IS THIS THE BEST YOU CAN DO?

The 'Traditional Muslim Behavior' Defense
From the Arab News:

Shoura Council Chairman Dr. Saleh Bin-Humaid has urged US authorities to review the case of Homaidan Al-Turki, a 37-year-old Saudi student who was found guilty in a Colorado state court of 12 counts of sexually assaulting his Indonesian maid. . . .

Al-Turki, a former Ph.D. student at the University of Colorado, maintains that he did not sexually assault the woman, whose identity has not been disclosed due to the nature of the alleged crime, and has accused US officials of persecuting him for "traditional Muslim behavior." . . .

Al-Turki, who had been a graduate student in Colorado for nine years, was sentenced in August 2006 to 20 years for the rape charges and eight years for theft of the maid's wages.

James Taranto from the Best of the Web, Wall Street Journal so aptly notes: "If you're trying to improve the image of Islam in the West, invoking 'traditional Muslim behavior' to defend a rapist is probably not a good idea."

Some defense, eh?