RiverBend - Baghdad Burning - New Blog Post 2/20/07

[Synnical]

http://www.riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

The Rape of Sabrine...
It takes a lot to get the energy and resolution to blog lately. I guess it’s mainly because just thinking about the state of Iraq leaves me drained and depressed. But I had to write tonight.

As I write this, Oprah is on Channel 4 (one of the MBC channels we get on Nilesat), showing Americans how to get out of debt. Her guest speaker is telling a studio full of American women who seem to have over-shopped that they could probably do with fewer designer products. As they talk about increasing incomes and fortunes, Sabrine Al-Janabi, a young Iraqi woman, is on Al Jazeera telling how Iraqi security forces abducted her from her home and raped her. You can only see her eyes, her voice is hoarse and it keeps breaking as she speaks. In the end she tells the reporter that she can’t talk about it anymore and she covers her eyes with shame.

She might just be the bravest Iraqi woman ever. Everyone knows American forces and Iraqi security forces are raping women (and men), but this is possibly the first woman who publicly comes out and tells about it using her actual name. Hearing her tell her story physically makes my heart ache. Some people will call her a liar. Others (including pro-war Iraqis) will call her a prostitute- shame on you in advance.

I wonder what excuse they used when they took her. It’s most likely she’s one of the thousands of people they round up under the general headline of ‘terrorist suspect’. She might have been one of those subtitles you read on CNN or BBC or Arabiya, “13 insurgents captured by Iraqi security forces.” The men who raped her are those same security forces Bush and Condi are so proud of- you know- the ones the Americans trained. It’s a chapter right out of the book that documents American occupation in Iraq: the chapter that will tell the story of 14-year-old Abeer who was raped, killed and burned with her little sister and parents.

They abducted her from her house in an area in southern Baghdad called Hai Al Amil. No- it wasn’t a gang. It was Iraqi peace keeping or security forces- the ones trained by Americans? You know them. She was brutally gang-raped and is now telling the story. Half her face is covered for security reasons or reasons of privacy. I translated what she said below.


“I told him, ‘I don’t have anything .’



He said, 'You don’t have anything?’ One of them threw me on the ground and my head hit the tiles. He did what he did- I mean he raped me. The second one came and raped me. The third one also raped me. I begged them and cried, and one of them covered my mouth. Another one of them came and said, 'Are you finished? We also want our turn.' So they answered, ‘No, an American committee came.’ They took me to the judge.




Anchorwoman: Sabrine Al Janabi said that one of the security forces videotaped/photographed her and threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the rape. Another officer raped her after she saw the investigative judge.

More at link.

Edit to add images from the blog

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. finally!

thanks!

[Maat]

2. So sad ..

what a powerful post!

I hope that Riverbend understands that the Booosh Administration does not equal America, and that there are millions of Americans who vehemently opposed the invasion and occupation (and the idea of it) since shortly after DimSon took his oath of office.

My hubby and I were well aware that they were setting unconscionable atrocities months before the invasion.

We spoke up - little good it did.

[Recursion]

9. Not to be a downer, but what does that mean to her?

What do you and I, valuing out Constitutional processes and rule of law, mean to her or any other Iraqi at this point?

[Maat]

17. Tragically, it doesn't mean much.

I feel so sad just reading her post, and thinking about the horrible, unimaginable destruction that the Booosh Administration has wrought - despite a great deal of effort on the part of many to stop the invasion and occupation.

What an unbelievable tragedy all the way around!

One of the saddest things is that many, including myself, knew this would happen; and, yet, all the protesting in the world did nothing to stop it.

[Cleita]

12. You know what? This isn't enough.

Her reference to American women on Oprah being oblivious to the suffering of women across the world in a war that our leaders started drives home a point. I see it myself when I'm out shopping for necessities, people out on the beach enjoying the nice weather, in the stores buying new things. Even I toured the nurseries today for new plants. My life isn't totally shit because of Bush, although it could get there if the Republicks ruin my SS and medical coverage.

Unfortunately, for those of us who cry for them and don't support this criminal administration's actions, there are too many who are oblivious and too many who cheer this obcenity that is still going on over there. I can't see any Iraqi witnessing these atrocities first had really giving a shit about those of us who do care because there are so many who don't.

I really don't know what we can do to change this short of insurrection.

[Maat]

16. I hear you.

Riverbend's post encourages me to think long and hard about the situation. I spent the morning at a peace vigil in North County, San Diego ( www.bringtheirbuddieshome.com ). I think that we are making people more aware of the costs of this war, but it has been a long, slow, four-year process.

[karlrschneider]

3. Oh thank you, a lot of us have been wondering...and hoping

:kick:

[Synnical]

5. Don't thank me - I have the site bookmarked

And was hoping for an update. But, to be honest, I logged on to check the weather in So Florida. That is, do I need to wear a sweater tomorrow?

Glad she's still okay and still reporting. We need her, Iraq needs here.

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale

[karlrschneider]

6. I meant really thanks for the reminder to check. I sometimes forget for a few days.

KS

[Synnical]

7. Yeah, I know

But I feel really pathetic right now.

[magellan]

4. She's right, we can't relate. But we certainly share at least part of her rage:

"And yet, as the situation continues to deteriorate both for Iraqis inside and outside of Iraq, and for Americans inside Iraq, Americans in America are still debating on the state of the war and occupation- are they winning or losing? Is it better or worse.

"Let me clear it up for any moron with lingering doubts: It’s worse. It’s over. You lost. You lost the day your tanks rolled into Baghdad to the cheers of your imported, American-trained monkeys. You lost every single family whose home your soldiers violated. You lost every sane, red-blooded Iraqi when the Abu Ghraib pictures came out and verified your atrocities behind prison walls as well as the ones we see in our streets. You lost when you brought murderers, looters, gangsters and militia heads to power and hailed them as Iraq’s first democratic government. You lost when a gruesome execution was dubbed your biggest accomplishment. You lost the respect and reputation you once had. You lost more than 3000 troops. That is what you lost America. I hope the oil, at least, made it worthwhile."

[brer cat]

8. It must be ghastly for RiverBend

to continue posting the horrors of her life! I worry so when she is quiet; then grieve when she does a new blog. I can only pray that someday she will find peace.

Nothing can ever replace or repay what * has done to Iraq.

[truedelphi]

21. I know, I know. I would be out in my garden when she

was trying to sleep, or up late to use the few hours of electricity her side of town would get, and I would feel so guilty that i was out planting flowers. Or I would be throwing pepples,aimed to miss the actual bodies, at the fighting crows overhead (C'mon birds. People don't have it together - but maybe you BIRDS could do better than scrapping with each other!)

A survivor she is - but SUnni women are being hunted down, raped and killed. I worry for her.

[Marie26]

10. I feel so totally ashamed. nt

[DesertRat]

11. Will they ever forgive us?

:cry:

[Cleita]

15. If we can make our Congress bring these criminals to justice

with Nuremberg style trials for treason, war crimes and other criminal actions, it might show them that we are truly sorry for what has been done to them and it would indicate our intent to right the wrongs. Then they might consider it.

Other than that, letting these criminals walk into the sunset with their pockets stuffed with the profits of this war isn't going to do it.

[fooj]

19. Could we?

:cry: :cry: :cry:

[alfredo]

13. It gets sadder with each entry.

Send this link to Liebermann.

[Tinksrival]

14. Another eye opening Iraqi blogger site to bookmark is:

http://gorillasguides.com/

Warning: Their reality is very gritty and graffic. But I beleive this one post, linked to below, shows so clearly why we will never win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people and we will never "win" the war in Iraq and we need to leave.......now.

This post from that sight really grabed me and is a real eye opener to what it is really like in Bagdad:
http://gorillasguides.com/2007/02/10/what-will-we-talk-... /

[RiverStone]

18. How can we unveil the truth for America to see?

What a brave and remarkable woman.

Who will help her heal?
Who will give her hope?
Who will protect her?

[Spurt]

20. How can we unveil the truth for America to see?

Here is a new opportunity to display the truth....

"The Dahr Jamail team is bumping it up a notch.
You are invited along for the ride.

With the situation in the Middle East more critical than ever, we need to reach even more Americans with the realities on the ground in the MidEast.

In the spring Dahr Jamail will be returning to the MidEast accompanied by a photographer. The intention is to augment Dahr's reporting with strong photography and innovative multimedia coming directly from the field."

http://dahrjamailiraq.com/donate/april.php

Dahr needs help to tell the tale.

Despite the fact that I am unable to pay my living costs and have debt collectors banging on my door, I have made a small contribution. Please join me.

Cheers

[Synnical]

22. LBN: Rape row splits Iraqi government

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2737941&mesg_id=2737941

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Allegations that Iraqi police enforcing the new Baghdad security plan raped a Sunni woman have sparked a bitter dispute at the highest levels of the state.

In a sign of the deep rifts within Iraq's so-called unity government, the office of the Shiite prime minister dismissed the claim Tuesday, while an aide to the Sunni vice president said it appeared to be true.

~snip~

The rape allegation surfaced Monday when a Sunni religious body accused police of raping a woman called Sabrin al-Janabi, who repeated the charge herself in an interview with the satellite television network Al-Jazeera.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office initially promised a full inquiry then, just four hours later issued a second statement formally denying the allegations and ordering that the accused officers be commended.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070220/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_070220094831