Love is in the air in Iraq, the Washington Post reports:

[darrels joy]

Love is in the air in Iraq, the Washington Post reports:

Freed of an onerous Baath Party bureaucracy that sought to regulate even the most fundamental aspects of Iraqi life--such as who married whom--Iraqis lately are tying the knot in numbers not seen in recent memory.

Before President Saddam Hussein was toppled, the ruling party imposed a complex and strict set of matrimonial rules on Iraqis, particularly on members of the military. And since military service was compulsory for Iraqi men, the effects were pervasive. Now civil servants estimate at least twice as many couples are registering for marriage as were a year ago. . . .

"Because Saddam is gone, now I'm getting married!" said Wasim Adel, 27, beaming beside his bride, Sheelan Shafeeq, 18, in a crowded corridor at Karrada city hall, which serves a neighborhood in central Baghdad. The hallway was jammed with couples making their way from the office of the registration clerk to the office of the judge who would perform a civil ceremony. Four couples waited ahead of Adel and Shafeeq.

"There is no comparison between now and before," said Kamel Abbas Tammimi, Karrada's senior judge. "Now there are no obstacles."

[revwardoc]

See that?! Let them take off those silly robes and veils and the Iraqi men (and I use the term loosely) finally figure out that there are girls underneath them! Ain't freedom grand?!!!

[Seascamp]

At a time just prior to his ousting Saddam put on a large-scale mass marriage ceremony where it is reported that he funded the cost of the wedding gowns, tux rentals and subsequent honeymoon. I saw the video on this deal and sure enough about 300-500 brides in traditional western white gowns were standing along side their beaming new husbands.

This was part of a Peter Arnett MSNBC report on the supposed good guy, salt of the earth, purest juice of the prune; Saddam. Be the ceremony fact or stagy propaganda, I do not know. I just thought it strange to see so many Iraqi Gals all painted up like Ukrainian Easter eggs and dressed like a June bride right off the cover of a US fashion magazine. Oh well, maybe it was just a practice run, who knows.

Scamp