Rape as a weapon of the Iraq war
My colleague Kay has a post up over at TAPPED about the guilty pleas from the two U.S. soldiers who raped and killed 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi. Their truly disturbing testimony comes at a time when Iraqi politicians are rushing to politicize the allegations by 20-year-old Sabrine al-Janabi that she was sexually assaulted by Iraqi security forces.
See also: Robin Morgan's Rape, Murder and the American G.I.
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And this is in our name.
Sad reality of war. I knew they were going to politicize that rape case, making it into another issue of Sunnis against Sh'ias.
The media didn't spend much time on the story of the young Iraqi girl getting raped and murdered. Simply because it would make Americans troops look bad.
No, the rape didn't happen "in our name." The prosecution and conviction of the rapists happened in our name.
They were prosecuted precisely because they were not acting in our name, and contrary to the interests of the rule of law and the interests of the U.S., the Iraqi people, and human dignity more generally.
No, the rape didn't happen "in our name." The prosecution and conviction of the rapists happened in our name.
They were prosecuted precisely because they were not acting in our name, and contrary to the interests of the rule of law and the interests of the U.S., the Iraqi people, and human dignity more generally.
It was an atrocity perpetrated by a member of OUR armed forces. It taints us all. Whether they are prosecuted for what they did is irrelevant. The fact that they [allegedly] did it in the first place paints all Americans with the same broad brush.
Once again I am ashamed of what "Iraqi democracy" has cost. The Iraqi people have just traded one foul dictator for another.
Stenz, careful.
Yes, in a political sense, the US will pay a price. Yes, in a political sense the US is responsible for - partly intentionally - creating a climate that favors violence and crime. But, no, the American people are not jointly guilty of raping a 14yo girl, simply because those who did were Americanm, and wore an American uniform.
Btw, I'm German, and we learnt from the US that it is not irrelevant if the perpetrators are persecuted. In fact, prosecuting them with guaranteed legal standards is what makes all the difference.
Speaking of "foul dictators", it was Condi Rice, who mentioned, off-guard, before the war that "we might have to replace one strong man with another"... too bad she was never able to share her true thoughts publicly since.
Of course it's in our name! Our tax dollars pay for our military and our stupid adventure in the Middle East. We get the leaders we deserve who sent these guys over there. This was not an isolated incident either. They just happened to get caught.
"The media didn't spend much time on the story of the young Iraqi girl getting raped and murdered. Simply because it would make Americans troops look bad."
...and this is why I read the BBC online news too instead of just American media.
Yeah, I see how it is.
You would rather go back in time, revoke suffrage for 10 million women who never dreamed of having the right to vote, and put them all under the yoke of Uday and Qusay Hussein and their rape rooms and institutionalized machinery of brutality.
You'd sell millions of women out in a heartbeat in order to score a minor rhetorical point against the President.
Fair weather feminists.
Jason,
How many women did Uday rape and murder? How many people are getting murdered in Iraq everyday now? And excuse me, how did you figure Iraqi women didn’t have the right to vote? You better get your head our of the sand.
"You'd sell millions of women out in a heartbeat in order to score a minor rhetorical point against the President." huh?
Sojourner: You DO know what "suffrage" means, don't you?
Don't feed the trolls (as funny and dumb as they are, I know).
Do YOU know what suffrage means, Jason?
Won't you help end women's suffrage?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUP9Jm9SqvY
"... 10 million women who never dreamed of having the right to vote ..."
Jason, the women had the right to vote for the leader of Iraq when Saddam was in charge, the problem was that there was only one choice on the ballot. We have to watch our facts.
"... How many women did Uday rape and murder? How many people are getting murdered in Iraq everyday now?"
Sojourner, you have to watch your facts as well. The Hussein family was responsible for hundreds of thousands of murdered people in Iraq. From gassings, bombings, being thrown into plastic shredders, and a bullet to the head.
That violence was being perpetrated by the leadership in Iraq. The new leadership in Iraq is trying to curtail the current violence.