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Word.

The way I see it, Allegra - incorporating your comments along with those of a military family member serving over there, parts of her account are quite plausible, some are clearly being spun and others are harder to credit.

(1) It is entirely plausible that unruly male contractors (many of whom themselves are in their late teens to early twenties) would take advantage of an intoxicated woman and rape her. Even drug her.

I have witnessed drunks in that age group do pretty sickening things before and have had to intervene.

Contracting in Iraq probably attracts many of the same personality types as the American Frontier did - some people hoping to accomplish great things, some people looking for exciting adventures, and some people looking to escape the boundaries of normal civilized behavior.

(2) What seems spun to me is the container thing: first because the average person would assume that being in a container would be like locking a person in the back of a truck in the desert - not that it was a common form of housing unit in Iraq that generally contained basic amenities like AC. Moreover, if you had a woman in distress who was sexually assaulted by a group not all of whom she could identify, you would not want her out and about among the wolves in her state.

The incommunicado part is much more troublesome.

What also is spun is Rep. Poe's position in all this. He is a pretty outspoken guy, and I would imagine he would be banging the drum in the press about this. He has not been particularly vocal.

(3) What is not plausible is Army medical personnel - presumably women - giving custody of evidence to the employer of the accused.

That just seems like a complete violation of procedure and a complete violation of common sense, and Army medics as a group have a pretty outstanding reputation for professionalism.