Reply #1: Malike quote on NPR this morning

[MH1]

I was listening to Morning Edition while getting ready to leave the house, as usual, so maybe I missed something crucial. But this really disturbed me:

They were talking about her allegations and the controversy. They talked about Maliki not wanting to investigate. Then they cited him claiming that she had been helping the insurgents. (the end.)

As if that makes rape okay?!??!? WTF????

1 - if she was accused, she is entitled to a trial - a "fair trial" in theory, but it sounds like any trial would have been a step in the right direction from what happened.

2 - maybe she is lying. But who knows, until an investigation is done? To be honest, there are far too many stories like that out of Iraq - and historically, out of similar situations - for me to dismiss her out of hand. Obviously I don't know, but that is part of the horror of war - creating situations where rape is used as a weapon and considered an acceptable act by the perpetrators. Then, if it is convenient, a person can claim "rape" and there is no way of knowing what really happened. (Notice, however - according to NPR this morning - a US controlled medical facility examined her after she was released - and they have NOT released their findings. Hmm.)

The thing that bugged me was the way Maliki's statement came across on the NPR program was, "it's okay because she was helping the insurgents."

It seems to me that if we are leaving Iraq with a government like that in power, than we have left them no better off than when they had Saddam Hussein's brutality. (But make no mistake - I also think that our staying there will not make things better, and will most likely make them worse.)