Hi, Robo:

My semi-shredded copy of the King James Bible puts the rape of Dinah in Genesis 34.

I'm not sure how you can draw an analogy between that episode and America's Iraqi problem. It was Jacob who suggested making peace by integrating Hamor's people with his own through circumcision followed by intermarriage. If he was hoping the circumcision condition would be a deal-breaker, the scripture writer doesn't say; what he does say is that Hamor, Shechem and their people accepted the deal gladly, and that Simeon and Levi seized Dinah from Shechem's house and sacked Hamor's city without asking for, let alone obtaining, Jacob's consent.

This would provide an analogy for current events only if you are hypothesizing a joint and combined assault on Iraq made without the knowledge or consent of President Bush. I heard him on the radio when he announced the opening of hostilities, and I don't think that could possibly be the case.

When I get home, I'll hunt up Hannibal in my undergrad Livy -- the Penguin Classics edition; I'm no scholar.