Islamists fan rumor U.S. soldiers raping girls

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

Citing a column by a U.S. sex therapist, Islamist newspapers in Turkey fanned a rumor asserting American troops have raped thousands of Iraqi women and young girls since ousting dictator Saddam Hussein.

The rumor, strongly denounced by the U.S., is said to have incited Ilyas Kuncak, who executed a car bomb attack last month in Istanbul on the Turkish headquarters of HSBC bank that killed a dozen people, the Boston Globe reported.

Nurullah Kuncak says his father was boiling with anger before the attack.

''Didn't you see, the American soldiers raped Iraqi women,'' Nurullah said in a recent interview, according to the Boston paper. ''My father talked to me about it. … Thousands of rapes are in the records. Can you imagine how many are still secret?''


more: http://www.phxnews.com/fullstory.php?article=8510

Guess they figured since Dubya used the sex slaves and rape rooms so effectively in the last SOTU, it might work for them as well.

[Systematic Chaos]

1. Excuse me for saying so,

but I doubt that it's just a "rumor". Not to say that all our servicemen would do that sort of thing but I'm sure at least a few would try it, especially since it happens right here at home on our own bases so often.

[Sandpiper]

3. The soldiers of a hostile invader

Raping local women? Never! Perish the thought! Especially not when U.S. soldiers are the invaders. We're the kinder, gentler hostile invader.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

2. Must have done their research on Okinawa

Unfortunately, this happens in wars. Always has.

[JNelson6563]

4. this oughta kick off lots of violence

This is looking more grim by the day.

Julie

[0007]

5. How come Halliburton doesn't have pecker shops in Iraq?

junior's brother is handy with the broads maybe he could help a horny G.I.

[booksenkatz]

6. And EVEN IF not a single soldier has considered taking advantage of...

the situation: name a single act we've performed in Iraq that might disabuse anyone of these rumors, to think otherwise about us? Once a pattern is established, people who are on the receiving end will tend to believe anything about you, true or not. For example, there is not a single thing you could tell me about the Bush administration that I would not believe at this point ~ why should I? Why should I give them the benefit of the doubt, after all the destruction and mayhem they've brought upon our heads and upon the heads of the rest of the world? You couldn't create fiction that could even touch the breathtaking truth. I am certain that the Iraqis feel this way about their occupiers, whether warranted or not.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

7. While we have started up the "Freedom" football league,

I'm afraid that stories such as these are more believable to the indigenous populations of the area.

[DrBB]

8. It makes no difference whether the accusations are true or not

Why are we vulnerable to such accusations? Does it matter whether we've done anything to justify them or not? I assume these accusations are completely unfounded. But that doesn't in the least reassure me of our ability to counteract this kind of propaganda and the effects it will have. Because it's obvious that the rage is there, and it's rooted in the whole situation not the particulars of any acts, good or bad, of our troops. Do we think this guy was just sitting there, going about his business, and then heard this story and suddenly went berzerk, to the extent he was willing to immolate himself in a suicide bomb attack? I don't think so.

This guy didn't believe the rape stories because of anything our troops did. The rage was there; the stories just gave him something particular to affix it to. The whole situation is like acid into the wound of Arab and Islamic and nationalist pride that already existed and has been monstrously magnified by this invasion. Can anyone imagine anything Bremer or our military officials over there could do or say that would cause future Ilyas Kuncaks to listen to such stories and laugh them off as nonsense? "But gee, they built a new school! They got the water running finally!" Whatever. Hey, we've done a bunch of that stuff (as the BushMedia continually reminds us). None of that changes the fact of American boots on Arab soil, American tanks in an Arab city, American overlords setting up an American satrap.

Supposing we had first spent the time and resources in Afghanistan to actually do that one right, staying focussed on it long enough to actually kill or capture Ossama and actually set the place on its feet, then I could see making it a priority to attend to lesser problems like Saddam in due order. The guy was a human rights nightmare, and I DO think it is right to rally international consensus behind US force to do something about such festering problems. The question is when, and how.

With those givens, there was just the barest chance that, at some point, with overwhelming international approval and consensus and the most careful, delicate and skillful handling of the aftermath and reconstruction, we might have been able to take Saddam out without proving ourselves to be exactly the anti-Arab, anti-Islamic monster that the Ayatollas and Saddams and Osamas have been claiming.

But given how we've done it, I don't believe there is anything we can do to prevent the insurgents, Islamists and whoever from continuing to exploit our position and the rage it has engendered in just the way they have done here. We can only try to minimize the damage we have already done by truly internationalizing the whole business and removing ourselves as far as possible from being the primary face of the reconstruction operation.

What a fucking mess.