Women and Revolution in Iran

I am not "minimizing" the situation - I am merely putting it in perspective. These types of abuses are not new to Iran, they are not new to any Third World or developing nation, and they certainly are not new to humanity. You are making the situation appear worse than it actually is. Mazier proudly displays the nickname "Shahenshah" - this is a clear indication of his support for the previous regime of Iran (that of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi), which was overthrown by the Ayatollah Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Should I expect any of his views about the Islamic Republic of Iran or her current regime to be just or fair?

Mazier jan, I am not denying that human rights violations are committed by members of the IRI or those Hezbollahis who may be loyal to the regime but I am questioning the validity of your claims as well as the extent to which these violations are made.

Can you honestly have "Shahenshah" as your nickname and expect me to believe that you are unbiased in your views about the IRI? The Shah was deposed and his supporters who were forced to flee to the West still bear ill-will towards the IRI. I do not have anything against you personally Mazier, I understand your nationalism, but I am in serious doubts as to your motives.

Mazier, this is false and you know it. If the Islamic establishment has already concluded that the Muslim girl in question is a sinner and hence she shall burn in the Hellfire (as described in Islamic jurisprudence) anyway, then there would be no reason for the Islamic clergy to allow for the rape of any Muslim woman.

And you are also overlooking the fact that pious Muslims (which I am assuming those who are loyal to the IRI are) would not rape or sexually violate a Muslim woman.

very well said Morty, Yes we have to talk about it, and no one should oppress women regardless of which religion or political or social views.

I would deny any absurd claim unless it was substantiated with solid evidence.

My claims are not biased at all. You have lost this argument and since you cannot validate any of your anti-IRI posts, you have fallen to the level of launching personal insults against me.

What do I have to prove? I am not the one that has posted article after article, started thread after thread, villifying an entire people as you have. You are the one who has made these ridiculous accusations and hence, the burden of proof lies with you.

I would hope that providing a "source" would be an "unwritten" rule of any debate. Only naive children would take for truth the opinions of others without being provided unbiased proof to collaborate the claims.

Again, YOU are the one that has made the accusations on AE -countless times if I may add - and the burden of proof lies with you.

You are correct. I am not an "Iranian information agent" and this is definitely not Iran.

If you were an Iranian journalist, I would hope that you would write substantiated articles instead of trying to pass off your own gossip and opinion.

You have failed to answer any of my questions, all you have done is turned around and accused me of being a "supporter of the IRI" and an "Iranian information agent" - those aren't rebuttals.

So, just because someone disagrees with you and the sources you present, they are "obviously" a "Mullahs' regime supporter" ? As if I needed any more proof that you are deranged.

I was discussing this issue with you in a respectful manner but once you realized that your arguments were flawed, you chose to be disrespectful towards me by accusing me of being biased, and a supporter of the IRI - which I am not.

Morticia, I respect you. I believe you to be a very intelligent person and as such, I am ASTONISHED and deeply troubled that you would take into account the views expressed on a website such as that. Please take a look at the other articles posted on that website from where you have obtained that article. The website can hardly be considered trustworthy. It is obvious to anyone with an open mind that the website is nothing more than a blog for hate-mongers. If they make a mistake or a wild accusation, they are not held responsible, nor do they feel the need to apologize to their audience. I am asking you to seek the truth in the written word of reliable sources such as the British Broadcasting Company, the Canadian Broadcasting Company, the New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, etc. � an entity that is responsible to its consumers, one that checks the facts and prints only the facts and not merely the opinions or views of hate mongers.

As far as your question about the rape of female Iranian prisoners is concerned, allow me to answer:

If the rapes of Iranian female prisoners inside the Islamic Republic by Iranian government agents do in fact take place, (and for the sake of argument, let us assume they do), then these rapes are not condoned by the ruling establishment � the Shia Islamic clergy. The rapes of female prisoners take place because MEN are placed in a position of authority over these women without the fear of repercussions for their actions. It is the same reason that Bosnian Muslim women were raped en masse by the Eastern Orthodox Christian Serbs, it is the same reason that Eastern Orthodox Christian Russians rape Chechen Muslim women today, and the same reason that Eastern Orthodox Christian Russians raped Afghan Muslim women during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, it is the same reason that Christian American soldiers have raped Iraqi women, it is the same reason that Christian American soldiers raped Vietnamese women during the Vietnam War, it is the same reason that in American prisons today, male corrections officers routinely rape female and male prisoners, need I go on? When men have absolute power over another person � especially a female � and they do not have fear of any condemnation for consequences for their actions, it has historically been proven that some men will in fact take advantage of their position and engage in activities that they otherwise would not take part in.

Also, bear in mind that devout Muslim men who view themselves as fighters in the name of Islam would not dare harm a Muslim woman � even if she were only nominally Muslim. Take into consideration the fact that the 3,000 to 6,000 estimated foreign Muslim fighters who entered Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1992-1995 and fought on the side of the Bosniaks against their Serbian aggressors did not partake in the so-called spoils of war by raping Muslim or Christian females or looting from areas that came under their control. Whereas the Serbs, Montenegrins, and Croats indulged themselves in the mass rapes of Bosnian Muslim women, the foreign devoutly Muslim fighters chose to instead marry some of these women � had they wanted to � they too could have engaged in mass rape, they were in the same situation and subjected to the same harsh conditions of war that their adversaries were in � but they did not! They had higher moral standards because of their faith and because they were God fearing men.

Take a look at the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Taliban came to power and were at first welcomed by the Afghans because the Northern Alliance fighters who now have the backing of the United States, engaged in the kidnapping and rapes of Afghan Muslim women. The Northern Alliance fighters are and were all Afghans but they were either nominally Muslim or Communists (implying that they were atheists and not God fearing). Mollah Mohammed Omar won fame when he and 30 of his Talib students took up arms and publicly executed a local Afghan warlord who had raped two teenaged girls. Do you think the Taliban ever raped a Muslim woman? Ask any Afghan woman that lived in Afghanistan during their rule � sure they were guilty of suppressing women�s rights in other areas but they never sexually molested or raped a woman.

The same can be said of northern Nigeria and of Somalia. In the former country, crime and rape was rampant until the Islamic clerics installed Sharia Law, now, the rogues and thugs fear the consequences of Sharia Law being imposed upon them by devout Muslim men and rape occurs far more often in the southern Christian parts of Nigeria than the northern Islamic states of that country. In Somalia, the atheist or nominally Muslim militias backed by the United States have been guilty of perpetrating rape and other vile crimes against the Muslim women and Muslim members of Somali society � and that is why the Islamic Courts and the Muslim militias aligned with the Islamic Courts are actually winning the approval of the Somali people � because they do not engage in rape or other violations of women!

I cannot say this enough times, devout Muslim men do not rape Muslim women � especially in an officially Islamic state governed by Islamic principles.

Btw: You are very right � I am rough around the edges. LOLOL

I am sorry Mazier but it is you and not I that has made the accusations, and it is you and not I that has been unable to substantiate the allegations, and it is you and not I that has a history of posting articles from extremely biased sources.

All I asked you to do was provide me with ONE credible, neutral, unbiased source to substantiate your accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran but you have consistently failed to do that and instead you have chosen to attack my personal character because you lacked a good counterargument.

Prior to posting such nonsense, you ought to take into careful consideration, the source from which these allegations are being made. The link you have posted is not credible. It is not a reputable media outlet. It is a blog maintained by some Jewish extremist with the surname "Horowitz" - now tell me something, do you really expect a Jewish extremist to have an unbiased view of Islam or the Islamic Republic of Iran, the same Iran that currently is the only threat to Israel? The link you posted is utter nonsense. I can't believe I even bothered to read such racist, anti-Muslim, Islamophobic garbage.