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Paul De Leonardis
208850166
War And Peace In the Middle East
December 20, 2008

“Improving Gender Equality through Democromillitization of a Post Saddam Hussein Iraq”

Five years have past since George Bush Jr. declared “Mission Accomplished” which signified the end
of the second Iraq war on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. The ‘war’ or invasion itself lasted a
mere five weeks after starting on March 19 2003. The United States and her two allies the Brits and
th

Australians were finally going to eradicate Iraq of a suppressive regime by installing a democratic
government that all the peoples of Iraq would welcome. Westernization of Iraq would provide security
and social advancement not only for Iraqis but to all regions of the Middle East, by bringing a stable
and liberal government. Minorities and factions would not rule the region and dictatorships would be
replaced by modern civilized governments that would provide for all citizens equally. Peace beget by
democracy would rule Iraq and the region, so US ‘democromillitization’ believes. It’s under this
umbrella that my research will focus on the democratization efforts of the United States post-conflict
through military means, and whether its effects have improved gender equality in Iraq also known as
‘democromillitization’.
I have concerns for all minorities suppressed under the regime of Saddam Hussein; however within the
Middle East women have faced great challenges in establishing a foothold both socially and culturally
in the region. I will couple this thought with the United Nations Millennium Development Goal
(UNMDG) number three which is specific to promoting gender equality and empowering women.
George W. Bush believes democracy can be brought to the region, what his true intentions are remain
open to debate (oil?), but democracy is supposed to bring equality among all citizens including
women. However through an occupation I will show that no forced democracy by and under military
force or ‘democromilltization’, can successfully further gender equality within a post-conflict/Saddam
Iraq.
My argument will start with what goal number three is and how it is supposed to be achieved in the
eyes of the international community. Next, this essay will look at the non-US strategy and policy
factors negating the ability of Iraqis to improve gender equality and empower their women. Thirdly,
what steps did the United States post-conflict plans have in effecting gender equality in Iraq and why
have those steps not succeeded. Lastly, what are the current conditions for gender equality as reported
by the United Nations in their Gender Development Indexing. Gender Development Index or GDI is
the formula used by the United Nations to more accurately measure the real impact of gender equality
within states. Traditional measures of wealth and indexing were less accurate in showing what true
impacts and changes were being made at the micro level of society. It’s this index that will provide an
empirical foundation for the last section of this essay. Western thoughts from a western institution like
the United Nations are trying to affect significant changes in the world, but what exactly are the
Millennium development goals and why is it significant to Iraq.
In September 2000, the world leaders of the United Nations came together in New York to further the
efforts of previous conferences and summits to eradicate poverty in the world. A blue print for the
needs of the poorest peoples of the world was laid out on halting the spread of HIV/Aids, provide
primary education, improve environmental sustainability, and also gender equality. These goals are
based on a time line where they are to be achieved by 2015 under all members of the UN. Goal
number three of eight is specific to gender equality and empowering women. Its within this goal that
education and equality in Iraq should improve as a stable democratic government is instituted in post-
conflict Iraq. Women in Iraq currently live under a traditional patriarchic culture where they have little
say or power in society.
In fact Lucy Brown and David Romano (2006) point out that “The Coalition forces came into Iraq in
March 2003 promising, among other things, to improve the lives of Iraqi women. In this vein, Security
Council Resolution 1483 sought to establish a “rule of law that affords equal rights and justice to all
Iraqi citizens without regard for ethnicity, religion, or gender” (p.51). The United Nations Resolution
looked to build and legitimate at the same time the implementation of democracy by the US under the
guise of UNMDG number three. However 5 years has passed since resolution 1483 was implemented
in 2003, so what are some of the challenges being faced by Iraqi women in achieving UNMDG three.
According to Brown and Romano (2006) several “significant obstacles in this area appear to reside in
the popular mindset – the patriarchal traditions and societal outlook of much of the Iraqi population.
Furthermore, there are national feelings of inferiority and helplessness dating back to the Iran-Iraq war
(1980-1988), and the sanctions period, and now the American occupation” (p.52). There is belief in
this statement that the patriarchal traditional values held within Iraq are based on religious
fundamentals espoused by the large Muslim population. In Iraq the Muslim population is about 95%
according to Yash Ghai, Mark Lattimer and Yahia Said in their 2003 report on ‘Building Democracy in
Iraq’ (p.5). Although the Koran is interpreted in significantly different ways, the unfortunates such as
women appear to be traditionally bathed in male dominance in Iraqi society. Coupled with significant
suppression not only from Saddam Hussein himself, but rote with the sanctions period as imposed by
the United Nations in response to Saddam’s tyranny; this ironic infliction only worsened the conditions
for women. Iraq males as the dominants of society were more enabled to survive the sanctions than
women because of their greater social access. The catch-22 of the sanctions period only perpetuated
the suffering imposed on Iraq women, all the meanwhile the UN talked of eliminating gender
inequality.
The current occupation by US forces in Iraq causes the population to feel that things have not changed
since Saddam Hussein; measures then that are not beneficial to gender equality in society are taken as a
means to survive. The old saying, “the more things change the more they remain the same” can
therefore be applied to Iraq. This is what I believe Brown and Romano are attempting to divulge in
their comments about national feelings of inferiority and helplessness. So ‘democromillitization’ by
the US is in fact carrying the defeatist torch felt by the Iraqi population in maintaining gender
inequality. Brown and Romano’s (2006) counter appeal to these feelings is a “top-down approach
wherein government promotes and empowers the minority of Iraqi societal actors who support a
progressive women’s agenda” (p.52). So solutions to this grass roots dilemma can be linked to those in
charge (U.S. military) of reconstructing the social institutions that can support the change for gender
equality. As I will point to later, the U.S. as the puppet master of infusing democratic changes in Iraq
are facing issues in these efforts. With inferiority feelings having cemented themselves into Iraqi
society and the ongoing occupation by coalition forces, a consequence of insecurity has taken hold.
This is a major factor facing the women of Iraq in advancing gender equality. The fractions of
religious groups in Iraq have been a major contributing force behind this insecurity; especially between
Sunni’s and Shi’s. The major fallout of this new uncontrolled violence is directed unfortunately against
the religious minorities in Iraq by the majority Muslims: Christians, Turkomans, Shabaks, Baha’is,
Faili Kurds, Palestinians and Jews. These are the groups that make up the remaining 5% minority, and
face the daily violent indiscretions five years after the end of war in April 2003. Still Myriam Gervais
(2004) says “Peace for women does not mean the cessation of armed conflict. Women’s security needs
are not necessarily met in ‘post-conflict’ situations, as gender based violence still remains rampant in
reconstruction periods” (p.). So the reconstruction period carries continued violence which has
certainly been a source of concern for women; all one needs to do is turn on a news source and reports
of violence top all stories about the region.
The battle to instill functioning institutions then is subjugated by the need to stem violence against the
occupiers which in turn maintains gender inequality. Therefore this violence against women in Iraq is
increasing and with no protective and functioning democratic institutions to protect them there is no
way for Iraqi women to progress. Preti Taneja (2007) reports “women are particularly at risk of rape
with no recourse to justice as fundamentalists cite belief that rape of an ‘unbeliever’ constitutes an act
of purification and is not unlawful” (p.22). This measured violence from majority on minority is
compounded by the traditional Muslim patriarchy re-rooting itself in Iraq while undermining the
democratization of the country. Evidence then shows that democracy in the region is not necessarily
beneficial to women and viewed in the same context as western democratic ideology; and consequently
that of the United Nations and resolution 1483. Rape and sexual violence against women in the region
is also presumed to be under reported as Taneja (2007) says, “the number of recorded attacks and other
violations are likely to be unrealistically low given that survivors must then deal with feelings of self-
disgust, shame and loss of family honour that often follow sexual violence” (p.22). Ruth Rosen (2006)
reconfirms this as “since the American invasion of their country, the reported incidence of sexual
terrorism has accelerated markedly. -- and this despite the fact that few Iraqi women are willing to
report rapes either to Iraqi officials or to occupation forces, fearing to bring dishonor upon their
families” (p.1). Therefore, women’s rights under occupation and supposed freedoms are dismissed in
times of conflict. As insecurity reigns in the region, women’s equality has in fact trended backwards so
long as there remains an unstable environment in Iraq. Democracy then in post-conflict Iraq has so far
had limited successes and only for select citizens (men). What then were the obstacles that contributed
to this failure of US democromillitization from the occupiers stand point?
As outlined previously, democromillitization is the instilling of democracy into a state by an occupying
force using nothing but military personnel and policies to accomplish said goal. This means that the
planning and execution of functioning top down institutions that run civil society within Iraq would be
carried out by military personnel. This policy gained acceptance in Washington as action during the
invasion of Afghanistan was swift and so reconstructing efforts could be synergized without creating
any humanitarian issues. As Roger Mac Ginty (2003) states “the military would be charged with
providing physical security and logistical aid for humanitarian relief organizations in the aftermath of
war” (p.8). US government mentality pre-war used this ideology to legitimize military intervention in
the reconstruction efforts. Consequently this policy ideal then manifested itself directly into military
operations, where planning and execution of military strategy could somehow account for state security
and planning post-conflict. Mac Ginty (2003) believes “the importance of recon-struction was
internalized into US military strategy. Crucially, reconstruction was to be integrated into the military
operation” (p.8). The critical question arising out of this school of thought is what direct experience
does the officer charged with carrying out this operation have in reconstruction efforts.
I believe the (in)experience by these persons has lead to the degradation and slowed progress of
properly instituting functioning democratic civil institutions. In fact Mac Ginty (2003) points out the
US military's commitment to reconstruction came in February 2003 with the Pentagon's appointment of
Lieutenant General Jay Gamer as Director of the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian
Assistance” (p.9). Analyzing this choice raises questions about what exact experience does General
Gamer hold in reconstructing a state. This is an important obstacle in Americas ability to install
democratic civil institutions properly in Iraq, which has maintained a environment of insecurity that has
hobbled and reduced women’s equality. Not only has insecurity resided in the region, but this planning
strategy itself has left spaces of failure that are not directly visible to media or the international public.
Consequently in Iraq’s case resistance to a possible US invasion of and the potentiality of a regime
change was not approved by the UN or it’s members, and so alienated a lot of NGO’s and their
experience in post-conflict reconstruction. Especially concerning would have been the humanitarian
efforts following a conflict; because current conditions in Iraq were already quite dire from the
sanctions era imposed after the first Iraq war. The United Nations as Frederick Burkle, Bradley
Woodruff and Eric Noji (2005) point out:
“demonstrated success in quelling an internal conflict in East
Timor through a multinational action under a UN Charter Chapter VII
(Peace Enforcement) Security Council Resolution. This multinational
response model approach, albeit evolving over time, is based on the ‘right
to intervene’ and requires military intervention to stop the violence, reduce
civilian mortality and morbidity, and strictly monitor human rights and
international humanitarian law abuses until safe enough for the UN agencies,
ngos, and other international relief organizations (iros) to enter the theatre of
war” (p.2)

This U.S. insistence on forcing a regime change in Iraq had the secondary impact of excluding a lot of
the NGO’s and agencies with experience in humanitarian and reconstruction experience. Couple this
with an inexperienced military strategy in planning and executing conflict and post-conflict agenda’s,
it’s easy to see how the U.S. failed to provide adequate security in Iraq. Secrecy by the U.S.
department of Defense in planning further exasperated the situation, making it difficult to properly
install the necessary democratic institutions. Burkle et all (2005) describe, “the situation was further
complicated by the fact that the Humanitarian Planning Team or HPT (which was created by the DoD),
citing secrecy, refused to disclose crucial information needed for planning, not only to International
Relief Organizations but also to other US military arms, governmental and civilian agencies working
on humanitarian relief “ (p.4). In fact the irony of this policy is the un-democratic process used by the
Department of Defense (DoD) in utilizing a unilateral militaristic approach to the planning and
reconstruction efforts. As the most powerful nation on earth, the irresponsible and arrogant planning of
Iraq by the Bush administration disguised under the context of democracy clearly disadvantaged gender
equality.
Further violence against women in Iraq whether sexual or other has not just been perpetrated by Iraqi
nationals. Marjorie Lasky (2006) reports in her article titled “Iraqi Women Under Siege” that “Some
U.S. military personnel have committed crimes of sexual abuse and physical assault against women.
Many women have told stories about rapes and routine sexual humiliation, particularly at detainment
centers” (p.2). News about the prison called Abu-Grahib have surfaced in media circles since 2003,
but the sexualized violence against women has not been a major source of reporting. In stories
pertaining to the detention centers, only abuse of Iraqi men by female soldiers is what has been
reported. The fact that as occupiers and ‘beacons’ of democracy and equality this behavior is clearly
undercutting any chance at gender equality in Iraq. One interesting off shoot of non-reported incidents
that Lasky (2006) illustrates, is the use of Iraqi women as “bargaining chips to get Iraqi men to turn
themselves in or to confess to aiding the resistance” (p.8). Trust between the people of Iraq and the
occupying forces is then lost because of these actions, and hatred and resistance take hold. This is a
crucial hindrance in establishing democracy because hard line tactics are being used by some of the
military personnel to achieve their military objectives. What this research has shown, is that literature
on operations in Iraq differs greatly from scholar to scholar. The political tone is evident in ‘what’ is
told to the western public with regards to the success of democromillitization. John R. Ballard (2007)
for instance states “ Population and resource control and humanitarian assistance dominate this
necessary ‘clearing’ task from the civil affairs perspective. The normal wartime actions of civil affairs
teams working with the civil population can often help identify sources of insurgent power, but also are
far more likely to result in the identification of safe areas where local residents know insurgency is
weak and provide other equally important contributions to mission success” (p.199). This statement
establishes that the problem is not with U.S. tactics in achieving their goals but instead with the
insurgents who destabilize regions. As demonstrated, the ideals of Lasky and Ballard differ greatly in
presenting details of what impact US military operations are having on the local population. Ballard
paints a picture of cooperation and success while Lasky shows a much different side; one where
brutality and illegal means are used to disrupt and secure Iraq in the name of democracy. The idea that
a people can face such cruelty by an occupying force and simultaneously accept western ideals of
democracy are clearly undermined by these actions.
Consequently, the most compelling link with gender inequality and violence perpetuated by the U.S.
occupation can be traced back to policies of sectarian and religious hypostatization. I have
demonstrated the negative impact democromillitization has had in instilling democratic social
institutions, and the impact of security operations to quell and limit violence in the region. However,
the main offshoot to the rise in violence can be linked to the denationalization policies by the US in the
region and the insistence on religious and sectarian divides in utilizing these policies. Yifat Susskind
(2007) states that: “Whether by design or incompetence, the US has instigated a civil war in Iraq.
Remarkably, in a country with almost no history of communal violence, US actions helped transform a
doctrinal difference between the Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam into a political divide. The US
dismantled Iraq’s largely secular government bureaucracy in favor of a system that allocated seats in
parliament, jobs, and other resources according to ethnic and religious divisions”(p.18). So even as the
US thought they were installing democracy in Iraq, they were in fact splitting and alienating sections of
the population while simultaneously creating a conflict between each group. To summarize this
Susskind (2007) says: “In effect, US policy forced Iraqis to compete for scarce resources on the basis
of sectarian identity and reoriented Iraqi citizenship on the basis of religion instead of nationality. At
the same time, the US armed and deployed openly sectarian Shiite and Kurdish militias to fight Sunnis
and police Sunni neighborhoods” (p.19). Therefore by utilizing religious lines to ‘develop’ democracy
in Iraq, gender based violence in Middle Eastern patriarchical religious social settings were put to the
forefront by US policies and actions. This in effect rolled back any potential gains that would have
been achieved under a nationalistic democratic social structure for women within the region.
Evidence to support the dire situation that women in Iraq face everyday can be easily identified through
the United Nations studies on gender equality. The direct link of gender inequality can be measured
through what the UN calls a Gender Development Index or GDI. The GDI is a more precise
measurement than its predecessor the Human Development Index or HDI. Through established criteria
the UN studies make strong efforts to ‘measure’ the disparity of gender inequality within specific
countries. The results then are tabulated and presented on a ranking chart system to identify exactly
where progress has been made or lost. The studies can be viewed from year to year and can certainly
help in establishing the impact democromillitization has had on Iraq. So through the UN millennium
development goal number three which looks to promote gender equality and empower women, the GDI
can more accurately predict and simultaneously demonstrate Iraq’s ability to achieve this objective.
Thoughtfully under U.S. occupation, this goal would appear to be more realistic than under Saddam
Hussein, but UN GDI fully supports the U.S. policy of democrmillitization is failing.
When looking at gender equality in Iraq, the UNDP website states:
“Woman education faced a sharp decline during the past 20 years after it had improved during
the 1970s. 47% of Iraqi women are totally or partially illiterate. According to the Living
Conditions Survey, the gender gap is highest in the north as education for woman is 20% less
than men, in addition to clear discrepancies in woman education among regions. In Sulaimanya,
60% of women below 15 years don't have the basic education incomparison with 32% to 38%
in Baghdad and Basra respectively.”

I subsequently used statistics from the UN Development Program website that gave the female
unemployment rate as a percentage of male unemployment in 2004 as: 53.3 percent. Illiteracy rates in
Iraq as of 2003 for women stand at 75.5% which is only slightly lower than 2001 at 76.3% (Source:
UNESCO UIS Data | UNESCO Institute for Statistics). In fact most telling is that since 1980 women’s
illiteracy rates seen a nominal decline from 83.9% to currently available 2003 data. Although some of
this drop I believe to be attributed to strict rule under the Saddam Hussein regime, there is not any clear
evidence to suggest that democromillitization has positively impacted female literacy. In this regard,
female literacy in 2000 (females who could read and write) was 64.2% and as of 2003 that had dropped
significantly to 24.4% (source: CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008).
There are statistics to show that even male literacy rates and over-all education is also in decline in
Iraq, so the impact is not just being felt by females in the region. As democromillitization takes hold
throughout Iraq, all factions of society are affected. The difference is that promises to improve lives of
Iraqi’s under the umbrella of democracy has impacted the population in a significantly positive way.
The result is that women are more adversely effected than males, partly due to the patriarchical
traditions and the previously outlined actions undertaken by the U.S. military and religious fervor being
ratified into the new Iraqi constitution.
Employment is also a vital to understanding is women have progressed towards gender empowerment
within Iraq. According to the UN Millennium Development goal data website, as of 2006, the
employment to population ratio for women as a percentage was 13%; while in 2001 it was at 12%.
Male statistics for this same period and study were 57% in 2006 and 57% in 2001. Also, females aged
15-24 years as a employment to population ratio came in at 9.3%, males 33.2% as of 2006; in 2001 that
statistic was 8.7% females and 33.1% males. The identically related numbers indicate that even over
the span of 3 years post Saddam Hussein regime change and implementation of democracy, the gaps
remain the same. Through democromillitization, U.S. policies attempting to implement democracy
within Iraq has had a neutral or in some cases negative impact on helping to achieve the United Nations
Millennium Development goal number three whereby gender equality and empowerment is improved.
The summarization of this essay looks at a double edged sword that seemingly all Iraqi’s face in a state
of occupation. I have specifically looked at non-US policy factors that have hindered the achievement
of UNMDG number three; whereby Islamic fundamentals and Iraqi patriarchal traditions hold
significant sway in Iraqi society, factious religious militant groups destabilize the region and population
inferior complexes persist from the UN sanctions period. However US policy factors under a
proclaimed agenda of installing democracy through military means and channels or
democromillitization only hindered the progress of gender equality and in fact destabilized the region
further which created the spaces for said militant groups to prosper. This is the double edged sword
where Iraqi minorities and females face military occupation and policies that are socially destructive in
order to combat socially destructive sectarian violence. This is a vicious circle where Iraqi women who
‘may’ have a significant opportunity in a democratic society to improve their lives are in fact having
their freedoms and rights taken away as they are used as pawns in a corrupt and destabilized region.
Religious sectarianism within the government has blinded Arabic nationalistic goals of achieving a
stable and prosperous life for all Iraqi’s, especially women who take the full brunt of the unprogressive
situation within Iraq. Hope could be possible for moving forward in achieving UNMDG number three,
but a significant policy shift not only within Iraq but also the U.S. must take place to recognize that
changes are needed to ensure the proper steps are undertaken to be successful. New President Barak
Obama and the “Yes We Can” campaign needs to look at the Middle East situation with open eyes and
ears and give these opportunities to the people of Iraq and especially the women of Iraq.