Purity is highly overrated

Now that the Americans have captured Saddam, the Swiss and others say Iraq should return to full independent state sovereignty soon, while some Arabs (Jordanians, especially), who consider the murderous Saddam a “national hero,” are depressed that Americans instead of Iraqis got him. Why, I wonder, should it be about being intact, inviolable, sovereign, which leads to “healthy” national aspirations to be free of shame, “untainted” by dishonour, to be unpolluted and pure? Which leads to “justifications” for atrocious killing and violation, at which point sovereignty and inviolability go out the window again…? To me, it sounds like a huge family drama, where liberation from tutelage is the necessary goal. Personally, I see no other way forward except through absolute equal rights for women: the family has to become free of these cycles. It’s the necessary first step in interrupting the political cycles of violation and sovereignty. Shame, dishonour, humiliation, “assertiveness,” patria, me, you, I win, you lose, you win, I lose, no win. Sovereignty in Iraq? In Afghanistan? Ensure equality for women, let women assume leadership roles. Let the eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth mentality get laid to rest: it’s been providing an unpolluted purity that’s clouded our judgement for too long. Let female “pollution” become an accepted part of the body politic instead.