Saturday, December 18, 2004

Keeping the peace

In the corner of the tent where she says a soldier forced himself on her, Helen, a frail fifth grader with big eyes and skinny legs, remembers seeing a blue helmet.

The United Nations peacekeeper who tore off her clothes had used a cup of milk to lure her close, she said in her high-pitched voice, fidgeting as she spoke. It was her favorite drink, she said, but one her family could rarely afford. "I was so happy," she said.

After she gulped it down, the foreign soldier pulled Helen, a 12-year-old, into bed, she said. About an hour later, he gave her a dollar, put a finger to his lips and pushed her out of his tent, she said.

From a New York Times story by Marc Lacey. Old scandal, new details.

It’s interesting how, when the Abu Ghraib story broke, so many Democrats were calling for Donald Rumsveld’s (or even George Bush’s) resignation, and in the wake of all the recent scandals surrounding the UN, so many Republicans are calling on Kofi Annan to resign. Why do we apply our standards so selectively?

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