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Week of
December 29, 2011 | | SCANDAL When Egyptian activist Samira Ibrahim was subjected to a so-called virginity test—a humiliating probe performed by male military doctors—she refused to let it stand. The 25-year-old Ibrahim boldly took her case to court, speaking out against the degrading practice. The court agreed with Ibrahim’s argument that the bogus tests were being used to embarrass, punish, and intimidate female protesters. Now, because of her bravery, the Army’s “virginity tests” on female detainees have been forbidden. Still, while the verdict is a victory for Egyptian women, the country’s courts do not have jurisdiction over military personnel, so it remains to be seem whether the law will be obeyed. IRAN In one of the year’s closely watched stories, American hikers Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer were released from prison in Iran, following the release of a third hiker, Sarah Shourd. Now, in a Daily Beast exclusive, Shourd describes for the first time why she thanked Iran after her ordeal—and the response from global Iranians. The reason she thanked her captors, she explains, was purely to increase the chances that her friends would be released. Expecting to be widely criticized for the move, she instead received a surprising flood of support from Iranians around the world, saying they understood. Now she issues a different statement of thanks to the people who took her hostage: “Thank you for using us to further deepen your own crisis of legitimacy around the world.” FIRST LADY Republican Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner was red-faced this week after an onlooker overheard him insulting Michelle Obama while on a private cell-phone call at an airport. The First Lady, he said on the call, is unfit to “lecture us about eating right” because “she has a large posterior herself.” His rant was in reference to her “Let’s Move” campaign to fight child obesity. His comments follow those of Rush Limbaugh earlier in the year, when he also criticized the First Lady’s physique, saying she didn’t look like a swimsuit model. Says writer Akiba Solomon in a must-read editorial, “Clearly, these petty, dirty old men have been gawking at the First Lady’s behind when they could have been studying and debating ‘Let’s Move’ policies.” OUTRAGE Joe Biden caused a storm of controversy when he said in a recent Newsweek interview that the Taliban is not our enemy. Afghan-American writer Fariba Nawa begs to differ. In a searing editorial on The Daily Beast, Nawa says her family lived in fear under the Taliban in Afghanistan when she was a child, with her grandmother being beaten by Taliban operatives and her female cousin being forced to quit school. “If the United States is negotiating an end to war with the Taliban,” writes Nawa, “I plead those negotiations do not mean the end of freedom for Afghan women.” To find out what you can do to help ensure a solid future for women in Afghanistan, go to Women for Women International. FRONTRUNNER? As Republicans search for a clear leader in the Presidential race, insiders are buzzing about the emergence of former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice as a potential running mate. Writes analyst Kelli Goff, “In 2004, Rice’s popularity was credited with helping to save the presidency of George W. Bush.” She explains: a poll at the time showed that 54 percent of Americans did not believe President Bush had done all that he could to prevent the 9/11 attacks. Then Rice appeared before the 9/11 Commission—and the number of Americans who believed the President had not done enough suddenly dropped to 40 percent. Now, Republican insiders hope to tap that popularity again. | | 
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