As the right wing's antifeminist front, the sisters of the Independent Women's Forum have been such a hit in this country that they're now getting taxpayer money to take their act on the road. In September the State Department announced the IWF would receive part of a new $10 million grant program to "train Iraqi women in the skills and practices of democratic public life."

At first glance, the IWF might seem a surprising choice for such a task. Founded in the early 1990s with funds from conservative foundations--Scaife, Bradley, Carthage and the rest--the IWF, by its own definition, leads the US opposition to the US women's liberation movement. The group's members, now peppered throughout the Bush Administration and the media, include Lynne Cheney and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.

The IWF could teach plenty about how to mount slanderous media attacks that skew the debate on affirmative action, equality in education and equal pay, and they know a thing or two about rolling back government regulations and challenging pro-equality legislation in court. But women's groups that work in Iraq say that's not exactly what Iraqi women need now.

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