Daughters of Iraq is a program run in the model of the Sons of Iraq, insurgents-cum-policemen that have been instrumental in minimizing violence throughout the country. The DoI program is a response to the rise in female suicide bombers in the country. The Monitor has an interesting piece on the women who have taken on this task, and the ways that it has challenged accepted gender roles, et cetera. Conflict and war present all sorts of obstacles to maintaining the status quo and gender norms are, in many cases, one of the casualties.
I have one small (ok, not small) criticism of the treatment of female suicide bombers in this article. One of the major issues of the war on terror is defining our terms: who, exactly, is the enemy in this war? The framing is frequently vague and as a result, the cohort of possible opponents is constantly expanding. (Moustafa Bayoumi's book articulates the struggle of one group that has been unwittingly included in the opposition camp, young Arab Americans). Here, the author describes the motivations of female suicide bombers in the following terms:
While the motives of each bomber varies, US military officials say most female suicide bombers share at least one of the following characteristics or circumstances: dishonor through sexual indiscretion, loss of a family member and a desire for revenge, desire to attain heroic status, inability to produce children, or an interest in demonstrating gender equality.
Ok, their data is their data, and I am sure that this isn't fabricated. But an inability to produce children? An interest in demonstrating gender equality? As a motivation for terrorism? Please, be a little more discerning in the way you frame these issues. Try not to include barren women and feminists in the “threat” category with so little acknowledgment of how complex these issues really are.
