Alleged Libyan rape victim may hold key to dismantling Gadhafi’s hold

For the supporters of Moammar Gadhafi and his regime this article by Joe Pompeo titled Alleged Libyan rape victim Iman al-Obeidi breaks through to the international press does them little justice and proves that this regime and their supporters needs to be dealt with.  In the report he writes about an alleged rape victim, Iman al-Obeidi who claims that she was raped and beaten by guards loyal to Gadhafi.  She was quoted as saying "I showed to the journalists my hands and legs. I was bound and tied up. I was beaten and tortured, for two days they violated my freedom ... I want to convey to the journalists that the brigades who are supposed to protect people, look what they did to me."  "They had my hands tied behind me and they had my legs tied, and they would hit my while I was tied, and bite me on my body, and they would pour alcohol in my eyes so that I would not be able to see, and they would sodomize me with their rifles, and they would not let us go to the bathroom. We were not allowed to eat or drink. This is because I resisted them and tried to stop them from raping me."

For those who may wonder just who we should believe consider the sources, “the country's state-run media carried out an aggressive smear campaign painting her as a prostitute and madwoman. Her family, however, said that she was a post-graduate law student studying in Tripoli.”  “Also on Monday, a Libyan government spokesman told the Associated Press that al-Obeidi had made a deal with the country's attorney general that prohibited her from speaking with reporters.”  "She broke her agreement with the attorney general by trying to speak to the media and was taken away," the spokesman told the newswire, which also spoke with a woman the government claimed was an attorney representing al-Obeidi in the rape case. "She doesn't want to speak to journalists because she said she wants to get justice through the courts," the woman told the AP. "But she is comfortable, living with her sister in Tripoli, and is in good spirits."

While there may be a valid case made of each side having an interest in making the other sound worse than the other but one only have to contemplate to what advantage.  I believe that she may hold the key to the dismantling of Gadhafi’s hold because if her story gets out there will be many other women who may come forward.  This possible obvious violations of civil and human rights would go quite far in delegitimizing the Gadhafi regime and give his supporters more reason to question just where their loyalty lies.  Though it may be the larger boulders that keep an avalanche going, it’s often the smaller ones that start it.