Forced marriage, abuse behind self-immolation by Afghan women

Forced marriage, abuse behind self-immolation (definition) by Afghan women
Kabul, Nov 15: Forced marriage and chronic abuse are among the key triggers for the growing cases of self-immolation among women in Afghanistan, a regional conference heard yesterday. The high rate of illiteracy -- with under 20 per cent of women said to be literate -- and an incompetent justice system also meant many women could not see their way out of problems and so took their own lives, the three-day meeting heard.The conference of about 400 people, including from other countries that have similar rates of suicide such as Bangladesh, Iran, India and Sri Lanka, was called to try to find ways to stop the phenomenon.

Islamic women an asset for humanity: president
TEHRAN, Nov. 28 (MNA) -- In the Islamic world there are many women scientists and scholars who are regarded as not only assets for Islam but assets for all humanity, President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said here on Tuesday.

Wow. Them are some extremes.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad writes a letter to the American people:

Ahmadinejad castigates US policies
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2006
0:10 MECCA TIME, 21:10 GMT

The Iranian president has in an open letter urged the American people to demand the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and reject what he called the US government's "blind support" for Israel...

"Undoubtedly, the American people are not satisfied with this behaviour and they showed their discontent in the recent elections," Ahmadinejad wrote. (here's the whole letter)

Ummm, yeah.

Dear President Ahmadinejad,

This American woman is sorry that my stupid president pooped in your backyard, and you're right, he poops all over the world, including on us Americans, but it looks like you got some of your own dog poop to clean up, eh? And....umm.. here's a little clue for you and maybe you could pass it on to some other leaders in the Middle East? A large percentage of the American public has no fucking clue what a "Zionist" is. Um..yeah, and another thing. This shit ain't gonna happen in America. Why? Because American women won't have it. They're meaner.

(references from the Sibel Edmonds OpEd again...Since the 1950s Turkey has played a key role in channeling into Europe and the U.S. heroin produced in the "Golden Triangle" comprised of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. These operations are run by mafia groups closely controlled by the MIT (Turkish Intelligence Agency) and the military...
... "Bad as it is with Iran, North Korea, and Libya having nuclear-weapons material, the worst part is that they could transfer it to a non-state group. That's the biggest concern, and the scariest thing about all this. There's nothing more important than stopping terrorist groups from getting nuclear weapons.")

And here is a bizarre example of the globalization of sexual exploitation:

Bulgarian man arrested in Iowa for trafficking prostitutes in France
Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2006