Kana

Applause for Clinton, Obama, Edwards, and Biden for condemning this strongly. It improves my opinion of them.

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Groovyville

Free Parking

No, that is not what happened. Here, read this NYT article. She was sentenced for Saudi Arabia's stupid sex segregation laws, not for being gang raped. Also note that the man she went to meet was also raped and sentenced for the same reason. Her sentence was then increased when the lawyer attempted to bring the media in and appeal the conviction. This does not appear to be a women's rights issue, but a stupid, archaic Saudi laws and judge issue.

EvilMonkey

I don't care how you slice or spin this, that fucking country has barbaric laws from the stone age. The fact that they are punishing that girl for something her lawyer did is almost as unbelievable as the fact that she was even charged for a crime in the first place after being gang raped.

Kana

I suppose Saudi women could count themselves lucky to only receive floggings. In Iran, they can be executed, like Atefah Sahaaleh, who was literally strung up in a public square for violating her chastity by being raped. This wasn't a hanging in the quick, neck-breaking way. The judge tied a noose around her neck and then pulled her up, leaving her to die in extreme agony. This is what happens when governments are run by misogynistic fundamentalist bastards.

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Groovyville

Teri B.

Or the fact that her crime was being out . . . in the world . . . without a male relative. Ignorant barbaric, stupid, uncivilized, animals *^%&*(##$!

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Free Parking

I agree that this is horrible, but I also believe that one should not misrepresent the situation. Certainly it is easy to see that there is a significant difference between being charged with disobeying a sex segregation law and being charging with being the victim of gang rape.

Free Parking

Again, this woman was not charged with being raped. She and the man she was meeting with were both sentenced for breaking the sex segregation law. I am not saying that the Saudi Arabian government is not misogynistic, but this is not a case for that.

Free Parking

Exactly. The things we should be outraged about are: the sex segregation law, the tying of religion to law, the judge's ability to increase a sentence as punishment for shining a light on the situation, and the great variation of the severity of sentences judges are allowed to give. Of course, the gang rape is itself is horrible too.

Heretic

If Jr. doesn't openly condemn this I'll assume he supports it.

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"In space no one can hear you scream. in D.C. it won't matter..." -Clinton Resurrection: The Alien Queen lives!

zimmy61

Once WMDs and all the other 'valid' reasons to go to war were proved to be utter bullshit, wasn't Saddam's oppressive and archaic treatment of his people one of the major fallback excuses for toppling the non-democratic Iraqi government? I'm sure that rape rooms and torture were among the elements listed in his State of the Union address. Not a peep from the White House however about the Saudis' state sponsored torture or the oppression and murder of women who foolishly 'allow' themselves to get raped? That's quite a shining beacon on the hill.