From the I Want to Scream File: "Men in black terrorise Iraq's women"

From the "It Makes Me Want to Scream" file:

Is this why we liberated Iraq, to send women back to the Stone Age; to humiliate and strip them of dignity and self-worth and prevent any type of achievement outside of cooking, cleaning, and raising children; to disallow any possibility of choice? All those billions of dollars spent, the loss of in life and limb of brave Americans and brave Iraqis--- for this!!

NOOR and her boyfriend used to go out a lot and listen to dance in their favourite restaurant in Baghdad. The 26-year-old university lecturer also used to enjoy going window shopping at night in the city’s once-glitzy Mansour district, dressed in the latest fashions.

That was before the “men in black”, the Taliban-style militias waging terror against the urban middle class, arrived in Noor’s neighbourhood, threatening to shoot, kidnap and shave the heads of anyone who challenged their draconian strictures.
The militias are part of a hardline religious crackdown organised by Abu Musab al- Zarqawi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. On Friday he released a four-hour sermon, effectively a message of hate, calling on Sunni Muslims to confront adherents of the rival Shi’ite branch of Islam.

Zarqawi, who appears to act with impunity in Iraq despite a £13m bounty on his head, has printed pamphlets that were delivered through doors in the Amariya district of Baghdad, one of his self-declared Sunni “emirates”.

The “emir”, identified as Abu Houzeifa, announced new rules: “Women cannot drive; women cannot go out after midday; women and men are not allowed to go out and walk together, they must walk separately.” The rules are enforced by Al-Qaeda thugs who drive around in cars in Amariya, Yarmouk and other Sunni areas that Zarqawi has declared are his. Noor said: “If they see someone breaking the rules, they shoot them.”

The “men in black” have turned women into virtual prisoners in their homes. “At first we were more afraid of bombs but now we are more afraid of being killed for what we are wearing,” Noor said.

Read the rest.

I could scream...and I wouldn't be surprised if they could hear me in Baghdad.

And this is what else is happening in the wonderful world of Islam:

Falafel venders aren't allowed to sell their sandwishes under pain of death because...wait for it..."but they said there were no falafels in Mohammed the prophet's time, so we shouldn't have them either."

It is, however, just one of many Islamic edicts to hit Baghdad in recent weeks, prohibiting everything from the growing of goatee beards to the sale of mayonnaise - because it is allegedly made in Israel.

Even the Arab addiction to cigarettes is being challenged, with insurgents declaring smoking bans in at least one Sunni district.

News of the latest strictures surfaced 10 days ago, when the coach of Iraq's tennis team and two players were shot dead for wearing shorts.

The killings, in Sunni-dominated west Baghdad, took place days after militants had distributed leaflets banning the wearing of shorts or T-shirts with English writing on them. They also forbade women to drive or travel on public transport with men - a rule that bus drivers have begun to enforce.

Another group of traders to have felt the Islamists' unexpected wrath is Baghdad's ice merchants, who sell large chunks of ice for storing food and chilling drinks. In a city facing constant power cuts and summer temperatures of up to 50C (122F), the service they provide is little short of essential.

Yet in recent weeks, they too have fallen foul of the claim that their product was not a feature of life during Mohammed's time.

[...]

Meanwhile, barbers have been inundated with young men anxious to shave off their goatee beards. Last month, Mustapha Jawad, 17, was allegedly killed for wearing one, which Islamists deemed a Jewish facial hairstyle.

Ice, shorts, goatees, falafels, driving, walking as a couple, women driving, women leaving their homes after noon, smoking cigarettes, all of these are now death sentences. Well, smoking cigarettes is already a death sentence, but you know what I mean. At least Western smokers are allowed to make a choice.

Actually, the Talibanization of Iraq is about choice. Islam permits no choice and Iraq's neighbor, Iran has graphically reminded us that we have no choice but allow Islam its way or else. If they are successful in procuring nuclear technology, somehow they will find a way to weaponize what they have to use as a bludgeon to force the expansion of the Ummah all over the world. Those that resist must die.