In a Sane World, This Would Automatically DQ a Presidential Candidate …..

….. but because it’s Hillary Clinton, it won’t (HT Dr. Sanity; backup link):

Sen. Hillary Clinton said this week that Iraqi women were better off under Saddam Hussein, arguing that when the brutal dictator ran the country women were at least assured the right to participate in Iraq’s public life.

In comments that went unreported by the mainstream press, the former first lady told the Brookings Institution on Wednesday that since Saddam’s removal from power, Iraq’s postwar governing councils had engaged in “pullbacks in the rights [women] were given under Saddam Hussein.”

Sen. Clinton noted that while Saddam had been “an equal opportunity oppressor,” women were at least assured certain constitutional guarantees.

While ignoring reports about the brutal dictator’s rape rooms and other forms of persecution that were routine for women under his regime, Sen. Clinton insisted: “On paper, women had rights.”

And for Iraqi women, those paper promises translated into real benefits, she claimed.

“They went to school, they participated in the professions, they participated in the government and business and, as long as they stayed out of [Saddam’s] way, they had considerable freedom of movement,” Clinton insisted.

But since Saddam’s removal, the plight of Iraq’s women has taken a significant turn for the worse, she contended.

Her statements were apparently made a little over two years ago and cry out for refutation on her part; I haven’t seen one, and don’t expect one.