Re: NYTimes.com Article: Iraqi Family Ties Complicate American Efforts f

>>This is not a question of statistics for
anthropologists since an expressed preference or even
a prescription of a certain kind 
of marriage does not guarantee that this always
happens in practice.<<

Of course, but most people who write for the NYT are
not anthropologists, nor are most of its readers.
Moreover, biological reproduction can take place
outside such structures, and concubinage and men
having more than one wife (and for different purposes)
complicates things still further.

My question is how unique is the pattern of cousin
marriage in Iraq? I'm not sure from reading the NYT,
and will have to do further research. I'm sure most
Iraqis are not traditional herders, though I'm also
sure there are remnants in Iraq and Iran. Still I
don't know about the marriage situation in Iraq but
plan to find out.

Charles J 

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