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French President Nicolas Sarkozy raised a few eyebrows this week when he said Islamic burqas aren't welcome in his country (For a full story, click this link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_france_sarkozy_burqa.)

For those unfamiliar with the term, the burqa is the head to toe body covering worn by conservative Muslim women, with only their eyes visible. Sarkozy says they suppress women's identities and make them subservient.

While I applaud Sarkozy taking a stand for women's rights, I wonder if this is the right way to go about it. While we've heard stories of women beaten for not wearing the covering and exposing their skin in public, other women might believe the garment is a legitimate part of their beliefs. If you ban the burqa, do you go on to banning long skirts or certain hats and veils which women in other religions or cultures might deem appropriate?

If Sarkozy truly wants to help suppressed women, a better approach might be to make sure his country's laws do all they can to assist women in abusive situations. He might even want to make his country a safe haven for women forced to wear the burqa, granting them asylum.

There is another train of thought that this has nothing to do with women's rights - that Sarkozy just wants to force the French culture on all who enter his country - but that's another debate. If you take his motives at his word, what do you think?