Normally I'd agree with Don, but I must give in to my "morbid curiosity".

Martin, you are fiercely defending male circumcision as it is a religious tradition. I have no problem with that, or the other opinions, eg on hygeine, that you have so graphically provided. How would you answer a mother who wants to get her daughter circumcised because it is a cultural and semi-religious tradition?

And returning to the subject of the thread, I'm confused as to how the Iraqi women should be liberated. Tell them to throw off their veils...leaving them (in the eyes of their community) indecently dressed? Surely the best way to let them choose how to live is, first, to have peace, and secondly, to fund schools in which both Iraqi teachers and others can gradually spread new ideas.

It's impossible to forcibly liberate people from a way of life- they have to do it themselves by accepting new ideas.