Have you guys been following this rape case in Iraq?

I have to say what a big mess -- there is NO WAY to know what the truth is. I know a lot of Dems love Riverbend, but I find her certain judgment that the woman told the truth to be troubling. Equally, I found a post by the Iraqi Kid disturbing insisting that she's lying (and Zeyad, in the comments, openly disagreed with many of the Kid's points). Both of them are Sunnis, but Riverbend was against the American invasion from the start while the Kid favored it.

Here are the links:

http://ejectiraqikkk.blogspot.com/2007/02/sabreen-al-janabi.html

(this link is good to start with, because he YouTubed the woman's appearance on al Jazeera and put subtitles in. The problem with his post is that he is so offended by her frank language he said he would kill his sister had she spoken that way -- this is where the cultural divide seems insurmountable to me between westerners and Arabs. Kill your sister???? For swearing?? Anyway, read it for contrast)

Riverbend's two posts:

http://www.riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

And, of course, it's helpful to read the NYT account:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/21/world/middleeast/21iraq.html?ex=1329714000&en=8906daa7f173ef39&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss


And IF this U.S. military press release is to be believed, it appears the woman's family is involved in a local terrorist cell, but they are not always the most reliable source.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2006/05/mil-060518-afps01.htm


I am just very troubled by all of this, and thoroughly confused. Maliki handled the whole thing as badly as one could imagine (imagine Pres. Bush declaring the woman in the Duke rape case a liar within hours of the incident and offering a reward to the Duke LaCrosse players) and there are troubling and confusing aspects to the alleged victim as well. As if Iraq wasn't mind boggling enough, this incident shows what an impossible situation it has become.

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.)