The Newsweek article titled, "Curse of Al Khansaa," by Jessica Ramirez, is about how the women who were formerly a part of the Al Khansaa, which is an all- female suicide- bomber wing of Al Qaeda in Iraq, are currently ostracized by their home towns. This is especially true in the Iraqi town of Duluiyah, where these women are prohibited to veil their faces so that they can always be recognized on the street. These women are also experiencing other troubles such as difficulty in claiming social- welfare payments and their neighbors filing complaints about forcing them to move. However, do these former female terrorists deserve this kind of treatment? From my perspective, I think I can understand both sides to the question. It's good that they have noticed the danger and evil in what Al Quaeda was doing and were able to escape from it. These women deserve a second chance to live life righteously and happily, without imposing harm to oneself or to others; therefore, they should be treated equally like everyone else. Some women didn't even voluntarily join the Al Khansaa for the intention to kill; some simply signed up because their fathers, brothers, or husbands suggested it or others were married to foreign jihadists, or Islamic extremists, who forced them to join.
However, I could also understand why other people might agree that these women deserve to be ridiculed and shunned. The sole purpose of the Al Khansaa is to kill American soldiers and pro- government Iraqis at all costs, even if it means blowing up oneself and killing civilians. It's a horrible idea that these women could have caused the deaths of hundreds of people, and therefore it's not surprising that whole towns have chosen to act in such a way towards them. I do agree with the Lieutenant Colonel of the United States 3rd Squadron 4th Cavalry regiment, David Hodne, that these former Al Khansaa members have ruined their lives with that single mistake. He tells a reporter, "The minute they associated themselves with Al Khansaa, they were in a lose-lose situation... At least they're alive." Hopefully these women realize that they have saved their own lives and the lives of many for the better and hopefully their neighbors treat them with the dignity and respect that they are entitled to as human beings. Don't we all deserve a second chance?
Here's a link to the Newsweek article, "Curse of Al Khansaa," if you want to read it.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/188148
For a general understanding of Islamic terrorism, click on the link below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamist_terrorism#Iraq
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It is hard to have a direct answer to the question of whether or not these women deserve a second chance. I believe that in every case, people should be treated with the dignity and respect of which we have all been born. However, these women took it upon themselves(under the command of a leader of some sort, I am guessing) to take the lives of other people. These women had a voice, and could have stood up and said no, although they would have had to face great consequences. So,from that point, I can see why they deserve a second chance. In the end, all are entitled to a second chance to prove themselves, and these women are not excluded.
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