A while back, I struck up a conversation with the elegantly dressed man sitting to my right at a dinner party. We were talking about the cost/benefit ratios of war. It is hard to say war is beneficial, but the reality can be—for example, WWII halted the eradication of millions of Jews--a benefit. Then there was the first Gulf War—a war that many Americans fretted heavily about but were also able to find the benefit of waging that war once it was a done deal…once it ended, we stocked up on SUVs, and heated our homes, went on vacations and generally lived the modern oil-glutted life we love while feeling good about stopping a bully from annexing another country.

Then the conversation took a more ominous turn, as the fit and trim man to my left mentioned the financial benefit of the Vietnam War. I won’t go into the details of that conversation, but it is not inarguable that there was benefit on both sides of the Pacific to the Vietnam War. Which brings me to Iraq.

I was not in favor of the Iraq War, but that does not stop me from seeing benefit when there is benefit. And one thing I feel certain of: If women the world over participated in government and politics in equal measure to men this world would be a VASTLY less warring planet. Men doing 90% or more of the killing in most societies.

So that brings me to the Benefit portion of our current wars. From the Times, January 29th, 09:

“Defying Hurdles, Thousands of Iraqi Women Vie for Votes and Taste of Power.”

Before that, on Jan. 14th, 09:
“Election Quotas for Iraqi Women are Weakened, Provoking Anger as Vote Nears.”
Now this headline, would at first blush seem bad news, but thinking about it…would these women have even had a voice to demand representation before the war? No.
And while the quota system was undermined by those opposed, it remains in the Iraq Constitution.

From the Jan. 29th Defying Hurdles story, this brilliant bit of good news:

Of the estimated 14,000 candidates, close to 4, 000 are women.

Wow….28% of the candidates were women! That is striking and a VERY big margin for hope. Now, of course, Iraqi women themselves will have to overcome their fear and bias against voting for women as much as Iraqi men. And while many will say: "oh she is SUCH a liar, or she is a SELL out, I’d rather have this man instead"….those votes that did not go to women will set Iraqi backwards more than anything else in its fledgling democratic history.

Another related item ran in the Times March 3rd—this time war’s benefit to Afghan Women. “Long-viewed as Chattel, Afghan Women Slowly Gain Protection.”
Some quick quotes:

“Since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, a more egalitarian notion of women’s rights has begun to take hold, founded in the country’s new Constitution and promoted by the newly created Ministry of Women’s Affairs and a small community of women’s advocates.”

Let’s be clear, G.W did not go to war to bring women’s rights to regions desperately in need. Let’s be EQUALLY clear, the U.S does not place sanctions upon nations that abuse women “simply” b/c those nations abuse women.
No one is going to place sanctions of South Africa because women are treated as 2nd class citizens. But the question remains why not? Is not it equally evil to have brutal policies towards women as towards a race? In this patriarchal world we live in and are governed by…no. Woman are not a primary objective of fopo (foreign policy.) Hell, most of the time the world's brutal treatment of women is not even on the RADAR.

But, just b/c G.W. did not wage war for women’s rights doesn’t mean women everywhere need to be blind to the benefits of his wars.

If democracy takes root in Iraq and if we stick with this commitment to keep the process going, then women worldwide will be better off for generations to come. When Iranian women see their Iraqi sisters holding public office in record numbers, then the sea will shift and this may be the moment when the oceans of women’s oppression began to slow and our planet begins to heal. (Sorry to Obama for borrowing your self-congratulatory words.)

It took decades for civil rights to inch forward after our country was divided by war, and the world truly benefited from the outcome of that war. Now let’s nurture the benefits of war, and not squander them in our indignation for a person named G.W., as the whole planet holds its breath.