Black Market Weapons in Iraq

I found this article about black market weapons in Iraq, published in 2006. It outlines how members of the Iraqi Army and police are selling their US issued weapons on the black market, where prices have been rising steadily. According to the article, one could easily buy a Glock or Kalashnikov in the back of grocery stores or in the back of a car trunk. 

It seems like the black market for weapons in Iraq is not very hidden or secretive. The article states that these weapons are "semi-hidden" in market places. If the practice is well known, and there is evidence that these weapons are coming from the US, through the Iraqi Army and police, why isn't the US halting its practice of supplying Iraqi security with weapons?

Obviously, an abundance of weapons in the hands of Iraqi civilians is not beneficial to the US, or the Iraqis. If it is as clear as it seems in the article, it is almost as if the US is arming Iraqi civilians. While tighter restrictions on weapon sales may help ebb the black market weapons wave, it appears that the most prudent solution would be for the US to stop supplying the Iraqi Army with weapons. While many of the weapons could have been stolen from fallen soldiers after raids, the article mentions that many of the guns were unused. This indicated that Iraqi military could have immediately turned their weapons into the market. If it is clear the American-supplied weapons are found in large quantities in the black market, why is the US continuing to supply them? Because this article is three years old, it is possible that the US has changed their practice. But if it hasn't, what factors would compel them to continue to supply guns to the Iraqi army and police? 

Prostitution in Iraq

Article #1: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1883696,00.html?iid=tsmodule

Article #2: http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/06/24/prostitutes/index.html

The first article describes how increasingly more women/girls entered prostitution following the break down of Saddam Hussein's regime. Few statistics about these girls are known because it is a socially taboo subject. There is also an ongoing controversy about the role sex traffickers play in the region: one Iraqi ex-politician, when asked about trafficking, believed that girls (for the most part) chose to engage in the activity. Yanar Mohammed, who heads the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq, fervently disagrees.

The second article focuses more on the tragedy that women must turn to prostitution for survival. Regarding trafficking, the article states: "according to the report (U.S. State Department's 2005 "Trafficking in Persons Report), "There have been some reports that indicate Iraqi women may be subjected to sexual exploitation in prostitution in Syria at the hands of Iraqi criminal networks, but those reports have not been confirmed."

To contrast the ambivalence of the report's statement, Article #1 featured a lady with a first hand account of the activity. At this point, I began to feel that the issue of sex trafficking in Iraq was curiously suppressed. There is no doubt of some trafficking activity going on, but the Iraqi government has not yet prosecuted any traffickers since it has gotten into power (at the time of Article #1, Mar. 2009).

It is agreed that prostitution is an issue within the region. However, involuntary prostitution seems to be a hush-hush topic. There is no doubt of its occurrence: mothers are selling unwilling daughters to brothels; the first article reported a story about a girl who was married to a man, who promptly divorced her and gave her to a prostitution ring. I wondered if the reason for it being a hush-hush topic is the lack of information. I wondered if part of the in-action may be due to pride; perhaps it is less weight on a conscience to blame a girl for her individual "choice" than acknowledging that more individuals, besides the girl, were involved. I wouldn't know; these are speculations.