Visions of Lily

Khaled al-Hariri/Reuters

In olden days a glimpse of stocking
Was looked on as something shocking,
But now, God knows,
Anything Goes
--Anything Goes, Irving Berlin

So please please please
Let me let me let me
Let me get what I want
--Let Me Get What I Want, The Deftones
_______________

Had anyone noticed while hailing the recent Iraqi elections -- the yardstick for success of our COIN policy -- that the women are dressed to serve as extras on a Crusade movie set?

Mind you, these are the same women who wore secular garb under Saddam Hussein, and attended schools without having acid flung in faces and worked at jobs equal with men. These women, on whom the Department of Defense is spending your tax dollars to, among other things protect their rights in theatre. Has anyone else noticed that retrograde progress, usually called regress?

In an effort to sync what the photos show with U.S. claims, one might try the following:

• Women wore western-style garb during Saddam's reign only under duress.

• The women are now so liberated and democratic that they actually prefer 13th century styles. They share a retro impulse.

• They are so confused that they do not know what they like, so they throw on any old thing, finding a uniform so much easier than coordinating. [Added benefit: If they have weight issues, the burkha gives the added benefit of being forgiving of those extra inches.]

COIN policy addresses the issues of killing people, but ignores the key issue of dishabille.