Only days after Reihan declared himself still a neocon, the latest results of the Iraq War and the triumph of good over evil came in. The Shiite democracy is getting ready to legalize marriage for girls as young as nine years’ old:
The legislation, known as the Jaafari law, introduces rules almost identical to those of neighboring Iran, a Shia-dominated Islamic theocracy. Ayad Allawi, a former Iraqi prime minister, warned on Tuesday that approval of the law would lead to the abuse of women. “It allows for girls to be married from nine years of age and even younger,” he said. “There are other injustices [contained in it] too.”
While there is no set minimum age for marriage, the section on divorce includes rules for divorces of girls who have reached the age of 9 years. Marital rape is condoned by a clause that states women must comply with their husband’s sexual demands. Men are given guardianship rights over women and the law also establishes rules governing polygamous relationships.
Hanaa Edwar, a well-known activist and head of the charity Al-Amal (“Hope” in Arabic), has campaigned against the law as a setback for women’s rights in a country that has struggled since the 2003 invasion. “It turns women into tools for sexual enjoyment,” she said. “It deletes all their rights.”
So we spent a trillion dollars, thousands of American lives and tens of thousands of Iraqi lives to “delete all the rights” of Iraqi women. I wonder if anyone has asked Condi Rice about that.
The most trafficked post of the day continued to be “Why Aren’t Gay Men On The Pill?” – with replies from readers and Truvada-user Dave Cullen here. Runner-up: my defense of Ayaan Hirsi Ali against her hard-left critics at Brandeis. Other popular posts included my socks’ appearance on Colbert last night and the response to Jim DeMint’s surreal view of American history. You can comment on the posts at our Facebook page. See what people are saying about @sullydish here. It can get brutal over there:
A close up pic of Andrew Sullivan’s moderate #GOP #LGBT socks from his appearance on @StephenAtHome @SullyDish pic.twitter.com/ovCLYExMSV
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Yo @sullydish wtf is up with your socks? Are you on house arrest? Because it sure looks like you’ve got an ankle monitor under there
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:/
Meanwhile, our most popular reader thread right now is on ADHD and how to medicate for it. And these posts have updates you might have missed: a video for “Colbert To Take Over Letterman!” and another disclosure that Ayaan Ali Hirsi is indeed a personal friend. A Dish dad got Beard Of The Week honors. Also: sloth squeaks.
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