Iraq search techniques at an old high school in Yusifiyah, June 12. Photo by Spc. Ruth McClary, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team. BAGHDAD — Loud chatter filled the room as ten women from the Daughters of Iraq (DoI) gathered at an old high school in Yusifiyah, south of Baghdad, to train new-hires, update information in the U.S. forces database and discuss present conditions with U.S. Army officers, June 12. The...

A U.S. soldier convicted of murdering an Iraqi family spoke out for the first time Thursday, issuing a public apology for his crimes. Former U.S. soldier Steven Green got life in prison after being convicted of murdering four Iraqis. Steven Green, who escaped the death penalty this month, told relatives of the victims that he is "truly sorry for what I did in Iraq." "I helped to destroy a family and end the lives of four of my fellow human beings, and I wish that I could take it back, but I cannot," Green said, reading a statement at a...

The biggest thing standing between a Muslim woman’s life and death is a tenacious Vancleave soldier on Iraqi soil. Shadia, a 30-year-old with a sweet smile and sparkly personality, searches women before allowing them entrance to the Abu Ghraib warehouse, where Col. Thomas Bruce Cain is the site commander. Her last name can’t be revealed, nor photographs shown, for fear of persecution by others not appreciative of an American presence in their country, Cain said. A tumor is pressing on Shadia’s brain and Iraqi doctors can’t do the surgery that could save her life. Cain couldn’t watch her die,...

BAGHDAD — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) here announced two initiatives that will help Iraqi women get work with the Corps’ Gulf Region Division (GRD). GRD unveiled the initiatives at the Women-Owned Business and the Future Conference at the Rasheed Hotel here, March 21. U.S. Navy Capt. Joseph Konicki, director of military programs, GRD, told the 50-member audience the Division set aside a percentage of contracts in the Foreign Military Sales and Iraqi Security Force Funds programs to award to women-owned businesses here. This is the first time GRD is tapping a portion of its Foreign Military Sales...

FOB WARRIOR — Women of northern Iraq gathered together for a conference in Narwooz Hall in Kirkuk City March 14, aimed at improving the status of women’s rights and their quality of life in Iraq. The women’s rights movement began during the Middle Ages in this region, when pioneers worked to improve the status of women in Islamic nations during early Islamic reforms. According to Dr. Jamal A. Badawi in “The Status of Woman in Islam,” women were granted rights in marriage, divorce and inheritance; and marriage became a “contract” as opposed to a “status,” in which a woman’s consent...

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2009 – In April 2004, at the height of the insurgency in Iraq, five female soldiers unwittingly found themselves fighting alongside Marines in the battle for Ramadi and Fallujah. Their story is told in a documentary film bearing their unit name, “Team Lioness,” which has been shown in private and public screenings throughout the United States and Europe in the past year. The Center for Women Veterans hosted the film at the Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters here yesterday. “These stories are important to us at VA, because women veterans are coming to VA in great numbers,...

BAGHDAD, Feb. 23, 2009 – Soldiers with the 63rd Armor Regiment got the chance to buy homemade products and souvenirs and further the cause of Iraqi women and their families recently when they hosted a bazaar to sell the women’s handiwork. Soldiers from Task Force 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, buy from a vendor during a women's bazaar at Forward Operating Base Mahmudiya in Baghdad, Feb. 17, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jamie Vernon  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "This is a great way for local women to improve their small businesses and take care...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, Feb. 18, 2009 – A rash of suicide bombings by women in Iraq in 2008 led officials to create a program to empower Iraqi women by fostering equality and the ensuring their basic human rights are met. Army Capt. Jennifer Glossinger, Women’s Initiative program coordinator, speaks with a woman about issues Iraqi women face near Baghdad, Feb. 16, 2009. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The first component of the three-part Women’s Initiative Program is to reverse the trend in female suicide bombings, which increased from seven in 2007 to 38 last year, officials...

BAGHDAD (AP) — A woman accused of helping recruit dozens of female suicide bombers looked into the camera and described the process: trolling society for likely candidates and then patiently converting the women from troubled souls into deadly attackers. The accounts, in a video released Tuesday by Iraq police, offer a rare glimpse into the networks used to find and train the women bombers who have become one of the insurgents' most effective weapons as they struggle under increasing crackdowns. In a separate prison interview with The Associated Press, with interrogators nearby, the woman said she was part of a...

In the overwhelmingly male arena that is Iraqi politics, it was a striking sight. A local sports ground, an election rally and a candidate - a female candidate. Zahra Hamza Ali is upbeat about her chances. In private interviews she speaks of speeding up dormant reconstruction projects in Basra province, of stability and security, but not to the exclusively male audience, who still insist that women in public life are seen and not heard. The men, about 3,000 of them, rapturously waved vibrant Shia Islamic and political flags in the main Basra sports arena as they waited for the prime...

BAGHDAD, Jan. 28, 2009 – Nearly 500 new Iraqi policewomen graduated from the Baghdad Police College here Jan. 26, marking the largest female class ever to graduate from the school, officials said. Among their first duties, the new graduates will serve front-line roles providing security for the Jan. 31 election. “We feel proud and happy that we are bringing new opportunity to Iraqi women today, and more women will follow us,” a graduate said. Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bulani congratulated the new graduates for “taking another step toward rebuilding Iraqi security.” “These women are now sharing duties with the policemen...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, Jan. 21, 2009 – Coalition and Iraqi leaders discussed programs to improve Iraqi women’s rights and a vision for a more united future during a Women’s Initiative Seminar here. An interpreter translates a speech for Sameera al-Mosawi, right, board president for the Council of Representative of Women, Family and Children Committee, on programs to benefit women’s rights during the Women’s Initiative Seminar on Camp Victory, Iraq, Jan. 17, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Michel Sauret  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “I want to bring forward studies on women and human rights to be...

The program, suggested by an Iraqi women's group, is part of an effort to reestablish the country's once-thriving dairy industry as well as a way to help impoverished women and children.Reporting from Anbar Province, Iraq -- As American forces work to revive Iraq's tattered farming economy, they seem to have found an effective new weapon. Cows. At the suggestion of an Iraqi women's group, the Marine Corps recently bought 50 cows for 50 Iraqi widows in the farm belt around Fallouja, once the insurgent capital of war-torn Anbar province. The cow purchase is seen as a small step toward reestablishing...

This is Um Sa'aad (mother of Sa'aad, and probably 13 other ugly, anti-American kids), the sexy sister of Iraqi urinalist Muntadar Al-Zeidi, the guy who threw shoes at President Bush and should probably get a try-out with the Dearborn Jihadists NFL Expansion Team. His sister looks like she should be one of their cheerleaders. Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, eat your pork hearts out. As you probably know, her 28-year-old, violent, immature bro is being hailed as a hero around the Islamic world. But, wait, I thought they loved America, and that they were so peaceful. They'd never cheer on the throwing...

We are winning the war in Iraq. Another policy that Bush will never get credit for. http://thebulletin.us/articles/2008/12/12/news/world/doc4941efa0db8da462843364.txt

FOB DELTA — Obstetricians and midwives at the al Zahara Hospital in al Kut received maternal and child care training from hospital staff and Coalition forces, Nov. 26. Eighty-seven students attended the lecture, which covered topics on maternal health, child care and treatment for choking, taught by Dr. Halam Turki, an Iraqi-American obstetrics and gynecological surgeon. The Wasit director general for health; Company C, 589th Brigade Support Battalion, 41st Fires Brigade; and the 304th Civil Affairs Bde., of Philadelphia; sponsored the training. The training is part of the ongoing Operation Gunner Med, to improve the state of health care in...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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.

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....

During the Northern Iraq Women’s Conference, held in the Professor Sa’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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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 Women’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...

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"...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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.

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...