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In love with the Kalashnikov

Peshagif Kurdish women have taken up the defense of their region, and have found a real bonding experience with their fellow women in arms. So much so, they don't want to go back to their previous way of life:

One woman I became close to was Shaima Sami. When the Ba'ath party executed her father and brother, her mother joined the Peshmerga, as did her three daughters, including Shaima who was only fourteen. Now twenty one, she guards a roadblock at night while attending school in the day.

Incredibly beautiful and charismatic, she is always running around with her Kalashnikov pretending to shoot Saddam who is hiding in the bushes and singing revolutionary songs at the top of her voice. At night we shared a blanket while I taught her a few words of English under the brightest stars I have ever seen, which stretched right down to the horizon.

Asked whether they will ever return to their civilian lives and the conventional roles of Muslim women, the Peshmergas' answer is a resounding 'no' - they 'love the Kalashnikov and an outdoor life' too much. Even when the cause is gone, they will remain.

While the author rejoices in finding a new breed of Amazons, it would appear that they're more shell-shocked and deranged than enlightened by their experience with war. Singing and shooting imaginary bogey-men suggest that the experiment with death and destruction took its toll. Put the guns down and step away from the barracks. (Why do we ogle and cheer instead of offering help?)

Posted by on Thursday, 30 June 2005 at 01:42 PM in Women in the Military |

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    • From Benedict XVI
      “People have realized that the complete removal of the feminine element from the Christian message is a shortcoming from an anthropological viewpoint. It is theologically and anthropologically important for woman to be at the center of Christianity."
    • Anger and Patrimony (from Donna)
      This is just another of the unintended consequences of the cultural acceptance of contraception and abortion! Men's sexuality has been robbed of its creative essence. It is now viewed as something that imposes a burden on women (when conception happens to occur), something used to control women or something that is purely recreational. Why would men bother?? In taking away their responsibility, we've also robbed them of their significance! In the big picture of humanity, men have been made into nothing more than a nuisance women have to figure out how to control in order to bring about the next generation. Men don't see it as their task to protect the vulnerable because they see themselves as the vulnerable ones. A few well preserved vials of sperm would make men entirely obsolete in the world's ethos today!!
    • Excellent, Dom! (from Teresa)
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