The Republican statements on rape remind us that rape is a political topic and a political action. It was used in the civil war in Yugoslavia, and it has been used in civil wars in Africa, among many other places. It demonstrates that women are powerless and, if the woman belongs to another ethnic group, it demonstrates that the ethnic group is powerless. It is the next-to-ultimate weapon in any conflict, the ultimate being murder. However, because rape can result in pregnancy, it has an added result, which may make it even more powerful than murder. Women can be forced to bear the children of the enemy.
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