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In the wake of the U.S. Marines pullout, the Sunni city of Fallujah has become a Taliban-style theocracy, reports Geostrategy-Direct, the global intelligence news service.
In the city of 300,000, about 30 miles north of Baghdad, al Qaida-inspired clerics are the ruling authorities, backed by the guns of Saddam loyalists who have imposed their own version of Islamic law.
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The comparison to Afghanistan under the Taliban is not coincidental.
Many of the clerics who have taken over Fallujah either studied in Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia or were urged to adopt the Taliban example.
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As a result, women must cover their hair and faces. If they don't, they are beaten in the streets. Naturally, beauty parlors have been shut down.
Men have been ordered to grow beards and barbers have been warned not to shave customers. Indeed, the barbers have been given strict guidelines on what kinds of haircuts are permissible.
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Those selling or imbibing alcohol are now flirting with death. Already, several dealers have been flogged naked in the streets of Fallujah in full view of passersby. A man found drunk in Fallujah was also beaten to a pulp.
People have been encouraged or ordered to participate in the beatings.
The United States has deployed the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps in Fallujah. But security officers have not intervened as Al-Qaida-inspired gunmen direct traffic, harass businessmen and look for victims on the streets.
The Coalition Provisional Authority has a presence in Fallujah, but hasn't done anything either.
Last month, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States would not object to an Iraqi theocracy.
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