Joe Klein: The rape of Sabrine may be an indication that the mission is impossible, the war is lost

http://time-blog.com/swampland/2007/02/iraq_rape_update.html

Iraq Rape Update
Posted by Joe Klein

Now the Kurdish President and Sunni Vice President say it should be investigated.
Several readers have asked why this case is so important. Two reasons:

--it's a measure of how serious Nuri al-Maliki is about being a Prime Minister who creates a multi-party state. So far, in this case, he has gratuitously inflamed tensions between Sunni and Shi'ites.

--it's a measure of whether the U.S. will tolerate Maliki's obvious, inflammatory Shi'ite favoritism. So far, the U.S. military has refused to issue a report to honor the "privacy" of a woman who did a remarkable thing--going on television to admit the ultimate humiliation in an Islamic society. If she's lying and we know it, we owe it to Maliki to say so. If she's not lying, Maliki's position is a clear indication that he is merely a Shi'ite factional leader, incapable of being the Prime Minister of a united Iraq

If that's the case, and I suspect it is, the mission is impossible, the war is lost.