Gays flee Iraq as Shia death squads find a new target

Huzzah, huzzah! Freedom is on the march! Democracy is taking root in Iraq! We've liberated them from the oppressive rule of Saddam Hussein so that the people of Iraq can live in a free and open democracy, free from the fear of Saddam's death squads and torture chambers. All Iraqis, please step forward and enjoy your new liberty!

Uh, hold on, queers, step back please:

(The Observer [UK]) [Iraq] is seeing a sudden escalation of brutal attacks on what are being called the 'immorals' - homosexual men and children as young as 11 who have been forced into same-sex prostitution.

There is growing evidence that Shia militias have been killing men suspected of being gay and children who have been sold to criminal gangs to be sexually abused. The threat has led to a rapid increase in the numbers of Iraqi homosexuals now seeking asylum in the UK because it has become impossible for them to live safely in their own country.

Holy Muhammad, Batman! What did those homosexuals do to deserve this, try and get married or something?

Homosexuality is seen as so immoral that it qualifies as an 'honour killing' to murder someone who is gay - and the perpetrator can escape punishment. Section 111 of Iraq's penal code lays out protections for murder when people are acting against Islam.

Ah, yes, wasn't that part of the Iraqi Constitution we helped them establish? You know, where Islamic law overrules secular law?

One shows two men, suspected of having a relationship, blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs - guns at the ready behind their heads - awaiting execution. Another picture captured on a mobile phone shows a gay man being beaten to death. Yet another shows a corpse being dragged through the streets after his execution.

One photograph is of the mutilated, burnt body of 38-year-old Karar Oda from Sadr City. He was kidnapped by the Badr Brigade in mid-June. They work with the Ministry of Interior and are the informal armed wing of the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq, who make up the largest Shia bloc in the Iraq parliament. Oda's family were given an arrest warrant signed by the Ministry of Interior which said their son deserved to be arrested and killed for immorality as a homosexual. His body was found ten days later.

Well, after all, he did make the wrong "lifestyle choice". There's no word on how they managed to prove any of these men were homosexuals, but honestly, is proof even necessary? It's so obvious that these guys were gay by the way they talked, dressed, and acted, or at least, it must've been obvious, because nutjob fundamentalists would never mistake, say, shyness for effemininity or a speech impediment for a lisp. No matter: if you choose to be gay and Islam says its bad, you deserve to die. Vive la democracy!

Eleven-year-old Ameer Hasoon al-Hasani was kidnapped by policemen from the front of his house last month. He was known in his district to have been forced into prostitution. His father Hassan told me he searched for his son for three days after his abduction, then found him, shot in the head. A copy of the death certificate confirms the cause of death.

Oh, yeah, almost forgot: even if you are a child and don't choose to be gay, you still deserve to die, if someone forces you to do immoral acts.

Yup, we've really helped Iraq to set up a fine example of democracy to take root and flower throughout the Middle East. Between the Shia death squads in Iraq and the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, we stand a good chance of creating a long-term gay-free oil production colony. Somewhere in Topeka, Fred Phelps must be jealous.