Wayne Besen - Author, Activist, Columnist, Public Speaker

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Gays Murdered In Iraq; Officials Do Nothing

Ever wonder why we are in Iraq? It was supposed to be for freedom (after the WMD's were non-existent). But if you are gay in Iraq - your life is under attack. It is so bad, that many gay people prefer Saddam.

"Those were the most beautiful days of our lives," a gay man told Newsweek. "The fall [of Saddam] was the worst thing to happen."

Gay people in Iraq are in hiding or on the run because our invasion turned over much of the country's security to religious fanatics. Iraqi and American officials don't want to talk about this issue because they say we should be concerned about real problems - such as terrorism and murder. They say this as if hunting down and killing GLBT people is not real terrorism or murder because homosexuals are getting what they deserve.

If this is why we invaded Iraq - it is even a larger waste of time and money than I had imagined. It is time to leave this moral cesspool and help GLBT Iraqis escape to true freedom in civilized countries.

3 Comments:

This is also something the UN should be looking into. Since this is about gays being murdered, I don't think this will ever be a priority in any western society. We're not important enough and we really don't matter. Securing oil and big fat profits are more important to our government than human rights. Gays fleeing persecution or death are being deported back to their countries in far larger numbers than those who are granted asylum in the west, whereas, straights fleeing to the west are welcomed with open arms provided they can prove persecution, their sexual orientation is never questioned. Gay refugees have to prove they're gay before they're even considered for asylum. Do western governments really believe that someone could pretend to be gay and face deportation or death back from whence they came should that not prove to be the case? Why would we expect our own government or others to behave humanely or any differently given the situation in Iraq, Iran and elsewhere in the Islamic world? By our refusal to do anything, we are complicit in these evil acts of inhumanity. If these were white American straights in a similar situation, we'd be hearing from the White House and the media would be in uproar! Where are the so called Christian denominations in all this? Why aren't they speaking up? So transparent.
posted by Anonymous, at 8/27/2008 1:40 PM

Iraq better off under Saddam Hussein? What a profoundly stupid idea. While there are problems in Iraq today, most of these problems existed before the war too; the only difference is that it rarely got reported, no one dared to talk about it and it was much worse than it is now.

There are security problems in Iraq, created by many including those who made Iraq look secure and stable in the eyes of the world during Saddam's rule; but were Iraqis really secure back then? If you think that when the security servicemen come to your house and wipe out your family is security, then Iraqis were secure! If you think that when the government terrorizes people is security, then Iraqis were secure!

Leftists will use any shallow argument to attack policies and people they disagree with, to make political gains, and or to simply show their opposition. They are living in denial and will continue to do so because they can not accept change, even if that change is right. They choose to ignore facts and only see what they want to see and disregard the rest. They choose to ignore or grossly minimize the horrors that the Iraqis used to live by everyday under Saddam's rule.

Living hopelessly is much more destructive than any problem you see in Iraq today, and Iraqis were hopeless before the war. If you don't see the possibility of a bright future for Iraq, if you have no hope today, then you must be either blind, short sighted or living in denial.
posted by Anonymous, at 8/27/2008 2:22 PM

Anderson Cooper?
Rachael Maddow?
posted by Anonymous, at 8/27/2008 8:54 PM