Fight fire with fire:
BAGHDAD — In a well-lit meeting room in a government building in the Iraqi capital, 20 Iraqi women were sitting in a circle, intently watching the demonstration in the center of the room. They were dressed modestly but with some flair: bright pink and blue headscarves mixed in among the black chadors, chunky, designer purses resting on the floor beneath their seats.The friendly, casual atmosphere in the room looked similar to a suburban book-club meeting, or maybe a Mary-Kay cosmetics party. Except that these women were not learning how to apply foundation, they were learning how to lock and load an AK-47.
“Who can show me how to do it?” asked the instructor, an Iraqi Army sergeant, holding up the weapon.
One of the women jumped up and took the automatic rifle, expertly disassembled it and put it back together. When she cocked it by loudly slamming the charging handle back, the rest of the women applauded.
….As members of the first class of female security volunteers in Adhamiyah, all 51 women in the class were groundbreakers. The women will join hundreds of male residents that are already helping secure Adhamiyah by guarding important public sites like schools, hospitals, and government buildings.
The four-day course running from Oct. 8 to Oct. 11 was organized by the 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, and taught by U.S. and Iraqi Soldiers. The training focused on security procedures, proper search techniques, and weapons familiarization.
…..The necessity to have female security guards became clear earlier this month when a female suicide bomber was able to enter a public building without being searched in nearby Fadhil and blew her explosive vest up, killing several people, said Maj. Ike Sallee, the 3-7 Cav.’s operations officer.
“Insurgents can come in any size, shape, or gender,” Sallee said.
In Iraq, cultural sensitivities preclude men from searching women. But there is nothing stopping a woman from searching another woman. For that reason, it was important to give women in Adhamiyah the chance to assist with the security effort.
“It’s their lives that are in danger, too,” said Kalamazoo, Mich., native, Pfc. Paula Cook, a military policewoman with the 108th Military Police Company and one of the instructors in the class.
In a culturally conservative society like Iraq’s, there are some who might criticize the female security volunteers for stepping outside their traditional roles. But Mervat Hussein, a single mother enrolled in the class, said no one has the right to criticize the women for trying to protect their community.
“What is the substitute they have? Nothing,” Hussein said. “Should we just stay in our houses, suffering?”
Link:
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.phpoption=com_content&task=view&id=14633&Itemid=1
Outstanding! Women have always taken up arms for their respective nations and causes. It’s time that muslim women help advance the cause of freedom and a future for their homelands instead of kowtowing to the Islamofascist males who dictate their lives. Lets’ see if this trend continues.