Democratic and Liberal political analysis and commentary

The U.S. casualty mark passed 4,000 today. Each soldier deserves our respect and grateful thanks. But there are other casualties of war that don't get talked about much. I'm going to spend some time blogging about them.

In a growing epidemic, Iraqi women are turning to prostitution as a means to make money for their families. There are literally no other jobs for some women with children to feed. The lack of government aid (or a government AT ALL, for that matter) is sending increasingly desperate women to the streets. There are few jobs, and an increasingly conservative Islamic culture converging to keep women suffering silently in their homes.

Islamic culture generally teaches women to be prudish and sex is not openly talked about, even between mothers and daughters. Even in our sexually liberated society prostitution still earns the "scourge" label. The shame must be compounded 100-fold in Iraq, with such a heavy cultural stigma on sex itself.

Most women don't report themselves as needing help, they just suffer in silence. As a matter of fact, most women who eventually get help are discovered in hospitals after suicide attempts.

As a fellow human being, I am ashamed that my country caused such devastation in the lives of my Muslim sisters. The toll of this war will never be known.