Why is it that we are focusing on Iraqi men not women?

[JAbuchan08]

I think its odd that we are all talking about the Iraqi men and how they were humiliated. Absolutely. unequivically. Fuck. Yes. However, having visited Democrats.com. and saw photos of women apparently being gang raped. I've yet to read any written documentation of these events, even on the site were I saw the photos. Not to say that the rape of women is somehow worse, but it seems that the media is all over the sadistic nature of the photos of the male prisoners and not the equally sadistic photos of the women.
My theory is that the media is getting the same homo-erotic/sadistic thrill from these torture photos as the men who commited them. (I realize one soldier was a woman). Have these photos already been adressed and dismissed. I don't know how they could have been. one photo shows a woman BEING FORCED INTO A SEX ACT WITH A GUN TO HER HEAD. where's the outrage, where's the coverage?

http://www.albasrah.net/images/iraqi-pow/iragipow

[slinkerwink]

1. those photos of women being raped are fake, and those are not

US soldiers. I've seen gangbang photos like that on the internet on porn sites.

[JAbuchan08]

3. Oh... excuse me for being naive,

I was shocked. Why would democrats.com link to a site featuring faked pictures, rather than a more credible source?

[slinkerwink]

5. because they didn't bother to verify whether those pics were porn pics

[Must_B_Free]

2. And why is that

we can see the video of an Iraqi being literally being blown to bits by a high caliber automatic gun and we're OK with that, but, show them being sexually abused and then we're finally disturbed?

Not to say the rape and torture incident shouldn't be disturbing, but rather - shouldn't the dead bodies be more disturbing?

[Logansquare]

4. I hope that these photos will be investigated

There has to be some way to find out who first posted them to a porn site. I have previously seen horrifying fake rapes in porno before (its pretty frightening that there are "normal" men who think that kind of thing is exciting), but there's a couple of things that are too real about these. First, the rapes clearly occur in a building that has taken a shelling or at least automatic weapon fire. The crimes occur on small rugs, commonly found in most Middle Eastern homes and sometimes used for prayer. The setting is incredibly arrid--you'd have to go to Arizona or Mexico in order to find a place as sandy and devoid of vegetation. One woman has her hair colored with henna--its a distinctive hair coloring that is often used in the mideast and doesn't look like commercial hair dyes. If its porno, then the actors thought of a lot of details that wouldn't be the norm.
I agree with critics who say that the mens' garb and haircuts are not consistent with U.S. troops. However, there are a number of contractors there, including some who are doing M.I. The New Yorker article stated that the M.I. people were encouraging the guards to "soften up" detainees for confession. Raping a young female relative is a way (already well known by Sadaam's regime) of causing prisoners to confess to anything. It's also something you do when you know nobody gives a shit about civilian rights. Also, does anyone know if all the coalition forces were issued desert camis, and what do the Kurdish troops typically wear?

[JAbuchan08]

6. So these photos have not been officially debunked?

I know that pornography and prostitution have become more common in Iraq since the liberation. So even if these were "contractor" they may have been doing something consensual, however, I thought that the women looked as if they were being coerced somehow. Both of them were crying then there was the gun photo.

[Logansquare]

7. Well, use of weapons and distress of victims

is the norm in "rape" pornography. I found the situational detail much more telling. The soldiers charged in the Abu Gharaib case stated that they were encouraged to torture and humiliate detainees by civilian intelligence contractors.

[JAbuchan08]

8. Well even if they were contractors in Iraq

we can't tell from bullet holes whether the sex was consensual. I hope this is not swept under the rug and it is investigated.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

9. One of the women is caucasian!

First, the rapes clearly occur in a building that has taken a shelling or at least automatic weapon fire

No, ONE picture shows a building that is in a severe state of disrepair, including a hole in one wall. There is no indication that this is from shelling and not just a partially demolished derelict.

As for the "arid" area, they could in fact be on a beach, or even a construction site or quarry, and one photo clearly shows vegetation in the background.

There is NO military equipment which is HIGHLY unlikely in a war zone. There are no webbing belts, no helmets, no packs. Even weapons are absent from all but a couple of photos and the two that do have weapons only show a single shotgun, which is practically impossible in a war zone - soldiers DO NOT leave their weapons out of reach, not even while going to the toilet, or in base camp.

The fact is, these photos are almost as bad as real rape photos - they are porn shots to cater to the "rape fantasy" market, using the current militarism as a basis.

[JAbuchan08]

10. The photos I saw were not too clear

so I couldn't make a judgment as to the ethnicity of either woman. Come to think of it blond hair is probably not too common in Iraq, even dyed? I don't know I was disturbed. I probably was too quick in my assessment, but I was extremely upset.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

11. They are disturbing, but they are common.

If you have the stomach for it, just put "rape fantasy" or some such query into google, and you will see what I mean. The sad part of this is that these women willingly particpate in this stuff.

[Logansquare]

13. Iraq is an ethnically diverse country

One of Sadaam's cabinet members was a red head. A common misperception in the west is that Arabs represent a single race, rather than a culturally-based ethnicity. People with dark skin and hair texture consistent with sub-saharan Africans are not uncommon as well. As I mentioned earlier, I don't believe the men pictured are actual military. However, pornos typically don't find bombed out buildings in which to stage rape fantasies. That being said, (acted) porno is produced throughout the world, including in war zones.

[doni_georgia]

12. Don't know original source, but those women weren't acting

Can't say who the men are. Our troops where desert camies in Iraq, and those are jungle camouflage, but I've seen porn before and the women aren't that good at acting. Those women were scared to death and crying. Regardless who was doing the acts, the women weren't cooperating. I agree that these weren't sets either. Those buildings had been shelled heavily. They were clearly in the desert. Porn operations don't have the budget to go on location like that either. These may not be US troops, but these are definitely actual rape pictures.

[seabeyond]

14. seems like the women tend to say yes it is real, men saying no

i too think they are rape pictures. and i also say, our male soldiers are raping their fellow soldiers, why wouldnt they be doing the same with the women of iraq that they have dehumanized and dominated over. rape being the exact act that they would be doing to these woman

how easily this is being dismissed by a few on this board, with no more proof than it is a rape