The brigade itself was deteriorating. At first its remit extended only to holding up dress codes, the rules around abayas and niqabs and makeup. The brigade’s role was to sow distrust and resentment, minimizing the likelihood that people’s dissent would coalesce into defiance. But now, the young women of the al-Khansaa Brigade had started using their authority to settle petty quarrels or enact social revenge. Even girls who weren’t employed by the brigade turned up to accuse their social enemies of some infraction. Sometimes women who had done nothing wrong were brought into headquarters. The
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When so-called revolutions turn to terror.
