The Republican Strategy for Resolving Disagreements

On The Superiority of Western Civilization vs. the Middle East

A senior Egyptian general admits that "virginity checks" were performed on women arrested at a demonstration this spring, the first such admission after previous denials by military authorities.

The allegations arose in an Amnesty International report, published weeks after the March 9 protest. It claimed female demonstrators were beaten, given electric shocks, strip-searched, threatened with prostitution charges and forced to submit to virginity checks.

At that time, Maj. Amr Imam said 17 women had been arrested but denied allegations of torture or "virginity tests."

But now a senior general who asked not to be identified said the virginity tests were conducted and defended the practice.

"The girls who were detained were not like your daughter or mine," the general said. "These were girls who had camped out in tents with male protesters in Tahrir Square, and we found in the tents Molotov cocktails and (drugs)."

And yes, this probably has a lot to do with religion. Religion is the primary reason that Middle Eastern women, for the most part, are treated as second class citizens.

Sometimes people will say to me that I have to understand that there are cultural differences that I cannot possibly comprehend, and that culture makes it "OK" -- or at least makes it beyond the ability of those not within that culture to judge. I disagree. And I judge it foul and unfair. The Middle Eastern culture will continue to be inferior to Western culture until the fair treatment of women is a regular practice and scum like this general are prosecuted for such horrible treatment of women.