Which one is a more heinous crime?

[theBB]

Sorry, this is almost a double post, but I thought it deserves its own thread. This is about the rape and 4 murders in Iraq by a group American soldiers.

Am I the only one who thinks it is odd that both the US news media and the fanatics in Iraq are concentrating on the rape part more than her murder, not to mention the murder of three of her family members? Iraqis are talking about justice or revenge for her being dishonored, while I just saw a newspaper with a headline that says "Army charges ex-soldier with rape". Call me crazy, but he is charged with four murders, should not that be considered a more violent and heinous crime?

[iTwitch]

As I said in the other post murder in a war zone could be blamed on stress but rape is indefensible.

[CorvusCamenarum]

Sorry, this is almost a double post, but I thought it deserves its own thread. This is about the rape and 4 murders in Iraq by a group American soldiers.

Am I the only one who thinks it is odd that both the US news media and the fanatics in Iraq are concentrating on the rape part more than her murder, not to mention the murder of three of her family members? Iraqis are talking about justice or revenge for her being dishonored, while I just saw a newspaper with a headline that says "Army charges ex-soldier with rape". Call me crazy, but he is charged with four murders, should not that be considered a more violent and heinous crime?

It fails to surprise me in the slightest. Murder in a war zone won't garnish nearly the attention that rape in a war zone does. As a society, we're all indoctrinated, one way or another, to react in certain ways to certain words. The images that "murder" conjures up aren't anywhere close to those conjured by "rape".

[Black&Tan]

Its hard to be as repulsed by murder in a war zone than by rape. Rape implies defenseless and female. Therefore an innocent. Murder is unfortunately just another death, which is what war is all about.