Finally President Bush speaks up about Qatif Girl case

This is not enough; President Bush needs to instruct the State Department to lodge a formal complaint with Saudi King Abdullah about the case. But Bush's public words are a start:

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush on Tuesday expressed his anger about a Saudi Arabian rape victim who was sentenced to prison and 200 lashes for being alone with a man not related to her. [*]

"My first thoughts were these," Bush said, when asked about the case at a news conference. "What happens if this happens to my daughter? How would I react? And I would have been — I'd of been very emotional, of course. I'd have been angry at those who committed the crime. And I'd be angry at a state that didn't support the victim."

Bush, however, said he has not made his views known directly to Saudi King Abdullah, an ally. But he added: "He knows our position loud and clear."

The woman was found to be in violation of the kingdom's strict segregation of the sexes. Saudi Arabia has faced enormous international criticism about the sentencing.

* Actually, the sentence was 90 lashes for the crime of sitting in a car with a man who was not related to her. The sentence was increased to 200 lashes and six months in jail because she had the impertinence to tell her story to a human rights organization and the Saudi press.