Another crazy report, just like a lot of the bunk charges that come out of Human Rights Watch. Great name, great mission. Terrible follow through.

LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Nearly two years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, women there are no better off than under the rule of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, the human rights group Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

In a report entitled “Iraq — Decades of Suffering,” it said that while the systematic repression under Saddam had ended, it had been replaced by increased murders, and sexual abuse — including by U.S. forces.

Washington promised that the overthrow of Saddam would free the Iraqi people from years of oppression and set them on the road to democracy. But Amnesty said post-war insecurity had left women at risk of violence and curtailed their freedoms.

“The lawlessness and increased killings, abductions and rapes that followed the overthrow of the government of Saddam Hussein have restricted women’s freedom of movement and their ability to go to school or to work,” Amnesty said.

“Women have been subjected to sexual threats by members of the U.S.-led forces and some women detained by U.S. forces have been sexually abused, possibly raped,” it added.

Amnesty said several women detained by U.S. troops had spoken in interviews with them of beatings, threats of rape, humiliating treatment and long periods of solitary confinement.

The Pentagon said it had not seen the report, but took any allegations of detainee abuse seriously.

The story seems somewhat ubsubstantiated, though it goes on to say that the Pentagon will be investigating the claims. I wonder what the result will be? The main problem with this article is that someone made a huge typo. They mixed up the U.S. and Saddam. In fact, if I didn’t know better, they probably picked up an old news article from a few years ago and simply replaced “Saddam” with “U.S.” I honestly can’t even believe that Amnesty International would be so short-sighted.

“Within their own communities, many women and girls remain at risk of death from male relatives if they are accused of behaviour held to have brought dishonour on the family,” Amnesty said, noting some attempts by religious zealots to make the laws even more repressive against women.

But on the positive side, the report said several women’s rights groups had been formed — including ones that focused on the protection of women from violence.

Amnesty called on the Iraqi authorities and newly elected members of the National Assembly to enshrine the rights of women in the new constitution.

This included treating honour killings as murder, outlawing violence within marriage and making sure that the punishment was commensurate with the crime committed.

One noteable positive thing they left out was the… what was it? Oh. The elections. You know, that thing where women voted for the first time in their lives, and are promised 1/3 of all the assembly seats. And since 2/3 have to approve the constitution before it can go to referendum, chances are, there won’t be any exclusion of women’s rights. It doesn’t take a bogus Amnesty International report to tell us that.

Last thing of note is the people who tried to impose Shariah law over society. My twelfth post was actually about this and how women protested in the streets to make sure it didn’t happen. Obviously, it didn’t. Wait, weren’t their mobility freedoms limited because of the dreadful violence by “freedom fighters” and oppression of the imperialistic United States? I think we know the answer.