In the context of the 2006 stalemate, progress in Iraq post-surge has been a success beyond what even the most optimistic of supporters of the invasion could have expected. The indicators are all pointing in the right direction- violence incidents at a 4 year low, the Iraqi army taking control of Sadr City and Basra, oil production rising, an expansion in Iraqi army and munitions, the flow of refugees reversed and the operational abilities and manpower of al-Qaeda severely damaged.

Even pundits who dismissed the war as ‘unwinnable’ are being forced to revise assumptions, although of course there are large swathes of those who will never be convinced; not just the ‘pro-the-other-side-winning’ brigade that Douglas Murray referred to on this site, but some in positions of authority who should really know better. An obvious example is Nancy Pelosi who credited ‘Iranian goodwill’ as a contributory factor in the success of the surge. Chances are that those allied soldiers in Iraq who are under daily attack from Iranian funded rockets and roadside bombs would interpret this ‘goodwill’ somewhat differently to Pelosi.

However for all the good news that has been emanating from Iraq recently- and that things have been progressing as well as they are is truly heartening- for those who may have missed it, it is worth highlighting a case there which underlines the challenge faced by the liberal west in the 21^st century.

For the crime of speaking in public and apparently becoming infatuated with a British soldier on whom she worked on an aid project with, a 17 year old Iraqi girl in Basra called Rand Abdel-Qader was assaulted, suffocated and then stabbed to death. The murderer was her father, assisted by his two sons. Her uncles then spat on her corpse in the makeshift grave dug to bury her in.

That some view making conversation with a member of the opposite sex an executable offence highlights the chasm that needs bridging in attempts to at least encourage the ushering in of a western style of liberalism in parts of the Arab world. Speaking to the Observer, Abdel-Qader Ali was unrepentant, saying of his daughter ‘[i]f I had realised then what she would become, I would have killed her the instant her mother delivered her…death was the least she deserved’. He went on to say that ‘what she did was unacceptable to any Muslim that honours his religion’, and by murdering his daughter, he had cleansed the family name.

The Iraqi police did briefly arrest Abdel-Qader, but released him without charge two hours later, the explanation for which he gives as ‘everyone knows that honour killings sometimes are impossible not to commit’ and ‘[t]he officers were by my side during all the time I was there, congratulating me on what I had done.’ Sergeant Ali Jabbar, a Basra police officer said ‘[n]ot much can be done when we have an honour killing case. You are in a Muslim society and women should live under religious laws’.

The epilogue to this tragic episode was played out a fortnight ago when Leila Hussein, Rand Abdel-Qader’s mother, was shot and killed in cold blood. Hussein had left her husband following her daughter’s death- a courageous move that few Iraqi women would contemplate, such is the perceived shame such a move would bring to family honour. She had taken shelter with women’s rights activists, whom the police have speculated were possibly the actual target for the gunmen.

In a time of progress in Iraq, this was a sobering episode and a staunch reminder of the devastating consequences that antiquated notions of honour in religion can have upon its victims. While the battle for military security is eminently winnable, bridging the cultural divide that exists is still clearly in the balance.

This is a cultural divide that is not merely consigned to Iraq. Honour killings, a practice imposed on those who act in a manner which is interpreted as shaming the local community, are alarmingly common. The United Nations Population Fund estimates approximately 5,000 women die in honour killings every year worldwide, and a report from the Centre for Social Cohesion (at this point I should make my loyalties known, as I am an employee there) revealed that there are 10-12 honour killings a year in Britain- and that is just those that are reported. Philip Balmforth, vulnerable persons’ officer for the Bradford police force believed the real figure ‘could be much higher’.

That customs such as honour killings can still endure in the 21^st century is alarming. It also serves as a sharp reminder as to why it was the moral duty to for the west to have involved itself in Middle Eastern human rights abuses such as those that were (and unfortunately still are) taking place in Iraq and Afghanistan. That such a mindset has developed where women are murdered for talking to men is appalling, and we should feel no shame in labelling such customs for what they are; cruel, backwards, and cowardly.

NeoConstant is growing fast, and many guest authors frequent its pages. Guest authors writing at NeoConstant write from all political vantage points, and from countries around the world. Not all of them chose to continue on as regular contributors, but we appreciate their intellectual contribution regardless!