Putting aside the relative benefit of being anybody -- gay or straight -- under Saddam's regime versus the current one, this article also brings to my mind the question whether Kuwaitis would have been better off under the secular regime of Saddam when he took over that country back in the early 90s or whether they are better off today under their religious regime.
This is an interesting question because unlike the invasion of Iraq in '03, the Kuwait "liberation" invasion under Bush41 was supported by about 90% of the electorate before, during, and after the invasion (and with the exception of certain extremists on this forum probably by everyone here as well). One of the things emphasized more than any others in the current war is of giving freedom and democracy to Iraqis. In Afghanistan we constantly hear about women being given degrees of freedom (eg basic education!) after the U.S. libeation that were unheard of under the Taliban. Equality to women is one of the main taglines for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. Well, Saddam may well have been a monstrous murdering dictator but he did believe in the equality of the sexes and education for all, cornerstones of Bush's policies in Iraq and Afghanistan. No, Saddam probably wouldn't have instituted free elections in Kuwait had he stayed but the Kuwaitis didn't have that under the Kuwaiti regime either! So all things being equal, Saddam did indeed bring the very real promise of liberation and freedom to Kuwait, at least relative to what they had under the Kuwaiti regime. AND he was more than happy to continue supplying oil to his then-ally, the United States. So if anyone has a problem with invasions by the U.S., complain about that one first. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Rick Archer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Before the US invasion of Iraq, under Sadam Hussein, gays were more or less > left alone. Now, with religious fascism on the rise, more than 430 gays have > been executed since 2003. How ironic, as the neo-cons invaded Iraq > supposedly to remove a dictator and create a democracy that will spread > throughout the middle east. Instead, they have unleashed religious extremism > in the country, as this article about the execution of gays clearly details. > It proves that all the neocons really wanted was to exploit Iraq's oil > wealth, and that they had no interest in human rights at all. Of course, > should this surprise us? The Republicans in the US are the part of bigotry, > sexism, racism, and homophobia. -=-=-= om-==- Nick > > > When militiamen from the Mahdi Army came by the compact, two-story stone > home in the Doura neighborhood of > <http://www.newsweek.com/related.aspx?subject=Baghdad> Baghdad, they weren't > looking for Sunnis to harass. They were hunting gays. "Bring us your son's > cell phone," one ordered the middle-aged man who came to the gate. They > wanted to check if his son, Nadir, had been calling foreigners--and in fact > he had only hours earlier called this reporter to set up a meeting, and he > had repeatedly called a gay nongovernmental organization (NGO) in London. > Fortunately, Nadir was ready for them and produced a "clean" phone he keeps > for just such a threat. This time they left, but vowed to come back if they > found any evidence he was gay--or was talking to undesirable foreigners. Now > that <http://www.newsweek.com/related.aspx?subject=Iraq> Iraq's sectarian > war has cooled off, it's open season on homosexuals and others whose > lifestyles infuriate religious hardliners. > > Sometimes the act of reporting a story is revealing in itself-- especially > when it proves particularly difficult. This was the case when NEWSWEEK began > looking into the problems of Iraq's homosexuals after hearing reports of > secret safe houses around Baghdad where many of them were taking refuge from > the militias' self-appointed morality police. After weeks of inquiries, > NEWSWEEK managed to find Nadir and persuade him to arrange a visit to one of > the safe houses he helps run. Instead, the Mahdi militia rousted him the > night before. Established in 2004, the militia is the armed wing of the > organization led by radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has been an > implacable foe of the Maliki government. Terrified, Nadir contacted people > at the London-based gay NGO that finances the safe house, and they > instructed him to break off the visit. > > That was only one of many problems reporting on gays in Iraq. Iraqi > authorities scoffed at the subject--when not scolding a reporter for even > asking about it. Some of NEWSWEEK's own local staff were wary of the story. > Virtually no government officials would sit for an interview. And the United > Nations human-rights office, which has a big presence in Iraq, dodged the > subject like a mine field. As with a number of Muslim societies where > homosexuality is officially nonexistent but widely practiced, the policy in > Iraq during <http://www.newsweek.com/related.aspx? subject=Saddam+Hussein> > Saddam Hussein's rule was "don't ask, don't tell." But that has changed. > Iraqi LGBT, the London NGO that Nadir works for, says more than 430 gay men > have been murdered in Iraq since 2003. For the country's beleaguered gays, > it's a friendless landscape. > > Many officials say they feel that in a country at war, there are more > pressing concerns than gay rights. A Ministry of Justice judge rebuked a > reporter for wasting time on such an issue, noting that "crimes of sodomy" > are "very rare" in society and even rarer in the courts. "Most acts of > homosexual people are being done in dark corners and, with corruption and > paying bribes, they will be kept there for a long time, for it is not on the > top of our priorities list, which is occupied by issues of terror, > kidnapping and killing," said the judge, who would not allow his name to be > used discussing gays. An adviser to the government of Prime Minister Nuri > al-Maliki said that of all the meetings he has attended, none ever touched > on the rights--or even the existence--of homosexual Iraqis. > > The only recourse for Iraqi gays seems to come from activists abroad. Iraqi > LGBT, which was founded to defend the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and > transgender (LGBT) Iraqis, looks after about 40 young men between the ages > of 14 and 28 in several Baghdad safe houses. There they are fed, can watch > TV, hang out and sleep in cramped quarters, their beds inches apart. They > stay away from neighbors and rarely leave their immediate area. "I hope you > can see how sensitive and very important the security issue is for the safe > houses," said <http://www.newsweek.com/related.aspx? subject=Ali+Hili> Ali > Hili, who fled Iraq and received asylum in Britain. > > Hili continues to use a pseudonym to protect himself and insulate relatives > still in Iraq. He has not returned home in eight years but does visit Syria > and Jordan to raise money and check on an underground railroad that helps > spirit some gay men out of Iraq. He says the government tries to monitor the > group's activities. Saif, one of the older residents at an Iraqi LGBT house, > recalls Saddam's repressive but secular regime wistfully. "Those were the > most beautiful days of our lives," he says. "The fall [of Saddam] was the > worst thing to happen." > > Most people seem to prefer that the subject just go away. A written request > for an interview at the Legal Section of the Ministry of Human Rights was > greeted with a suggestion to delete the word "gays." A sympathetic senior > government official warned that a direct request to talk to a minister about > gays could result in a short conversation. "I would ask about women, > displaced people, children and others before you get to that," he offered. > Officials at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Human Rights > ministry maintain that they do not keep statistics about gays, largely > because the number is so small, "barely mentioned in Iraq" according to one > of them. > > Even relatively liberal people in Iraq seem to have harsh attitudes toward > this subject. "These people are not welcome in the society because they are > against the social, natural and religious rules," said one well- educated > Iraqi who did not want to be identified more closely. A Baghdad executive > said religion and tradition have made the overwhelming majority of Iraqis > hostile to homosexuals. "Nobody is interested in talking about this at all," > he says with a grim chuckle. A handful of gay men told NEWSWEEK harrowing > stories about being cast out of their homes or savagely attacked by the > storm troopers of virtue: Shia extremists among Badr Corps operatives (many > of whom are now in the Iraqi Security Forces) or groups like the Mahdi Army, > and sometimes both. But when told of such atrocities one Iraqi acquaintance > blamed the victims, calling them "the lowest humans." > > Persecution of gays will stop only if Iraqis can abandon centuries- old > prejudices. They would have to acknowledge that human rights don't cover > only the humans they like. Insisting that gays are just a few undesirable > perverts who "should be killed"--as one Iraqi who works in journalism put > it--encourages an atmosphere of impunity no matter the offense. Killing gays > becomes "honorable." And raping them is OK because it isn't considered a > homosexual act--only being penetrated or providing oral sex is. > > Ali Hili says the government, security forces, judiciary and religious > establishment are complicit in terrorizing gays. Since the late- evening > visit by the militiamen, Nadir has moved to another part of Baghdad and > stayed away from home. "They said, 'We will get you even if you fly to > God'," he says. Changing Iraq's attitudes toward its gay minority may prove > even harder than ending the war. >
