Iraqi liberation and (un)intended consequences

Guest post by Boatboy

One of the key principles we were given for the invasion of Iraq -- at least after we were told repeatedly about Saddam Hussein's ties to terrorists and plans to attack the U.S. -- was that the freedom-loving, humane Iraqi people were just waiting to be liberated from their cruel oppressors. We were repeatedly spun yarns about the open and free society a post-Saddam Iraq (with U.S. help) would look like.

It certainly didn't include this:

A prominent Iraqi human rights activist says that Iraqi militia have deployed a painful form of torture against homosexuals by closing their anuses using "Iranian gum." ... Yina Mohammad told Alarabiya.net that, "Iraqi militias have deployed an unprecedented form of torture against homosexuals by using a very strong glue that will close their anus.' According to her, the new substance 'is known as the American hum, which is an Iranian-manufactured glue that if applied to the skin, sticks to it and can only be removed by surgery. After they glue the anuses of homosexuals, they give them a drink that causes diarrhea. Since the anus is closed, the diarrhea causes death. Videos of this form of torture are being distributed on mobile cellphones in Iraq."

Towleroad has more.

Of course, the victims in the story are all Teh Gay, so it's possible pro-war conservatists considered the potential for this sort of development acceptable.

Before anyone starts with "well, it's over there" arguments, consider that this is a fairly new phenomenon in Iraq -- post-invasion, to be precise. Also, James Dobson, Michael Savage, Jerry Falwell, and a host of other conservatists have made statements that would encourage anti-LGBT violence here in the U.S. When challenged, the passed those statements off as "humour" and accused their challengers as "hypersensitive."

This story certainly isn't humour, and it's factual. Try being hypersensitive to that.