I appreciate your attention and of course I can not think this website enough to opening the door and allowing the facts to be know.

My family says thank you to the editor.

Thanks for the clarification re Dr. Pakkal, that makes sense. I’m not sure what comment about drinks you are referring to, but I recall reading Barker’s statement where she described watching Mokhtare mix drinks for the two of them, Jack Daniels and Coke, and pour a lot more Jack Daniels into her drink than into his own. According to her statement she tasted it, found it way too strong, and set it aside, telling Mokhtare she’d take it with her. Mokhtare drank his, as I recall.

I hope Barker’s current attorneys do a good job for her– she certainly deserves it.

What is it with this whole situation. We just want justice, we dont look for interviews or prance around with smiles doing interviews. We dont look for ghost writers and pay 20k out so we can get money off of this. A victim normally would have a very hard time dealing with everything, time heals all wounds indeed but are you really healed.
If your comment was your sorry for the pains Tracy has been through and other victims because you were a victim of your claims I would say yes you are genuinly a person to listen to, but to say “Oh I was before her and wrote a book. Who F…ing Cares!!!! Our government is not standing up for the inncocent, for rape victims for the US. Thats what we should be talking about Justice for all rape victims, and if you werent raped but fondled will same goes for you to. No one should be a victim and no one should gain fame or advertise for a book sale or deal off the backs of victims like Tracy Barker who has a legitimate case, evidence and sworn affidatives. Tracys story has never changed not once!! Has Tracy ever tagged her name to your sight? Or try to gain justice through your “Book Deal” No in fact Tracy hasnt even written a book she is just trying to seek justie is that so wrong? I ask you. Our father and grandfathers before him fought in many wars, shot and even killed. The blood line going as far back as before the Civil War just to provide the same blanket of freedom that you and I and Cindy and the Jamies of the world could live under. There are many that have been in wars to contribute to the freedom, but is it so wrong for a daughter of a veteran grand daughter or family to want justice without people like you Cindy and Jamie bringing the case down with your pity BS of it happened to me and I have a book or looking for a screen play or claiming someone went through a foundation or to their office all because of publicity? We are sick and tired of people like you not leaving us alone by comparing your rape stories as you rape us of our dignity and spirit.

I hope you get justice for what happened to you, I hope you can make a deifference in the world and contribute wisdom from that book of yours with out selfeshness all about you, I hope that perhaps words of wisdom can rise of the filth that our government passes out these days acting like justice does not exist.

I hope that one day people will look back at this and what congress has done and learn from it.

To womens space can we please start a petition today demanding answers of why this is allowed to happen and submit them to Congress? Lets petition and hav every women across America sign it so that no one else is re victimized or abused after coming home. This army wife rape survivor deserves more than this who cares if she isnt white or from texas this is wrong

Hear you loud and clear and I’ve wondered about this too,

in fact, lol, I tried to start a Women’s Liberation Army,

only to be met with either aloofness or just outright fear, that I was crazy or something,

I attempted this while working in far left, and sad to say, it flopped, the interest just wasn’t out there.

I got the idea from reading about women in India, that did get fed up with the police/system treating rape as if it was nothing, and some of these women formed mobs and started going after these men who rape,

and burned down their houses. Needless to say, not long after that, the Police started taking serious attention and addressing the problem [I'll see if I can find that story], but when I brought this up to the socialists,

they laughed and said it was crazy, I mean I heard every excuse under the sun [commies too], and it wasn’t so much the men that bothered me,

it was the silence of the women, that hurt, I mean I just couldn’t understand for the life of me how these women could support women bombers in Palestine or support regimes that are notorious for using women and children as ’shields’ to fight MEN’s wars [religious or political]

yet, the idea of women forming an army to defend themselves from rape/violence,

was met with the idea being absurd. Its brothers who should protect them, the idea is,

but the ironic twist, hell the Brothers are raping them too.

OR I got the, you can’t take on man’s nature, and I see those points, I’m no supporter of misandry by no means…

but there is a difference between a genocidal plan against men, and an army/strategy to DEFEND a gender from the other’s violence,

a HUGE difference.

When in looking into this, I looked into the women who did fight back, and found historical cases of either small minorities who fought back [like the women in Poland who fought the Nazi's] or the women in Mussolini’s Italy that fought in the underground resistance,

or women in Soviet Union [Night Witches] who were pilots,

but one thing that I noticed, is that they were all women units only, and the thing is,

when women are solitary or a minority in a midst of many men, Especially in a war zone, they are easy targets, one woman can’t fight off twenty men with guns, fists, etc.,

but now, fifty women can fight off twenty men, BUT–then what comes to mind, is the Spanish Anarchist women in WWII I believe, or maybe during Spanish War [Franco], where all the women combatents were slaughtered, but I haven’t done enough reading on that [seen the famous photograph why I remember it], but that possibly could have been due to unequal strength in numbers/and arms.

But you are right, animals can defend themselves but women are demonized if they defend themselves…and thats a GREAT example btw, one I never thought of,

but animals have more rights to self-preservation than women do.

That says volumes doesn’t it?

But the problem I think with getting women together like this is the myth or belief that ‘it won’t happen to them’,

that somehow they are insulated from the violence in one way or another, or maybe fear…maybe the fear that, as long as they don’t look at it, it really isn’t as bad as people say,

and especially in places where though violence against women exists, its not like in the comparisons of other places where brutal violence is like in the streets and on daily basis. And in those places, even before war/conflict breaks out, brutal violence against women is sanctioned and accepted through years of indoctrination and systematic legal sanctions of, so that women don’t even get to that place of a consciousness of it [generally speaking, exceptions to this obviously as there are women in prisons for fighting in these types of systems].

So that leads me to believe, that women often choose to hide/retreat or to not look at or confront because that is how they choose to deal with violence,

the flight or flee response, and women often choose to flee.

Because in fighting, there is that very real threat of death, and more violence and not overcoming and that I think holds so many women back [same as the backlash effect and why so many women just say to hell with it and do the best they can under the circumstances].

So there are several things at work there/here, and too, I found women who have suffered horrible male violence, are so damaged by it, that they have a hard enough time just living again and confronting that violence to fight it, is just like, trigger after trigger after trigger,

because it is, WARFARE,

what women do on this space is WARFARE, whether they realize it or not and it does cost in wounds, it really does.

And its a brutal warfare because women who take a stand against porn or prostitution or racism or domestic violence or rape, etc., get slammed from every side,

and thats just the emotional toll.

I had a lot of anger at the women in far left who stayed silent, until I walked away for a while and even got out of fighting anything, and just retreated for a bit and realized, just the impact it had on me when I was heavily persecuted by comrades for taking a stand for women,

I didn’t realize just how much it was rape, though they didn’t rape me physically, they still raped me, hard to explain but then I had to deal with the ‘why did I open up or why did I put myself into that situ’ and the same psychology,

and for a while there, I thought, it simply isn’t worth it and I focused on Martha Stewart and cooking and gardening for a while, I know don’t laugh people but seriously, I finally understood why women just turn to those things and work on creating beauty,

because its the one area, usually, that men don’t have control in, in other words, it gave me a whole new appreciation of women’s space,

BUT…

then I got angry at hiding, got angry that, it started to feel like a prison of sorts,

damnit sometimes its just a no win you know,

but I understand a lot more now why women Don’t join in the fight, or they find other ways to resist and retreating sometimes isn’t just like, not caring or not wanting change, its just a way of protecting and even snubbing the male world,

BUT you are right–eventually you run out of hiding spaces and not only that,

doesn’t matter how much one retreats, even animals who flee, eventually the predators come to the hiding places and seek them out until yes, one day that animal has to fight…

you know though Doves are peaceful birds [I do small rescue for parrots and doves] but anyway since they are peaceful animals, people think they don’t fight–NOT TRUE,

birds do flee, but when push comes to shove, they’ll fight, including doves, and they’ll lie on their backs and fight to the death…

so nature has given life the ability to fight, that surviver instinct–

question is, though, what has over centuries, robbed that from Women?

And thats the true root of the evil in Patriarchy and that is how it has indoctrinated, even brainwashed /conditioned women through centuries into the belief that they do not have a right,

to that instinct.

Or to act on it.

One reason men hate feminists [and some women] and I’m talking general terms here, is that

there is POWER in many women, coming together and fighting oppression.

Why the Nationalists, my theory, really started going after women because the way to control women is to put guilt on them for being in solidarity with women of the ‘other’,

get what I’m saying…its a real threat.

IF in Iraq, the women, Muslims and Americans were to get together with guns, and form an Army just to protect women,

I can guarantee you, the men fighting each other, no matter What ideology or what religion, would get together, and go after the women…sure they’d blame each other for not ‘controlling’ their women or for ‘causing their women to rebel’ [like they do in theory],

but they’d sure as quick do what they could, using violence, to stop those women in their tracks,

and thats exactly why, like Women in Black gets the persecution they do, by both sides or all sides in the conflict–they are a threat,

not just to the war mongers, but to the Patriarchs.

And I believe that is why, in every absolutist ideology and authoritarian ideology is so against feminism,

the first thing those seeking power or seeking to maintain power over citizens/people is they disarm them,

then they cause divisions among them.

Once they do those two [and they kill the intellectuals as well] then you have absolute control,

the reason the military doesn’t have all women’s units,

is because they can control them that way…

but now, in addition, segregation doesn’t work either,

because its Three things they do [power positions], they Disarm them too,

and kill the intellectuals,

and with women, they disarm them by forcing economic dependence, controlling their sexuality, conditioning them with guilt and self-hate beliefs, etc.,

they divide them not just by nationality/ethnicity but by the setting up of private ownership via marriages,

and they kill the intellectuals,

everything or every God, is MALE.

and all women are evil are are 80% hell or are less than, blah blah blah and all that other b.s. that men have done with religion to control women,

so women have been challenging those devices that the oppressors use,

but maybe too, one area we don’t focus much on, is that challenging women’s belief/or conditioning about

self defense, not just as individuals,

but as women, as a group.

Until we challenge that, I often wonder, just how much, in not challenging that we somehow might be helping the oppressor in keeping women divided…

and I’ve used the nation analogy, but the analogy of animals defending themselves and people being fine with that,

describes the problem way better…really exposes just how internalized oppression in women has become.

“What if nobody is left?” Well, then I guess nobody is left. Wouldn’t trouble me too much. I am starting to think the human race is an evolutionary defect that has only survived by a twist of fate.

And for those people saying violence is not the answer, well it seems to be the answer to every other problem! Wars have been fought for almost every reason but they will never be fought over the treatment of women. Even most women don’t seem to care about their own basic dignity and safety. Steal someone’s car, people think they should get the sh*t beaten out of them. Rape a woman, its just a slap on the wrist. And if you think more should be done, you are “radical”!!

Lay your hands on an unwilling animal and get bitten, everybody will say you deserved it, that you should have backed off. Lay your hands on an unwilling woman and get shot…well, its HER fault, for not submitting fast enough. Even an animal is allowed to defend itself before a woman. She’s just supposed to hug her attacker and have a good cry and not inconviencience him. Does that make sense to you? not to me!

So you can also count me in the “mean monstrous violent feminazi” category. I don’t think any of this brutality against women will ever end until a certain number of women start lashing back with brutality of their own. Why not? Everything else seems to be moving us backwards, not forwards. I am sick of being told to be nice and peaceful when mostof the world seems determined to hate us no matter what.

there are some feminists, in socialist/communist and yes, many who fought for ERA [and the DRAFT of women],

are still fighting for the draft of women today.

and the ludicrous assertion that if more women are in the military and on the front lines, somehow the sexism and sexual violence towards women would stop, or that the military would become,

kinder and softer.

I question, where the hell are these women Today that pushed so hard for equal opportunity in the Armed Services? Because I sure as hell don’t see a kinder and softer military, do you?

Just last year, Radical Women had an article about the gret merits of GI Jane,

I wonder, how many of those same women would praise the GI Jane mentality if they were the ones serving having to fight off rape on a Daily basis, having been raped, or continually being raped and then finding that the Military, that our Government, that our Society,

does Nothing, and that the Rapists not only get by with with impunity but get Promoted as well?

I still remember all the hate comments that some of the Conservative feminists got when they fought the passage of ERA over this very issue, and some still who are treated with vile contempt when they dare speak up against the toleration of cultural relativism and religions that Sanctify and even DEMAND the rape and demonizing of women.

Now before I get misunderstood here, I’m in NO WAY SAYING that women in the military deserve getting raped or are somehow at fault, THEY ARE NOT, and I support the right of women to be in the military so don’t misconstrue what I’m saying here,

BUT, it has always been my strong belief, that while some of the best warriors in history have been WOMEN, in the majority of cases, such as WWII, etc., there have been Women ONLY units,

and I strongly believe thats what is needed, and until then, we will never see an end to the rapes of women in the Military…because the belief that just having a women’s presence in times of war, somehow means a kinder and softer military,

is just sheer bullshit.

And the Iraq war has proven it beyond a shadow of doubt. You don’t END militarization and violence against women by including women in the patriarchal scheme of things, same reason why women in the capitalist economy as CEOs and as members of the economic elite doesn’t end the feminization of poverty or sexual exploitation of women and children due to economic factors.

The issue I’m pointing to here is the Fallacy of the Degender belief, that if somehow you rid of gender, the problems of misogyny just magically disappear,

it simply isn’t true.

When I read about the rapes of women in Iraq [American and Iraqi women, and not just by Americans but by men period, INCLUDING THE sanctions of rape/child rape via religion and all the other garbage out there], its not just patriarchy I get angry at,

or militarization or religion or capitalism…

why the thinking of it just being the US, mean imperialist US is the problem, doesn’t cover half of it either, because this goes on everywhere, and in many places rape isn’t even something that is punishable, except to women, e.g. Pakastan.

But I have to add, I get angry [livid in fact] at the feminists who have some responsibility to these women, because I don’t see a lot of rage coming from feminist groups [other than the anti-war groups and this place here, Women's Space] on the rapes of women combatents, women workers by American men,

not only do I not see rage but I see alot of ’silence’ on the issue. When abortion is being challenged, you see women in this country getting all upset and on the streets,

but when women, time and time again are reporting how they are being raped in Iraq,

nothing, nada,

almost like its some sort of accepted thing. This goes way beyond the ‘rape culture’ or even the porn culture in this nation,

it goes way beyond racism because its not just women of color being raped in Iraq [though statistically I've read that more women of color are raped in Iraq--BUT, just one thing to add to that--

its the Poor women or women from the lower economic strata in this nation, in the military, that are being raped with impunity and there is absolutely no outrage over this, not only that,

government/military is PROTECTING THIS CRIME.

And I bring up Class because its not just women being raped in high numbers, men too, though we don't Hear about it,

if you read the reports by the Veterans for Peace, including the Women working to bring justice to the countless victims of rape in Iraq [including the workers, e.g., Haliburton, etc], the numbers of men, being raped is extremely high,

its called Command Rape, and its something our Military, is a huge part of and promotes,

so its not only that if a white woman reports it that it gets attention, but if its a person with some ‘wealth’ or influence, that reports it…that it gets a bit more attention,

or gets attention at all. In other words, its not just gender, its not just race,

its CLASS,

and the environment of the military, is Blatant Revelation of what our SOCIETY IS AS A WHOLE,

it makes the Roman Empire look tame in comparison.

In addition,

while Veterans for Peace [the women's section] is addressing this issue of the sexual violence toward women in Iraq/in militarized zones,

the anti-war movement as a whole [because I worked in it for years] and the leftists,

don’t Even want to bring the issue up, much less address it. Its not just the US government at fault, or Haliburton or society,

you can place Just as much blame, on the anti-war movement [dare I say it but I will] on their Deliberate silence and INDIFFERENCE

to these women.

and whats worse,

is the Indifference I witnessed, not by the men only,

but by a few women, because if they were to address these crimes against women,

it would mean opening up the whole debate on women in war zones [including women in military/or non-combatant services during war] and That would mean,

bringing up the issue of gender. Some I’m sorry to say, would rather deal with a few women being raped and gang raped as collateral damage [though they will attack US imperialism],

than to maybe, just maybe accept, that maybe the conservative women, had some Valid POINTS.

Because the bottom line is, in both economics and military, when women have joined to achieve equality–

its been on the virtue of MALE VALUES,

not women’s, and we’ll never have a kinder and gentler world, as long as we continue, to try to sweeten up male patriarchy, with a few feminine whiles.

It simply doesn’t pan out…this includes having reverse matriarchy with a patriarchal mentality…same damn thing,

I don’t know the answers, to so much of these problems but I do know this much,

the degender feminists [Marxists, Socialists and yes, Liberal feminists] in this nation, have done a huge disservice to countless women, young women especially, and it isn’t just the military at fault,

some of the blame goes to the older women who pushed for women in war zones/combat, etc., in the 70s and 80s, and who have since then, turned their backs on these women.

Because most of them, were upper middle class or elites, WHITE, and knew Damn well, they wouldn’t be the ones,

on the war front.

They to me, are Just as accountable as the US government, the military, and Haliburton,

but I doubt, if few will have the courage, to say so.

I don’t want men to shoot at rapists. I want men to not rape. And I want men not to tolerate rapists. Don’t shoot them; shame them.

Problem is, that’s harder, isn’t it. You don’t get to be the Big Guy Hero when you turn somebody in to the authorities against the brother-code, nor when you believe the word of a woman over that of a man who says she was drunk and is just feeling guilty now, nor when you stop being a man’s friend because he’s uses dehumanizing language about women, nor when you tell male friends in no uncertain terms to stop treating women poorly. No, then you’re a fussypants and that’s actually HARD and not that FUN. Much harder and less fun than playing Rapist-Rambo!

So, spare me “innocent until proven guilty” (when it comes to actually prosecuting rape a woman has alleged) combined with your entitlement to simply start shooting when YOU think something’s wrong. It speaks volumes.

Jeyoani, so true. In going through the records and exhibits filed in her lawsuit, I found documents in which Barker describes being raped very clearly. But somebody — not Barker herself — submitted a “statement” on Barker’s behalf for the Congressional hearing, something she did not write, which says she was exhausted and drugged and so she “didn’t resist” Grabein. It’s unbelievable that someone would write something like this for the hearing that was not true and would submit it in Barker’s name. I don’t know all of the ins and outs of how this might have happened, but I do know that I read Barker’s own description, in her own words, of being raped. I have been told by family members of Barker (via e-mail) that she had nothing to do with the statement submitted for the congressional hearing and she did not author it or sign it.

So far as the word getting out, Alternet picked up on the story via its “Peek” section yesterday that features excerpts from blogs. It’s got Feminist Peace Network’s post linking to this one. Also, a reporter from a Fort Worth newspaper e-mailed me yesterday wanting to do a story on Barker and I forwarded her e-mail on to relatives of Barker. I’m so glad the word is getting out.

But at any rate I don’t think we have a disagreement, especially after reading your comment three.