The abu Ghraib fiasco critically damaged the war effort in Iraq, setting back prospects for peace and security for months if not years, and doubtlessly leading to the loss of many more lives on all sides. The actions of a few boneheaded guardsmen caused so much damage because they were perceived by an already skeptical Arab street as graphic evidence that the nobility of our rhetoric did not match the reality of our actions.
This will probably be worse:
The CIA’s station chief at its sensitive post in Algeria is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly raping at least two Muslim women who claim he laced their drinks with a knock-out drug, U.S. law enforcement sources tell ABC News.
Officials say the 41-year old CIA officer, a convert to Islam, was ordered home by the U.S. Ambassador, David Pearce, in October after the women came forward with their rape allegations in September…
One of the alleged victims reportedly said she met the CIA officer at a bar in the U.S. embassy and then was taken to his official station chief residence where she said the sexual assault took place.
The second alleged victim reportedly told U.S. prosecutors that, in a separate incident, she also was drugged at the American’s official residence before being sexually assaulted…
Following the initial complaints, U.S. officials say they obtained a warrant from a federal judge in Washington, D.C. in October to search the station chief’s CIA-provided residence in Algiers and turned up the videos that appear to have been secretly recorded and show, they say, the CIA officer engaged in sexual acts.
Officials say one of the alleged victims is seen on tape, in a “semi-conscious state.”
Miscreants may be found in small numbers anywhere of course, but this particular event will brutally intersect Arab cultural attitudes having to do with family honor and their abiding suspicion of the CIA in general, and American culture at large.
It’s toxic.
They need to break it off hard on this fool. Like a Supermax, for life. No visitors, no interaction with other prisoners, 23 hours a day in a cell. Like the rat he is.
No amount of punishment can un-ring the bell nor will many in the Arab world tend to accept that any amount of punishment would be enough…..it’ll just feed their need to dislike the US and gain support for anti-USA feelings. Agendas being what they are.
The question is: How did this clown get through the various psychological filters at CIA (duh – how did Aldrich Ames get through?) and why did they not spot this internally?
I’ll bet he was good at leaking documents to sabotage the Bush administration too.
The CIA used to work FOR this country.
I will predict (looking for my swami turban) that this will quickly become a non-issue. Why? The perp is a convert to Islam.
Think how much is forgiven if you have that label. Hate to say it, but it may become a resume builder at home and aboard, at the least with “go easy on him, he used Turbo Tax or his aunt is in the country illegally.”
I will predict (looking for my swami turban) that this will quickly become a non-issue. Why? The perp is a convert to Islam.
Think how much is forgiven if you have that label. Hate to say it, but it may become a resume builder in home and aboard, at the least with “go easy on him, he used Turbo Tax or his aunt is in the country illegally.”
Could we not simply return him to Algiers, without any ID, Pump him full of LSD, and let him loose in the middle of some town wearing nothing but a pair of pajama pants, some sandals, and one of those Mohammad cartoon t-shirts?
That would work for me…
Dean Acheson, former Sec. of State under Truman (His memoirs “Present at the Creation” are a MUST read) was on record as holding suspicions about the loyalty of FSO’s if they had foreign-born wives–the possibility of American Muslims being something otherworldly to him I’m sure in his day–and he allowed that most were probably OK, except one always had to worry about the divided loyalties of wives born and raised in Latin America due to the vast differences in their culture, according to him. Of course his concept of “foreign-born” was limited mainly to Europeans–the possibility of FSOs with Asian wives was equally beyond the pale. But his concerns DO point out some of the down-sides of a diverse, non-homogenized society as compared to one in which all share (or at least buy into) a more or less common culture–a culture that is a composite of shared language (English), history and religion–in the case of the US, Christianity.
If one cares to take the trouble to go back and read some old history texts published pre-PC wars, one will find numerous comments by numerous big-time historians who were at pains to point out that it made a HUGE difference that this nation was settled by the English and not the French–so different were their cultures–and this about a difference between half-brothers!
The introduction of Islam into this society is, IMO, the functional equivalent of the Andromeda Strain–so foreign is it’s culture and philosophical outlook to ours. Nothing good can come as the result–just look at Europe, and Holland in particular, with the recent recommendation for prosecution of Geert Wilders for daring to make a film critical of Islam. Or Sweden, where it’s 3rd largest city, Malmo, now has Moslem sections that are “no-go” zones even for the police let alone native Swedes.
We ignore the effects of Islam on our domestic society at our peril.
AW1Tim/
You DO have a devious, sneaky, mal-adjusted hypertensive mind, don’t you?
And I’m jealous…….
Tim wins.
The muslim culture (principal islam) excuses the male in a rape, and punishes the female. Let’s see how they handle this one.
What happened above is worse than abu Ghraib, but it won’t make nearly the impact…for two reasons. First, as stated above, the crime was committed by a Muslim. Second, there wasn’t photographic evidence.
Consider the effect that the photo of Phan Thi Kim Phuc, aka ‘napalm girl’ had on the war effort in Vietnam (it didn’t matter that south Vietnamese forces were to blame, it was deemed a US war crime). The same (well, similar) happened with Abu Ghraib. What people don’t see or hear doesn’t affect them as much. The erroneous “Gitmo Koran flushing” outrage lasted for about a day, and that would generate 10,000 times the outrage of a muslim on muslim rape case for said community. Just wait and see.
I’m with Liz. They’ll milk it for a bit, then conclude they were asking for it since they were alone with the Amer-Muslim in the first place, and he not being a relative and all.
According to the linked article, they don’t need photos – they have video.
Virgil … Regretfully, I agree with you. The Muslim religion is so radically different from the Judeo-Christian religion under which our country and our society was formed, that I can foresee no way in which Muslims can live peacefully with us, as long as they adhere to their Muslim precepts and we adhere to ours. A religion which instructs its believers that it is perfectly all right to brutalize or kill any non-believers [that's all of us who are not Muslims, whether we are religious or non-religious] is fatally dangerous to our personal and political health.
Ugly as this fact is, it is still a fact.
Marianne
AW1Tim, I like the way you think.
To those of you who predict minimal fallout, because he’s a man and a Muslim: maybe. My guess, though, is that his being American will trump his having converted to Islam, and that those who would seize on his crimes as representing America won’t let these little details stop them.
I’m still waiting for some world outrage over UN child-rapers. For some reason, America is always held to a higher standard. (We should have higher standards, of course, but it would be nice if there were some recognition of it.)
Tim has the right idea, except it should be more public and procedural. Try him here, and if he’s found guilty, just send his sorry ass back. SOFAs and diplomatic immunity are in place to protect good people from suffering unduly harsh punishments in other societies as a result of misunderstanding and accidents. They weren’t conceived to be get-out-of-jail free cards for miscreants. Send him back, but publicly. Drop in off in PJs and the toxicity remains. Make him an example and there will always be a scar, but the wound would have an opportunity to close at least.
Impossible!
Muslims do not drink alcohol, so this fiction of them meeting in a hotel bar and slipping something in her, uh drink, is an evil racist plot to tarnish good muslims.
However, there are numerous good solutions proposed above. Sadly, the punishment for the basic offense would probably be worse for h im here than there, but the women will suffer far more than he will if he serves his sentence there.
Except that his CIA affiliation may single him out for some special treatment. Hope he doesn’t know anything that waterboarding might cause him to share with his co-religionists….before the start chopping off parts of his anatomy.
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy.
Be nice to let him be tried there, but he knows stuff and the union for people who know stuff wouldn’t let that happen. Looking at the tea leaves tells me either a show trial or an accident.
“…said she met the CIA officer at a bar in the U.S. embassy…”
Is it normal practice to have a bar within the US embassy, in a Muslim-majority country?
This guy appears to be a major a$$hole, but why does the media need to try him in public before he’s convicted?
Since he’s a “convert to Islam” what’s he doing drinking alcohol? I guess the sexual assault part would be more in keeping with common practice, but isn’t he supposed to marry them first?
Always nice to see ABC news on the job, making sure they release (and ensure world-wide coverage – “ABC News Exclusive” !!) to any story that damages the standing of the US in the world!
Yes, it is normal to have a bar in the embassy–or a consulate, for that matter. One recalls watching a Schwarzkopf press conference during Gulf War I from the bar in the consulate in Jeddah.
Dear Gentle Readers
It is the CULTURE of the US that caused this poor convert to the One True Religion to rape this Muslim sister. It is the CULTURE of the US that caused this poor convert to imbibe in alcohol which fueled his US culture carnally inspired lust. These muslim societies don’t care to read past page one, they don’t care to get the truth, they only care to turn perception into their version of reality.
Well, now – this DO present some intricate possibilities! In the PC world, what trumps what?
Rapist – bad. Muslim – good. Muslim rapist? OK.
American – bad! CIA – bad! But Brother Muslim trumps CIA. Brother Muslim Rape – OK, IF he kills the women in honor killings. After all, women are property, like camels, and if raped, they must be murdered, preferably by male relatives, for they are no good any longer.
BUT – womyn’s groups must protest this! yet Muslim trumps womyn’s rights groups ( notice that they all remain utterly silent in muslim rapes, muslim murders, UN child rapes…)
so. what is the lesson?