Incredibly, we’re on the brink of war. Millions are opposed, hundreds of thousands have marched in just about every capital city, even the right wing has stated it’s objections, but to no avail. The Democrats crumpled in Congress and rival powers finally complied in the United Nations, naively believing that a UN-sanctioned war would at least be a constraint on US might. The jackals in the Bush administration are hearing none of it. Too much is at stake for them to change their course. Iraq is a major prize by its sheer wealth in oil—second only to Saudi Arabia in known reserves. Control of Iraq would also give the US added leverage to shape events in the region. The future stability of Saudi Arabia, for example, has caused much consternation in the Pentagon.

Iraqi author and dissident Haifa Zangana, formerly imprisoned under Saddam Hussein’s regime but adamantly opposed to US occupation wrote in the UK Guardian, “The main misconception is to perceive Iraqi women as silent, powerless victims in a male-controlled society in urgent need of ‘liberation.’ This image fits conveniently into the big picture of the Iraqi people being passive victims who would welcome the occupation of their country. The reality is different.” In 1958, with the end of British indirect rule over Iraq, tens of thousands of Iraqi women demonstrated in the streets for their civil rights.

Women are prominently involved in the US anti-war movement, but a gendered analysis of war is usually ignored. Political commentators occasionally make note of “women and children” as war’s victims—but few dare to sharpen their critique into an indictment of systemic patriarchy and sexism. In this article, Huibin Amee Chew breaks down how US imperialism and militarism affect women, both in the US and in occupied Iraq.

The relation between imperialism and gender is not just a matter of macho talk and fashion, it is about who dies, about economic sexism and sexual exploitation. It is not just ideological, but material, institutional, and psychological.

Antonia Juhasz is an author, activist, and policy-analyst living in San Francisco. She is a visiting scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies. She has previously served as the Project Director of the International Forum on Globalization and as a Legislative Assistant to two U.S. members of Congress. She is contributing author to Alternatives to Economic Globalization: a Better World is Possible, and her work has appeared in numerous publications including the Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, and the Johannesburg Star. San Francisco writer Rebecca Solnit interviewed her about her new book.

RS: One the most startling things in your book is the way you talk about the war.