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Layla Ahmad, retired teacher and mother of three, considers the Internet among the most dangerous post-invasion developments in Iraq.
"We are a conservative society," says Ahmad, 54. "We don't accept that our daughters meet boys through the Internet. It's dangerous, and you can't observe your children and what they are talking about.
"Three months ago, I discovered that my daughter was chatting with somebody online," Ahmad says. "I took her computer and sold it."
In a country where arranged marriages are common and premarital relations of any sort are frowned on, the Internet represents a threat to the established order.
That's why lots of young people love it. Under Saddam Hussein, access to the Internet was almost non-existent. Today, the state-owned Internet service provider has 197,310 subscribers, according to a Pentagon report. That doesn't include, however, the Internet cafes that have sprung up everywhere in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq.
The Internet gives young Iraqis a way to meet members of the opposite sex in a society that offers few such opportunities. Young Iraqis say a couple of Arabic websites with private chat rooms are popular places to arrange dates online. After meeting online, young men and women will often set up a real date.
Ali Taleb, 22, says he logs on to Aldewan.com, an Arabic website with popular chat rooms. The problem, he says, is that most of the women are looking for men to marry and Taleb says he is interested in a less serious relationship.
"I lie and tell them, 'I will marry you as soon as I know you more. We need to know each other more. We should go and hang out for a while,' " Taleb says.
"It's not easy to make the girl trust you," he says. "Sometimes it takes months."
Noor al-Mosawi, 29, says she began accessing the Internet in 2004. She has been using it to find eligible men.
"I'm 29 and I'm afraid I will be single for the rest of my life," she says.
She says she recognizes the dangers in meeting men online. "First, they are all liars and they seek sex only," she says.
She is careful about what information she provides online. She agreed to date one man she met online. They went out for two months before she broke it off.
"When he started asking me to go to his house, I broke up with him," al-Mosawi says. "I told him, if you want to go out with me, you should ask for my hand from my parents first. He refused, and so we broke up.
"It's easy for men to find what they want through the Internet, but for girls like me, it's difficult to find husbands," she says.
Finding a place to physically meet is difficult. Most single Iraqis live with their parents. It's dangerous to go out at night, ruling out cafes and restaurants.
Muhannad Mohamet, 19, says he prefers to arrange dates online with university students and then meet them on campus. Universities are relatively safe, and it's not uncommon for couples to walk around or sit together.
Mohamet says he is not looking for a serious relationship and would not expect to meet a future bride in a chat room.
"I'm not against finding my wife through the Internet, but the problem is with our traditions," he says. "What shall I tell my parents when they ask me where I found her? They will not let me get married in this way."
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