Saudi gang-rape victim is jailed, appeals conviction, now sentenced to 200 lashes

While the Bush Administration media machine attempts to convince the American people that things are going great in Iraq and democracy is spreadin' round the world, Saudi Arabia — you know, home of the real 9/11 terrorists — continues in its archaic and inhumane treatment of women:

An appeal court in Saudi Arabia has doubled the number of lashes and added a jail sentence as punishment for a woman who was gang-raped.

According to the Arab News newspaper, the 19-year-old woman, who is from Saudi Arabia's Shia minority, was gang-raped 14 times in an attack in the eastern province a year-and-a-half ago.

But the victim was also punished for violating Saudi Arabia's laws on segregation that forbid unrelated men and women from associating with each other. She was initially sentenced to 90 lashes for being in the car of a strange man.

On appeal, the Arab News reported that the punishment was not reduced but increased to 200 lashes and a six-month prison sentence.

The Bush Administration has long been willing to overlook transgressions by the Saudis. After all, there is a long and well-documented history between the Bush family and the Saudi royal family. So despite the fact that most of the 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, despite the fact that six years later the Saudis continue to funnel millions to al Qaeda, despite the fact that Saudi Arabia is repeatedly cited for human rights violations such as the woman mentioned above, the Bushes do HEART them some Saudi Arabia.

After all, blood is thicker than water, but oil is the thickest of them all ....