The Dogs That Didn't Bark

Power Line’s John Hinderaker describes the horrific plight of Nazanin Mahabad Fatehi, a 16-year old girl living in Iran and sentenced to death:

According to her account, Nazanin was with her sixteen-yeare-old niece and their two boyfriends when they were approached by three men who tried to rape them. The boyfriends fled, and Nazanin defended herself with a knife she carried in her purse. She stabbed one of the men, who later died. So far, at least, I haven’t seen any version of the facts that differs materially from Nazanin’s account.

Nazanin was prosecuted for murder and sentenced to hang. The verdict was apparently set aside by an ayatollah, and she is due to be retried tomorrow, January 10.

Hinderaker and Gates of Vienna wonder why newly elected Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) and CAIR are strangely silent regarding her plight. Hinderaker writes:

One would think that just about anyone, in this country, anyway, would oppose a teenaged girl’s being hanged for an act of self-defense. Yet, among those who raised a hue and cry about Saddam Hussein being “taunted” before being hanged for the murders of thousands, there has been a strange silence about Nazanin’s case. It is a bit troubling that so far, all of the liberals who have weighed in at the Forum have been hostile to the idea of asking Ellison and CAIR to use their influence on Nazanin’s behalf. Why is this, exactly?

Good question.