Islamists fan rumor U.S. soldiers raping girls

"Citing a column by a U.S. sex therapist, Islamist newspapers in Turkey fanned a rumor asserting American troops have raped thousands of Iraqi women and young girls since ousting dictator Saddam Hussein." This from WND, with thanks to Jeffrey Imm.

"The rumor, strongly denounced by the U.S., is said to have incited Ilyas Kuncak, who executed a car bomb attack last month in Istanbul on the Turkish headquarters of HSBC bank that killed a dozen people, the Boston Globe reported.

"Nurullah Kuncak says his father was boiling with anger before the attack. 'Didn't you see, the American soldiers raped Iraqi women,' Nurullah said in a recent interview, according to the Boston paper. 'My father talked to me about it. … Thousands of rapes are in the records. Can you imagine how many are still secret?'

"The articles in the Turkish Islamist press are based partly on an online column by a California-based sex therapist who says, however, she has written nothing about American soldiers raping Iraqis. Susan Block, who has a doctorate in philosophy, argues she clearly was using 'rape' as a metaphor for 'invasion' in her column titled 'Rape of Iraq.'

"'I am a sex therapist and I use sexual terminology for political commentary,' Block told the Globe. 'I did not say American troops are literally raping Iraqi women. … I don't know if Americans are raping Iraqi women. I do know they are killing them. I don't know if that's much better.'

"A leading Islamist journal, Yeni Safak, published the first front-page article Oct. 22, which stated, 'In addition to the occupation and despoilation, thousands of Iraqi women are being raped by American soldiers. There are more than 4,000 rape events on the record.' The article said its primary source was 'Dr. Susan Block.'

"A second story, Dec. 3, disputed the U.S. claim 54 Iraqis were killed in the city of Samarra Nov. 30 when they attacked U.S. convoys. The Yeni Safak report insisted the Iraqis were shot while rioting over the kidnapping and rape of 30 young girls by U.S. soldiers.

"The U.S. Embassy in the Turkish capital called the reports 'outrageous allegations … based on a U.S. "source" best known for her pornographic websites and erotic television program. We believe it is irresponsible for a serious newspaper to present such false claims from a clearly unreliable source on its front page as if they were fact. We view this article as a deliberate attempt to mislead Turkish readers and to damage the strong ties between the Turkish and American people.'

"Block said she had heard rumors a suicide bomber was at least partly motivated by the alleged rapes of Iraqi women. 'I am appalled to be misquoted and even more appalled that the story inspired someone to such violence,' she told the Boston paper. Executives for Yeni Safak did not respond to an official complaint lodged by the U.S. or to the Globe's inquiries.

"A prominent writer for the Turkish paper, Kursat Bumin, wrote an opinion piece, however, agreeing Yeni Safak's reports were 'without any foundation, without any basis.'

"In an interview in the Turkish press, the suicide bomber's son, Nurullah, said his father's anger holds a clue to his baffling actions. 'Until now, I agreed with the Western idea that suicide bombers were poor people with nothing to lose,' Nurullah Kuncak said, according to the Globe. 'But look at my father. He had two houses, a good shop, five children, and two grandchildren.'

Posted by Robert at January 6, 2004 3:40 PM
Print this entry | Email this entry | Digg this | del.icio.us |