Irony fan Emo Philips forwarded this item to us, concerning two Iraqi women whose husbands and children were killed by US troops during the war. Seems the human-rights groups Global Exchange and CODEPINK invited the two women to the States to tell their stories on a speaking tour in conjunction with International Women’s Day. However, the US government has rejected their visas to enter the country on the grounds that they have no families to return to in Iraq. Ironic, yes, but probably not the whole story.

“I remember how we all cried when we heard Anwar tell her story about losing her husband and three of her children,” said Jodie Evans of CODEPINK, who met with Anwar in 2004 in Baghdad. “If the American people heard these stories, their image of the Iraq war would be completely different. I suppose that’s why the state department does not want her to come here.”