Tuesday, September 16, 2003. Summary and Analysis

The period covering September to October of 2003, Iraq sees the assassination of Akila Al-Hashimi, the only woman on the governing council and a prominent advocate of secular women's rights in the new Iraq. Also at this time the Governing Council announces that they are suspending the two major news networks Al-Arabia and Al-Jazeera from broadcasting.

This 'month' of entries begins by Riverbend discussing 'the fairy' of Iraq: or the mysterious link between Al-Qaeda and nuclear weapons and the Saddam regime. Riverbend takes a sardonic tone that, just like any other fairytale creature, if anyone can find 'the fairy' they will receive a pot of gold. Moving on from this, Riverbend discusses girl power in the modern Iraq. Upon watching a programme entitles 'Women in Iraq' focussing on the freedoms that Iraqi women 'now have' [sic], the interviewers state that...