WaPo shows the way (not)
I'm actually trying to write a column for Al-Hayat today. (First of a two-part series on interesting UN experiences in managing transitions from foreign occupations to democracy in Namibia and East Timor.) But I totally couldn't resist writing something here, however short, about the hilarious mistake in the WaPo today.
The story in question, "Iraqi women decry move to cut rights" leads on their World News page. Pamela Constable reports (belatedly) that this week, "outraged" Iraqi women have mounted street protests against the Governing Council's recent move to shift all personal status issues to religious jurisdictions.
There's a B-I-G photo with the piece. (Unfortunately it's not in the web edition; so no link.)
Thing is, though, the demonstration photographed seems to have been one of pro-shari'a women, not anti-shari'a women. All the participants are wearing hijabs [Islamic headscarves]. The veiled teenager at left front carries a sign saying "The hijab is a human right". Behind her, a young woman carried a sign advertising the Iraqi Islamic Party and saying that it, "supports the muslim women in france." Presumably, that is, in their fight to be able to wear hijabs to school, etc.
Guess it's time they hired some Arabic-reading photo editors.
Another short item from the WaPo. Page A13, a piece about Jerry Brener's current woes re the transition. A slightly sniffy-sounding reference to the usual un-named "U.S. officials" as having noted that there is not even any precise equivalent in Arabic for the U.S. word "caucus"--which is what Bremer's Rube Goldberg design for democratization is based upon-- "nor any history of caucuses in the Arab world."
In the Arab world?? In the rest of the darn' world, too, I'd say. I've lived here in the US for 23 years now, and I still don't have any clue how those small, apparently secretive and arcane gatherings are supposed to work.
I venture to guess that most Americans--who also don't have "caucuses" as part of their electoral process--don't understand how they're supposed to work, either.
Iowa. That's all I know.
Time to get on with your work, Helena?