A 19-year-old woman was kidnapped at knife point by a male companion and gang raped. She was sentenced to six months in jail and beaten severely with a whip. The man who kidnapped her and the others who gang raped her are not charged with any crime. The law in her country dictates that incident is totally her fault for allowing herself to be unchaperoned by a close male relative.

This is the world of women unfortunate enough to be born into the world of radical Islam. The case above happened in Saudi Arabia and is consistent with the traditions of Wahhabism, a strict sect of Sunni Islam. Radical Islam requires women to always be in the “care” of a designated male caretaker. Her life in many ways is far worse than a dog in our culture. She has no freedom, no rights, and no hope. The law serves to punish her rather than protect her.

Such is the religious perversion and dark ages’ culture we are fighting. There is legitimate reason for debate over the best strategy to protect America’s security and national interests. Most dissent seems to have focused on intense animus for President Bush and calls for immediate withdrawal of our troops even though numerous experts have predicted dire consequences in an unstable region infested with radical Islamic factions.

Amid the debate, war fatigue and Bush-bashing, though, where is the outrage on behalf women’s rights? Do their constant intimidation, abuse, and torture mean nothing? Are we more concerned about the rights of captured terror suspects than of these innocent women? And, are we really willing to prematurely withdraw from Iraq and invite near certain ethnic warfare and bloodshed to engulf the region?

In all of the heated rhetoric from critics like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama I have yet to hear even a passing reference to the plight of women in the mostly hidden and misunderstood world of radical Islam. At least a plausible explanation for their willingness to ignore the plight of women and basic human rights is their raw political ambition. Their overheated rhetoric may yield election success, but how will they ultimately reconcile the abyss they choose to ignore that is the world of radical Islam?