A BALLISTIC APPENDECTOMY

Young martyr's death shames family (SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI, June 1, 2003, Chicago Sun Times)

There were few tears for Iman Salih Mutlak at her wake. She is a hero to some--a martyr who tried to kill U.S. soldiers with grenades, then died in a hail of their bullets--but her family feels nothing but shame.

Their rage comes not because of her planned attack, but because the 22-year-old woman left the house alone and without permission from her father--thereby besmirching the honor of her tribe.

''When she left the house, she lost her innocence,'' said her 71-year-old father, Salih Mutlak. ''Had she returned home, I would have killed her myself and drunk her blood.''

The tribal laws that have ruled the villages of Iraq for centuries say a man can take the life of a daughter or sister if he feels she has betrayed the family's honor. In this deeply conservative culture, Iman Salih Mutlak did just that by going out without permission.

So the family says nothing about how she really died. To hide their shame, they maintain she died during surgery to remove her appendix. [...]

To some in Baqubah, Mutlak is a martyr--a hero in their struggle against the Americans. Since Saddam Hussein's ouster, U.S. soldiers have repeatedly come under attack in Iraq. Just last week, at least nine Americans died, five of them in attacks or ambushes, and two dozen were wounded.

The family is worried about retribution. ''We are afraid of the Americans,'' her father said. ''We are afraid they would kill us.''

Her older sister, Salwa, said Mutlak was an unhappy loner with no friends, and possibly mentally disturbed.

''If she had brains, she wouldn't have attacked a tank,'' said Salwa Mutlak, 30, who exhibited a cold sadness at her death.

Gee, with such a loving family why would she want to kill herself? Posted by Orrin Judd at June 1, 2003 10:44 AM