Baghdad barbers being killed for trimming beards

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2005-02-07 01:19pm

More wonderful news from Iraq!

CNN wrote:Islamic Radicals Hunt Barbers in Baghdad
By OMAR SINAN

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Umm Ali says militants killed her son last month for the most unlikely of reasons: He trims men's beards.

In Baghdad's Dora neighborhood, residents say Sunni Muslim extremists have made barbers the new hunted, accusing them of violating a strict reading of Islamic teachings that say men should keep their beards long.

Some extremists also consider Western-style haircuts an offensive symbol of the hated, secularized culture of Europe and the United States.

To them, sporting a clipped beard or a modern haircut is an infraction worthy of death.

Black banners mourning the dead were strung up in the neighborhood as the unwitting violators fell one after another to the militants' harsh brand of justice. In one month alone, five barbers were shot dead, residents said.

``He was a haircutter. He only cuts hair,'' Umm Ali said of her son, Sadiq Abdul Hussein. ``He was handsome,'' she said, gazing at a photo of him.

Abdul Hussein was killed after he shrugged off a threat to stop shaving men's beards or lose his life.

A black mourning banner said only that he died due to a ``regrettable incident.''

Dora's streets are a battleground for rebels fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces. Drive-by shootings targeting government officials are frequent. It's a symbol of the chaos that has followed Saddam Hussein's ouster nearly two years ago.

Masked, gun-totting militants freely roam its streets, issuing orders and threats and meting out punishment to those who challenge them.

Among the many offenses that run afoul of Dora's new extremist gangs are men with long hair, goatees and even sideburns.

Wesam Noori, a 19-year-old art student, is careful to keep his long hair tucked under a hat.

``We are trying to hide our hair under baseball caps or ski hats,'' he said.

Iraqi Christians have also been targeted here by insurgents who consider them close to American and other foreign occupiers because they share the same religion. Four churches have been attacked in Dora in deadly car bombings.

Islamic militants have also publicly flogged and killed women's hairdressers in several places throughout Iraq.

On Jan. 27, Sadiq Abdul Hussein was cutting a customer's hair when a tall man with a scarf wrapped around his face walked through the door. He opened fire with an assault rifle, killing Abdul Hussein and wounding his customer, Imad Hammad, a 26-year-old engineer.

``I saw the flash from the gun's muzzle and after that I passed out,'' said Imad, who was shot in the belly.

Imad's father, Hamad al-Dulaimi blamed foreigners for the killings and said they sought to create turmoil here.

``Those Arab extremists are butchering our sons simply to create a disturbance,'' he said. ``We will not be stopped by this sedition.''

As if to illustrate his promise that life here couldn't be stopped by violence, a tranquil street scene unfolded on a recent afternoon. Barefoot children kicked around a dented Pepsi can. Mothers sat on front stoops, chatting and gesturing with hands decorated with traditional green tattoos.

But Ali Hussein, a 25-year-old barber who owns a salon in Dora, says the threat is real enough to threaten his livelihood.

Like other barbers, he's gotten the flyers from militants bearing their instructions for how to cut hair and promising death for those who violate the rules.

``They are even forbidding us to hang posters showing the most recent haircuts,'' Hussein said.

He now cuts customers' hair in secret inside his house.

``I don't want to be killed, but I don't want to be broke either,'' he said.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-02-07 01:47pm

It's becoming a beautiful mirror image of America; A fundamentalist haven on Earth.

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2005-02-07 01:53pm

What the hell is it with Islam and excessive punishment? Shooting a guy dead for trimming men's beards?
Even gangsters are more subtle.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2005-02-07 01:55pm

PeZook wrote:What the hell is it with Islam and excessive punishment? Shooting a guy dead for trimming men's beards?
Even gangsters are more subtle.

How dare you criticize someone's religious beliefs?

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2005-02-07 01:58pm

Imagine the penality for offering Brazilian waxes for Iraqi females.

Chmee · Post by **Chmee** » 2005-02-07 02:07pm

My pride at removing Saddam and making these whack-jobs 'free' to express themselves is just so ... so ...... synonymous with nausea.

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2005-02-07 02:18pm

Wicked Pilot wrote:Imagine the penality for offering Brazilian waxes for Iraqi females.

Wow. I didn't know you could stretch a scrotum that far...or fit someone's head in one.

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2005-02-07 02:25pm

White Haven wrote:Wow. I didn't know you could stretch a scrotum that far...or fit someone's head in one.

I have no idea what you just said. Please don't post a pic trying to explain.

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2005-02-07 02:26pm

Wicked Pilot wrote:Imagine the penality for offering Brazilian waxes for Iraqi females.

What are these brazillian waxes you speak of? Are they a plot by The Great Satan aimed against good, obedient, god-fearing women?

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2005-02-07 02:31pm

PeZook wrote:
Wicked Pilot wrote:Imagine the penality for offering Brazilian waxes for Iraqi females.
What are these brazillian waxes you speak of? Are they a plot by The Great Satan aimed against good, obedient, god-fearing women?

It's also known as a bikini wax.

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2005-02-07 02:37pm

Darth Wong wrote:It's also known as a bikini wax.

Ah. So I'd imagine it would be some form of gruesome death for selling it to Islamic women. Like for just about anything, it seems.

On another note, one would think that after two years of occupation, the US would at least have Baghdad kind of secure. Why the hell are these scum able run around Dora like they owned the place?

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2005-02-07 02:39pm

PeZook wrote:
Darth Wong wrote:It's also known as a bikini wax.
Ah. So I'd imagine it would be some form of gruesome death for selling it to Islamic women. Like for just about anything, it seems.

On another note, one would think that after two years of occupation, the US would at least have Baghdad kind of secure. Why the hell are these scum able run around Dora like they owned the place?

Because Paul Wolfowitz couldn't conceive of a scenario where more troops would be needed to occupy Iraq than would be needed to secure a military victory.

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2005-02-07 02:41pm

PeZook wrote:What are these brazillian waxes you speak of? Are they a plot by The Great Satan aimed against good, obedient, god-fearing women?

From what little I understand of the female experience, a Brazillian wax involves the removal of all the hair from down there.

brianeyci · Post by **brianeyci** » 2005-02-07 02:43pm

Durandal wrote:Because Paul Wolfowitz couldn't conceive of a scenario where more troops would be needed to occupy Iraq than would be needed to secure a military victory.

Successful counter-insurgency... 10 to one outnumbering insurgents?

Estimated 40k insurgents in Iraq, 120k active supporters.

So America needs a million men to crush the insurgency?

8k Iraqi army troops trained so far? Maybe double the amount of Iraqi police which have far inferior morale and training as proved when insurgents seized control of Mosul which was supposed to be under the watch of 4k Iraqi police for a few days?

How can anybody be optimistic.

Brian

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2005-02-07 02:44pm

-blocks his ears- we're winning, we're winning, lallalalala.

thats how.

Keevan_Colton · Post by **Keevan_Colton** » 2005-02-07 02:51pm

Wicked Pilot wrote:From what little I understand of the female experience, a Brazillian wax involves the removal of all the hair from down there.

Nope, brazillian is leaving a stripe of hair.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2005-02-07 03:14pm

Durandal wrote:
PeZook wrote:
Darth Wong wrote:It's also known as a bikini wax.
Ah. So I'd imagine it would be some form of gruesome death for selling it to Islamic women. Like for just about anything, it seems.

On another note, one would think that after two years of occupation, the US would at least have Baghdad kind of secure. Why the hell are these scum able run around Dora like they owned the place?
Because Paul Wolfowitz couldn't conceive of a scenario where more troops would be needed to occupy Iraq than would be needed to secure a military victory.

Of course not, because once you introduce the Iraqi people to the concept of western-style society, it will spread like wildfire and they will eagerly adopt it.

PS. it really helps to play John Ashcroft's "Let the Eagles Soar" song while you say this in your head.

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2005-02-07 03:21pm

Darth Wong wrote: PS. it really helps to play John Ashcroft's "Let the Eagles Soar" song while you say this in your head.

I didn't realize that he wrote that piece of shit song and that it was sung at the inaugeration. It is maudlin tripe of the highest order. But then again that fits the administration perfectly.

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2005-02-07 03:37pm

Given that half the time the South (okay, Hickville everywhere) doesn't seem to want Western civilization when they in theory already have it, expecting an even worse fundie shithole to mob over it is idiocy of the highest order.

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2005-02-07 03:50pm

White Haven wrote:Given that half the time the South (okay, Hickville everywhere) doesn't seem to want Western civilization when they in theory already have it, expecting an even worse fundie shithole to mob over it is idiocy of the highest order.

To be fair, the South never wanted Western Civilization in the first place. They loathed all that industry and stuff. And all the cool things it entails...

Guy N. Cognito · Post by **Guy N. Cognito** » 2005-02-07 04:43pm

Darth Wong wrote:
PeZook wrote:
Wicked Pilot wrote:Imagine the penality for offering Brazilian waxes for Iraqi females.
What are these brazillian waxes you speak of? Are they a plot by The Great Satan aimed against good, obedient, god-fearing women?
It's also known as a bikini wax.

Actually it's a little more thorough then that, my friend does them for people, and I just cringe at the stories. None for me thanks.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2005-02-07 04:45pm

Guy N. Cognito wrote:
Darth Wong wrote:
PeZook wrote: What are these brazillian waxes you speak of? Are they a plot by The Great Satan aimed against good, obedient, god-fearing women?
It's also known as a bikini wax.
Actually it's a little more thorough then that, my friend does them for people, and I just cringe at the stories. None for me thanks.

I guess that means people should go for the laser?

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2005-02-07 04:49pm

Keevan_Colton wrote:Nope, brazillian is leaving a stripe of hair.

Either way it's sexy and unIslamic.

Guy N. Cognito · Post by **Guy N. Cognito** » 2005-02-07 05:03pm

Darth Wong wrote:I guess that means people should go for the laser?

I think they try to not use the laser down there..... something about lasers in pubic areas that some people just don't want to risk. Oddly enough, I agree. I want nothing to do with a laser in that area.

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2005-02-07 05:25pm

Wicked Pilot wrote:
Keevan_Colton wrote:Nope, brazillian is leaving a stripe of hair.
Either way it's sexy and unIslamic.

Isn't being unIslamic by definition usually sexy? Can you be sexy and Islamic?