The Lives of the People We “Saved”

March 19, 2008 · Filed Under Politics ·

So how, exactly, are those in Iraq living their lives now–after Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003?

I’ve delved into this subject a bit already with how Afghanistan has been transformed by war and specifically how Afghani women are being treated and living their lives now. Now it’s time to take a little look at Iraq and specifically, Iraqi women.

Over 1.2 million people fled Iraq after the Bush invasion. The result of the Iraq war has caused these people to flee from their country and attempt to build new lives for themselves in Syria. While building lives away from the chaos in Iraq, Iraqi women and teenagers, some as young as 13 years old, have been forced into prostitution.

The number of women involved in this prostitution ring, which George Bush is not only aware of, but is tied to because of his invasion and putting the Iraqi people in more danger than they were even before the war, involves as many as 50,000 women and girls. The reason for so many women being forced into this line of work is because if they are lucky, on a given night at a nightclub in hopes of work, they will make $60, which adds up to a week worth of pay in a standard factory. While these people are starving, there is no other work for women there that would make the amount of money to support their families.

Bush’s invasion of Iraq, a country that posed no threat to the United States, is illegal under US and national law. Bush has also been convicted of war crimes which had made headlines not so long ago. With these two instances in mind, driving women and children into prostitution violates human rights agreements, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children.

So how is Iraq doing after the Bush administration’s attack? I’d say pretty horrible, how about you?

Tags: Iraq, Iraq war, president Bush, prostitutes, prostitution, sex trafficking, Syria, war crimes