To play devil's advocate (since religion is on the table LOL) I recall a recent report that proved men's decision making faculties were noticeably impaired by the presence of attractive women. Supposing this is true, surely veils should be mandatory in life or death situations involving (straight/bi) male medics and, given the range of male age-related fetishes, any woman at all? Just throwing a little more input in, and for the record I think tens of thousands of dead Iraqis have done more to damage relations with the Muslim community than a few women's clothes.... Misogyny and blaming women for men's screw-ups never goes out of fashion, and no-one comments on the far eastern habit of wearing a "hygiene" face mask on public transport I note. Should SARS or "bird flu" strike the capital I wonder how much we'll all need to see our fellow commuter's expressions then?