Gays in Iraq terrorized by threats, rape, murder

By Frederik Pleitgen, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Wayne Drash
CNN

Editor's note: CNN agreed to change the names of the two men in this article to protect their identities.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Kamal was just 16 when gunmen snatched him off the streets of Baghdad, stuffed him in the trunk of a car and whisked him away to a house. But the real terror was about to begin.

The men realized he was gay, Kamal said, when he took his shirt off and they saw that his chest was shaved.

"They told me to take off my clothes to rape me or they would kill me immediately. This moment was the worst moment in my life," he said, weeping as he spoke of the 2005 ordeal.

"I was watching them taking off their clothes, preparing to rape me. I did not know what to do, so I started shouting loudly, 'Please do not do that! I will ask my family to give you whatever you want.' "

His pleas went unheeded. "The other two kidnappers took off my clothes by force, and, at that time, I saw them as three dirty animals trying to tear my body apart."

He was held for 15 days, released only after his family paid a $1,500 ransom. He was raped every day. Only once, he said, was he allowed to talk to his family during captivity. "I told my family that I was beaten by them, but I did not dare to tell my family that I was raped by them. I could not say it, it's too much shame."

CNN spoke with Kamal, now 18, and his 21-year-old friend Rami about what it's like to be gay in Iraq. Coming out as gay is not easy in any country, but to do so in Iraq could mean a death sentence or torture.

It's unknown how many homosexuals have been killed by militias in the lawless streets of Iraq's cities, but some Web sites post pictures of Iraqis they say were killed for being gay.

A U.N. report on human rights in Iraq reinforces the accusations of violence. Although gays are supposed to be protected by law in Iraq, it says, they face extreme brutality.

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House Holds First Don't Ask Repeal Hearing

By: PAUL SCHINDLER
Gay City News

In the first congressional hearing to examine the repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell military code since the anti-gay policy was adopted early in the Clinton administration, a House panel on July 23 heard from five witnesses, three of whom advocated opening up service to openly gay and lesbian personnel, the other two complaining that the policy was not sufficiently effective in keeping homosexuals out.

For Joan Darrah, 9-11 proved a pivotal moment. Having left a Pentagon meeting room seven minutes before it was destroyed in the terrorist attack, which killed seven of her colleagues, she realized that her partner, with whom she has now been for 17 years, appeared on none of her service paperwork and would not have been notified had she too died.

Referring to his full name Eric Fidelis Alva, the Iraq War hero said, "Loyalty is my middle name." Despite the fact that he met President George W. Bush after his injury, he soon came to realize that, "I had proudly served a country that was not proud of me."

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Freedom from religion

First Ammendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

The history of Western civilization shows us that most social and moral progress has been brought about by persons free from religion.

In modern times the first to speak out for prison reform, for humane treatment of the mentally ill, for abolition of capital punishment, for women's right to vote, for death with dignity for the terminally ill, and for the right to choose contraception, sterilization and abortion have been freethinkers, just as they were the first to call for an end to slavery.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is stepping up as a front runner. Since 2006 MRFF has received more than 6,000 complaints, mostly from soldiers who are mainstream christians, about ultra-evangelism in the ranks.

How about Army Spc. Jeremy Hall, who was threatened by military superiors (both officer and nco) because he was atheist?

The story that hit me the hardest was from Justin Cliburn, a Oklahoma National Guardsman. During his time in Iraq he befriended two young boys Ali and Ahmed. They are mentioned throughout his blog many times. Here's the story:

It was another long day at Traffic Headquarters when Ali threw my door open and gazed at me with a puzzled look on his face, pointing to something in his hand. I took the booklet from his hands with the same quizzical look on my face and thumbed through it, right to left, as it was in Arabic.

As I went through each page and tried to make sense of it, Ali turned to a page in the middle and pointed frantically at a picture of a man burning in what appeared to be Hell."Ahmed?!?" He asked with much strain in his voice and tears in his eyes."What? No. Hold on."

I went back and looked through each page again, and, all at once, it dawned on me. I don't speak Arabic, but I read pictures pretty well. This Arabic language comic book portrayed two Arab men in a car or walking down the street (I don't remember now, as it wasn't important) talking about religion. One of them talks about Christianity as opposed to the Islam that the other was holding onto.

A few pages later, a bomb blast is seen (a very real and frequent occurrence in Baghdad) and the two men perish (as Ahmed did.) The adamant Muslim finds himself in Hell, burning in the flames and wishing he had converted to Christianity while the newfound Christian ascends to Heaven and is greeted by Jesus and a Cross. Ali again pointed to the page.

"Ahmed?!?"

"No!"

"No Ahmed?!?"

"No. Bullshit!"

"Bullshit?" he asked, with a glint of hope in his voice.

"Yes, bullshit. Mu-zien." I replied in an assuring voice.

I asked him who had given it to him, and he pointed at the humvee parked behind me. Fitch was sitting in the front seat . . . reading the Bible with that smile on his face that followed him anywhere. "Goddamnit, Fitch" I said under my breath. Didn't he realize that this was actually against the Geneva Conventions? Didn't he realize that we weren't missionaries, we weren't Crusaders?

As I thought about walking back there and explaining it to him, Ali sprinted towards him and told him what bullshit he thought Fitch's literature was. I smiled and decided that Ali could take care of himself in this situation. Ali returned, slightly out of breath, and pointed in Fitch's direction. "Bullshit; mu-zien!" he said with a relieved smile on his face.

In June 2004, the Freedom From Religion Foundation filed the first lawsuit to challenge the creation of the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives, as well as eight Cabinet-level "offices of faith-based initiatives." The case is the Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Jim Towney, et al., 04 C 03981, U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin, Judge John Shabaz.

U.S. District Court Judge John C. Shabaz, ruled on Nov. 12, 2004, that taxpayers do not have standing to challenge executive branch officials who engage in constitutionally suspect activities funded by general Congressional budget appropriations. Bush created the faith-based initiative by executive order.

There ARE many Atheists in foxholes who have served and are serving our country proudly, in all branches of the armed forces. In fact, nearly thirty million Americans do not profess a religious belief. This group includes many people who describe themselves as Atheists, Freethinkers, Secular Humanists or with other appellations.