i was going to say

another example of us bringing our brand of democracy to iraq....however, on second thought, WE WOULD IN FACT DO THE SAME THING HERE (we do it now). stone or beat gays, lesbians, transgendered or bi. instead of worrying about someone else's family (in THAT way) worry about your OWN. (yes, i believe we should look out for one another BUT NOT HURT ONE ANOTHER)

Iraqi gays face 'lives of hell'
By Jim Muir
BBC News, Baghdad

Grainy footage taken on a mobile phone and widely distributed around Baghdad shows a terrified young Iraqi boy cowering and whimpering as men with a stick force him to strip, revealing women's underwear beneath his dishdasha (Arab robe).

"Why are you dressed as a girl?" roars one of the men, brandishing his stick as the youth removes his brassiere.

The sobbing boy, who appears to be about 12, tries to explain that his family made him do it to earn money, as they have no other source of income.

The scene, apparently filmed in a police post, reinforced reports of a campaign against gays in Iraq which activists say has claimed the lives of more than 60 since December.

In the latest manifestation of the campaign, posters have appeared on walls in the poor Shia suburb of Sadr City in eastern Baghdad, listing alleged homosexuals by name and threatening to kill them.

Those named have gone underground, while gays throughout the city and in some other parts of the country also live in fear..................

walls wars shia and sunni

and it was NEVER our bid-nez.

except now it is. now we stirred the pot and it's boiling over

But There are Still Corpses on the Streets
The Great Wall of Baghdad Rises

By PATRICK COCKBURN
The first thing Said, a small contractor, did on visiting a military prison in west Baghdad was to pay a $2,000 bribe. The money went to an officer in return for a promise not to torture Said's brother and business partner, Ali. The main payment comes later. For Ali's release, Said will pay a further $100,000.
The brothers are Sunni, and the police commandos who arrested Ali are Shia. What happened to him explains why the US military "surge", the dispatch of 20,000 extra troops to Iraq announced by President Bush in January, is failing to end the Sunni-Shia sectarian civil war in the capital..........

.................The American relationship with the Iraqi government is a mixture of genuine support and contemptuous neglect. President Bush phones Mr al-Maliki once a fortnight, though government members complain the Prime Minister never passes on the contents of these conversations............