Good points, Steve. And to your list of conspirators I would add all of the military dealers, like Lockheed-Martin, who have everthing to gain from keeping the Middle East as-is. The whole system reminds me a lot of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, which, because of a reinforcing closed system, was extremely difficult to stop.

I think that Amazon Woman is essentially correct when she asserts that we are basically arguing about the length of a leash women are kept on. However, I will remind Becky that when you mention "Islamic" you are talking about a wide variety of cultures and regions. When has the U.S. or Israel had a *female* as the head of their country lately? Pakistan and Indonesia have. In Iraq and prerevolution Iran, women were very powerful and totally integrated into the working sphere.

I also think it is amusing that many make a big deal about the head coverings worn by Muslim women when we are not *also* attacking the sexist, patriarchal controls forced on women throughout this country in the form of dress and grooming standards in the workplace. Across the United States women are forced to dress in shoes that cripple their body, in many cases bringing on arthritis and deformed feet before the age of thirty. In addition, businesses are FORCING women to wear makeup and have "hairdos" (=cancer nests) who were previously hired *without* them! This is a direct attack on the well-being of women in the so-called progressive countries, particularly in light of rock solid evidence of the carcinogenic effects of most health and beauty products.