Iraqi refugees "westernize" Syria

Now here's a bit of news that should get the reactionary crowds' hearts atwitter:

For anyone living in Damascus [Syria] these days, the fact that some Iraqi refugees are selling sex or working in sex clubs is difficult to ignore.

Even in central Damascus, men freely talk of being approached by pimps trawling for customers outside juice shops and shawarma sandwich stalls, and of women walking up to passing men, an act unthinkable in Arab culture, and asking in Iraqi-accented Arabic if the men would like to “have a cup of tea.”
New York Times

This is wonderful news, is it not? The business of sex is one of the salient features of a "westernized" democracy. And thanks in large part to the U.S. intervention and continuing occupation of Iraq :

Many of these women and girls, including some barely in their teens, are recent refugees. Some are tricked or forced into prostitution, but most say they have no other means of supporting their families. As a group they represent one of the most visible symptoms of an Iraqi refugee crisis that has exploded in Syria in recent months.

O', my yes, don't you see how this development could foster better relationships with the Middle East. Think of it, vacation junkets for sex-starved Calvanistic American and just plain whacko European perverts to Damascus. Closer than Bangkok, more exotic than Las Vegas! What an exciting business opportunity for people in the travel business!

You see, George Bush has brought a bit of "democracy" to the Middle East.