I’m really beginning to notice the excellent work of Marc Santora for the New York Times in Baghdad. Today he shows how the rape of an Iraqi woman, possibly by the Shi’ite police forces, becomes a political football in Iraq.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki plays a particularly dreadful role in all this. Promising a full investigation, then this:
Only hours later, however, Mr. Maliki reversed himself. His office released a second statement after midnight, that one calling the woman a liar and a wanted criminal and going on to praise the officers involved.
“It has been shown after medical examinations that the woman had not been subjected to any sexual attack whatsoever, and that there are three outstanding arrest warrants against her issued by security agencies,” said the second statement. “After the allegations have been proven to be false, the prime minister has ordered that the officers accused be rewarded.”
Which leaves the U.S. military precisely in the middle:
The woman said the Americans had rescued her from the officers and gave her medical treatment. The American-backed, Shiite-led government said the Americans would show the woman’s claims to be false…The American military said only that it was investigating the charges.
Can’t wait for the results of that investigation.
Update And then there’s this crucial detail:
A nurse who said she treated the woman after the attack said that she saw signs of sexual and physical assault. The woman, according to the nurse, could identify one of her attackers because he was not wearing a mask, as were the others, and could identify a second attacker by a mark on his genitals.
As I said, can’t wait for the results of the U.S. investigation.