Saddam Hussein Considered ‘Security Agreement’ With U.S. To Counter Threat From ‘Fanatics’ In Iran
Saddam Hussein Considered ‘Security Agreement’ With U.S. To Counter Threat From ‘Fanatics’ In Iran
Yesterday, the National Security Archive released declassified FBI reports detailing both the bureau’s interrogations and “casual conversations” with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. According to the documents, Hussein told FBI agent George Piro (one of only a few agents who spoke Arabic) that he let the world believe he had weapons of mass destruction because he feared appearing weak to what he considered his country’s real threat, Iran:
Hussein’s fear of Iran, which he said he considered a greater threat than the United States, featured prominently in the discussion about weapons of mass destruction. … Hussein said he was convinced that Iran was trying to annex southern Iraq — which is largely Shiite. [...]
“The threat from Iran was the major factor as to why he did not allow the return of UN inspectors,” Piro wrote. “Hussein stated he was more concerned about Iran discovering Iraq’s weaknesses and vulnerabilities than the repercussions of the United States for his refusal to allow UN inspectors back into Iraq.”
Saddam “felt so vulnerable to the perceived threat from ‘fanatic’ leaders in Tehran that he would have been prepared to seek a ‘security agreement with the United States to protect [Iraq] from threats in the region.’” If that could not happen, only then, he said, would Iraq reconstitute its WMD programs.
Piro revealed to CBS’s 60 Minutes last year that Saddam “didn’t want to associate” with Osama bin Laden and viewed him “as a threat to him and his regime.” The new documents expound on Saddam’s distrust of Al Qaeda and bin Laden, whom he called “a zealot”:
Hussein replied that throughout history there had been conflicts between believers of Islam and political leaders. He said that “he was a believer in God but was not a zealot…that religion and government should not mix.” Hussein said that he had never met bin Laden and that the two of them “did not have the same belief or vision.”
When Piro noted that there were reasons why Hussein and al-Qaeda should have cooperated — they had the same enemies in the United States and Saudi Arabia — Hussein replied that the United States was not Iraq’s enemy, and that he simply opposed its policies.
President Bush, Vice President Cheney and numerous members of the Bush administration repeatedly cited the (now debunked) threat from Iraq’s supposed WMD program and Saddam Hussein’s alleged links to Al-Qaeda as the main justifications for launching the invasion of Iraq more than six years ago. The U.S. could end up spending trillions of dollars in Iraq and today, 130,000 U.S. troops remain there, 4,321 have died (4,639 total from coalition forces), and more than 30,000 have been wounded. Over 100,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the invasion while millions have been displaced.
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Iraqis jubilantly celebrate U.S. troop withdrawal.
Iraqis jubilantly celebrate U.S. troop withdrawal.
U.S. forces handed over formal control of Iraq’s major cities today (it is already Tuesday in Iraq), “a defining step toward ending the U.S. combat role in the country.” In celebration, Iraqis launched fireworks and “thousands attended a party in a park [in Baghdad] where singers performed patriotic songs. … Loudspeakers at police stations and military checkpoints played recordings of similar tunes throughout the day, as Iraqi military vehicles decorated with flowers and national flags patrolled the capital.” Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who had called the withdrawal a “great victory,” declared June 30 a public holiday. Some scenes of celebration around the country:
Cheney Worried That Iraq Withdrawal Will ‘Waste’ The Sacrifice By U.S. Troops
Cheney Worried That Iraq Withdrawal Will ‘Waste’ The Sacrifice By U.S. Troops
Tomorrow is the deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq, a date Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is calling a “great victory.” But in a new interview with Washington Times radio, Vice President Cheney was still pushing the U.S. to stay in Iraq, saying that withdrawal would “waste” the sacrifice of U.S. troops:
Mr. Cheney told The Washington Times’ America’s Morning News radio show that he is a strong believer in Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and that the general is doing what needs to be done.
“But what he says concerns me: That there is still a continuing problem. One might speculate that insurgents are waiting as soon as they get an opportunity to launch more attacks.
“I hope Iraqis can deal with it. At some point they have to stand on their own. But I would not want to see the U.S. waste all the tremendous sacrifice that has gotten us to this point.“
Cheney said that he respects Odierno, who is concerned that there “is still a continuing problem.” Cheney was referencing Odierno’s comments from a CNN interview yesterday. However, Cheney left out the rest of the general’s comments, in which he said that he doesn’t see such “a breakdown in stability” likely to happen:
ODIERNO: Well, again, I think — I think it has to do with if we see a breakdown in stability in Iraq; if we see a consistent increase in violence; if we see that the Iraqi security forces aren’t able to respond; if we have some event that it caused some instability, then that would cause us to, maybe, after we’re asked by the government of Iraq, to help.
I don’t see that right now. I believe we’re on the right path. And I want to make sure you understand that. I believe we are still on the right path. I think security and stability is headed in the right direction as we move through 30 June.
Furthermore, in an interview with CBS yesterday, U.S. ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill said that in “overall trends, you see that violence in this year, ‘09, are considerably less. … We think, we are certainly ready to make this move and most importantly we believe the Iraqi forces are ready to take over this mission.”
Cheney has long been fear-mongering on U.S. withdrawal, hoping to keep troops in Iraq as long as possible. In April 2008 he made the misleading claim that al Qaeda would “acquire control” of Iraq’s oil resources if the U.S. left, also compared withdrawal to “betrayal.”
Rumsfeld initially declared Iraq ‘off limits’ for new biography.
Rumsfeld initially declared Iraq ‘off limits’ for new biography.
Washington Post reporter Bradley Graham has a new biography out on Donald Rumsfeld called “By His Own Rules.” According to a review in the New York Times, Graham “goes out of his way to give Mr. Rumsfeld the benefit of the doubt,” but ultimately concludes that the former Defense Secretary was “neglectful” in planning for post-war Iraq. However, Rumsfeld originally refused to talk about Iraq at all:
Mr. Graham writes that Mr. Rumsfeld initially “put talk about Iraq off limits” when he agreed to be interviewed for this book, and while he “relented and addressed a number of aspects of the war” in their final interview in late 2008, his remarks in this area aren’t terribly illuminating for the reader.
President Bush has similarly been trying to erase Iraq from his legacy. A recent five-minute promotional video for his presidential library had just one mention of Iraq (and a full 35 seconds of clips of 9/11 and Bush’s subsequent reaction). Bush’s official bio on his presidential library doesn’t have a single mention of Iraq either.
House Republicans prepared to do the ‘immoral thing’ and vote against war supplemental.
House Republicans prepared to do the ‘immoral thing’ and vote against war supplemental.
The Hill reports that the House Republicans “are preparing to vote en bloc” against President Obama’s war funding bill, representing a striking 180-degree turn:
For years, Republicans portrayed the bills funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as matters of national security and accused Democrats who voted against them of voting against the troops. In 2005, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) went so far as to say sending troops into battle and not paying for it would be an “immoral thing to do.” And just last year, more House Republicans voted for the war supplemental bill than did Democrats, who opposed the legislation because it did little to wind down the military effort in Iraq. But Republicans say this year is different.
The GOP objects to increased funding to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help aid nations through the financial crisis, funding the GOP is calling “a global bailout.” That the financial crisis was largely caused by the United States doesn’t seem to trouble House conservatives.
Kyl: Who cares if Europe doesn’t like Guantanamo, they didn’t like when we invaded Iraq either.
Kyl: Who cares if Europe doesn’t like Guantanamo, they didn’t like when we invaded Iraq either.
On CSPAN’s Newsmakers today, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) attacked President Obama’s efforts to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. “The real question is why do it and the only answer is, ‘well, it’s a symbol,’” said Kyl, adding that “the terrorists don’t need Guantanamo to figure out that they don’t like the United States.” When the host noted that Guantanamo “has been an issue in Europe, among leaders, our allies,” Kyl replied, “big deal.” “They didn’t like the fact that we invaded Iraq and replaced Saddam Hussein either.” Watch it:
Considering that the decision to invade Iraq ultimately “made the American people less secure,” Kyl shouldn’t be so dismissive of those who said from the start that it was a mistake. Likewise with Guantanamo Bay. Kyl dismisses the negative symbolic power of Guantanamo, but as the Center for Strategic & International Studies concluded in September 2008, “the United States has been damaged by Guantánamo beyond any immediate security benefits. Our enemies have achieved a propaganda windfall that enables recruitment to violence, while our friends have found it more difficult to cooperate with us.”
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Colbert Report visits Iraq.
Colbert Report visits Iraq.
The U.S. Army confirms that Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report,” has arrived in Iraq to tape a week of shows. Colbert’s trip is dubbed “Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando.” The visit was organized by United Service Organisations (USO), which arranges entertainment and support for American troops overseas. “The USO counts this as military service, right?” Colbert said in a press release. “I might want to run for office some day.”
Cheney: Iraq war ’saved lives.’
Cheney: Iraq war ’saved lives.’
Speaking this afternoon at the National Press Club, Cheney vigorously defended the Bush administration’s national security policies, including the decision to go to war in Iraq, which he rhetorically linked to 9/11 over and over. He also declared that the Iraq war “saved lives”:
CHENEY: The problem we were faced with in the aftermath of 9/11 was the possibility of another 9/11-style attack, only with much deadlier technology, a 9/11 with nukes or biological agents of some kind. That concern drove a lot of our thinking in that period, in those months after 9/11. … I think it was a sound decision to make. I think it was an important part of our overall strategy in the Global War on Terror. I think it saved lives.
Watch it:
Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction. He had no links to al Qaeda. And the Iraq war has resulted in the deaths of more than 4,300 American soldiers and roughly 100,000 Iraqis.
Powell refuses to answer questions about torture-Iraq war link.
Powell refuses to answer questions about torture-Iraq war link.
Earlier this month, Colin Powell’s former chief of staff, Larry Wilkerson, revealed that the reason why detainee Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi was waterboarded was not to prevent another terrorist attack, but to unearth “a smoking gun linking Iraq and al-Qa’ida.” This false confession was later used by Powell in his infamous February 2003 U.N. speech making the case for the Iraq war. On Sunday, blogger Sam Husseini asked Powell about al-Libi. In a tense exchange, Powell refused to talk about the detainee, saying, “I don’t have any details on the al-Libi case:”
Q: Your chief of staff, Wilkerson, has written about this.
POWELL: So what? [inaudible]
Q: So you’d think you’d know about it.
POWELL: The information I presented to the UN was vetted by the CIA. Every word came from the CIA and they stood behind all that information. I don’t know that any of them believe that torture was involved. I don’t know that in fact. A lot of speculation, particularly by people who never attended any of these meetings, but I’m not aware of it.
Watch it:
A recent Senate Intelligence committee report concluded that al-Libi lied about the link “to avoid torture.” “They were killing me,” al-Libi told the FBI about his interrgators. “I had to tell them something.”
Liz Cheney Claims Her Father Would Never ‘Substitute His Own Judgment’ For The CIA’s
Liz Cheney Claims Her Father Would Never ‘Substitute His Own Judgment’ For The CIA’s
Last month, after President Obama released Bush-era legal memos authorizing torture, McClatchy’s Jonathan Landay reported that former Vice President Dick Cheney “applied relentless pressure on interrogators to use harsh methods on detainees in part to find evidence of cooperation between al Qaida and the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime.” Earlier this week, former NBC News investigative producer Robert Windrem reported for The Daily Beast that in 2003, “Cheney’s office suggested waterboarding an Iraqi prisoner, a former intelligence official for Saddam Hussein, who was suspected to have knowledge of a Saddam-al Qaeda connection.”
On ABC’s This Week today, Cheney’s daughter, Liz Cheney, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, responded to the allegations by pointing to a report yesterday in which intelligence officials “denied that the questioning on Iraq had included waterboarding.” Asked, however, if she denied that Cheney’s office asked “to have information about Iraq-al Qaeda connections presented” to the Iraqi detainee, Cheney did not outright deny it:
STEPHANOPOLOUS: You’ve explained one part of it, I just want to ask you to explain another part of it. The report though that the vice president’s office did ask specifically to have information about Iraq-al Qaeda connections presented to this detainee, do you deny that?
CHENEY: I think that it’s important for us to have all the facts out. And and, the first and most important fact is that the vice president has been absolutely clear that he supported this program, this was an important program, it saved American lives. Now, the way this policy worked internally was once the policy was determined and decided, the CIA, you know, made the judgments about how each individual detainee would be treated. And the Vice President would not substitute his own judgment for the professional judgment of the CIA.
Watch it:
Cheney’s claim that her father would never “substitute is own judgment for the professional judgment of the CIA” is striking, especially in the context of establishing a link between al Qaeda and Iraq. The truth is that when the CIA didn’t give Cheney the info he wanted about an Iraq-al Qaeda connection, he marginalized the agency:
In the initial stages of the war on terror, Tenet’s CIA was rising to prominence as the lead agency in the Afghanistan war. But when Tenet insisted in his personal meetings with the president that there was no connection between Al Qaeda and Iraq, Cheney and Rumsfeld initiated a secret program to re-examine the evidence and marginalize the agency and Tenet. Through interviews with DoD staffers who sifted through mountains of raw intelligence, FRONTLINE details how questionable intelligence was “stovepiped” to the vice president and presented to the public.
New Yorker reporter Jane Mayer, who wrote a book about “the dark side” of the war on terror, told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow this week about how after 9/11 Cheney “was dissatisfied with the kind of information that had been given to them from the CIA,” so he requested raw intelligence reports and “took away the filter that the CIA had had.”
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Gore: Cheney is in no position to talk ‘about making the country less safe.’
Gore: Cheney is in no position to talk ‘about making the country less safe.’
On CNN’s American Morning today, former Vice President Al Gore hit back against his successor, Dick Cheney’s, claims that President Obama’s policies are making the country less safe. “Obviously, I strongly disagree,” said Gore. “You know, you talk about somebody that shouldn’t be talking about making the country less safe, invading a country that did not attack us and posed no serious threat to us at all.” Watch it:
Steve Benen notes that Gore emphasized how he “waited two years” after he left office to criticize the Bush administration.
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Iraqi militias gluing anuses of gay men and inducing diarrhea to cause death.
Iraqi militias gluing anuses of gay men and inducing diarrhea to cause death.
Relying on an International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission translation of a recent Al Arabiya story, the blog Towleroad reports that Iraqi militias have been engaging in some particularly brutal tactics toward gay men in Iraq:
“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.’”
The Iraqi defense ministry reported earlier this month that six gay men were shot dead in a Shia-controlled part of Baghadad. “Two of the bodies, found on Thursday, had pieces of paper attached on which was written the word ‘Pervert.’” According to the source in the Al Arabiya article, “for the past 3 weeks a crackdown on homosexuals has been going on based on a religious decree that demands their death; dozens have been targeted.” The persecution “is not confined to the Shiite clerics,” the source said. “Some Sunni leaders have also declared the death penalty for sodomy on satellite channels.”
Iraqis outraged over Blackwater’s slow exit from the country.
Iraqis outraged over Blackwater’s slow exit from the country.
In January, the Iraqi government announced that it would “not issue a new operating license to Blackwater Worldwide,” which is now known as Xe, and that the company would have to be out of the country “as soon as a joint Iraqi-U.S. committee finishes drawing up guidelines for private contractors.” But the AP reports today that the company is “still protecting U.S. diplomats in Iraq, even though the company has no license to operate there and has been told by the State Department its contracts will not be renewed two years after a lethal firefight that stirred outrage in Baghdad.” Some victims of that firefight are angry that the company has yet to leave:
Some Iraqis wounded in the September 2007 shootout by guards for the former Backwater Worldwide security firm expressed anger and dismay Tuesday after reports that the company will continue work in Iraq longer than previously thought.
Hussein Jabber, a Baghdad lawyer hit by gunfire in the deadly melee, says he was outraged at the Iraqi government for not taking a harder stance against the company, now known as Xe.
“The Blackwater personnel are mercenaries. The Iraqi government knows that very well,” said Jabber, who still has bullet fragments in his arm and side from the Sept. 16, 2007 shooting that left 17 Iraqis dead and another 20 wounded in Baghdad’s busy Nisoor Square.
The State Department has said that the company’s guards will stop protecting U.S. diplomats on the ground in Baghdad on May 7, when that specific contract is up. But the AP reports that the company’s guards “are slated to continue ground operations in parts of Iraq long into the summer, far longer than had previously been acknowledged.”
Bush Releases New Promo Video For His Library, Highlighting 9/11 And Largely Ignoring Iraq
Bush Releases New Promo Video For His Library, Highlighting 9/11 And Largely Ignoring Iraq
Former deputy press secretary Scott Stanzel has posted a new video of President Bush promoting his presidential library. In the five-minute video, there are a full 35 seconds of clips of 9/11 and Bush’s subsequent reaction. However, there is just one mention of Iraq in the entire piece. Additioanlly, Bush promises to use his library “policy center” to be “front and center” pushing for another attempt to privatize Social Security:
BUSH: At some point in time, the Congress is going to have to fix the Social Security system. I‘d like the center to be front and center in that debate and propose solutions. … Compassion ought to be the center of our domestic and foreign policy. … Some call it consequential, some call it controversial, either way it’ll be a well studied Presidency.
Watch it:
George W. Bush Presidential Center from laura crawford on Vimeo
In January, Bush cited his failed attempt to privatize Social Security as one of his biggest domestic policy achievements. Rather than being a place for ’studying’ the Bush era, the library foundation has already been trying to spin Bush’s disastrous response to hurricane Katrina.
It should come as no surprise that Bush is seeking to use his library for purposes other than actually documenting his presidency. As Think Progress has reported, there are no mentions of Iraq in Bush’s official biography on the library website. Rather, like the actual Bush presidency, the Bush library appears to be aiming to highlight the attacks of 9/11 while ignoring the history and the failures of the Iraq war.
(ThinkProgress has been keeping a close eye on developments with the Bush library, and we will continue to do so. Read our related posts here.)
Bush officials: After Iraq invasion, Europeans hid Iran intel because they feared a U.S. attack.
Bush officials: After Iraq invasion, Europeans hid Iran intel because they feared a U.S. attack.
Today in an email to Fox News, David Wurmser, former top aide to Vice President Cheney, cautioned the Obama administration on its hopes that Russia is willing to get tougher on Iran regarding its nuclear program. Wurmser said that between 2003 and 2006, Russia “threatened tough action, but even somewhat delivered.” But in a twist of logic, Wurmser basically says that it was the U.S. invasion of Iraq that led to less cooperation on Iran’s nuclear program from Russia and other European countries:
But the American-led invasion of Iraq complicated the Bush administration’s efforts to persuade other countries to take aggressive action to contain Iran’s nuclear threat. [...]
“Every time in this period I landed in a European capital at [U.N. Ambassador] John Bolton’s request to discuss Iran, the first thing I got was: ‘What is your end game here; are you going to use the information to pull another Iraq? Tell us where you are going with this before we tell you how much we will admit Iran is going down the path to a bomb in the U.N.’ When I failed to give them a guarantee that we will not strike Iran, they stalled on moving ahead with acknowledging or using the evidence in public which in private they accepted.”
Bolton also indicated that the Iraq war stifled progress with Iran. “Before the Iraq war, I thought we were breaking through to [the Russians],” Bolton said today. “Since 2003, they have been very resistant to the idea that Iran was a proliferation threat.”
Suicide bombing kills five American soldiers in Iraq in the deadliest attack in 13 months.
Suicide bombing kills five American soldiers in Iraq in the deadliest attack in 13 months.
A “massive suicide truck bombing” today killed five American GIs and two Iraqi security guards, and wounded at least 60 people, in the northern city of Mosul, Iraq. “It was the deadliest attack against American soldiers here in 13 months and the second in Mosul since February, when four soldiers were killed in a suicide car bomb attack against their patrol.” So far this year, 50 Americans have been killed in Iraq.
Sixth anniversary of Baghdad’s fall marked by huge anti-American protests.
Sixth anniversary of Baghdad’s fall marked by huge anti-American protests.
Six years ago today, coalition forces defeated Saddam Hussein’s regime and watched the toppling of the dictator’s statue in Firdos Square. President Bush called the day “one of the great moments in the history of liberty.” However, today many Iraqis are marking the day with anti-American protests rather than celebrations. “Tens of thousands of followers of anti-American Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr thronged Baghdad” to demand the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops. Protestors shouted, “Down, down USA” and “No, no occupation,” and burned American flags and an effigy of Bush. The AP notes that the demonstrations also coincided “with an uptick in bombings of Shiite targets around the city.”
Right Wing Hysterical Over Obama’s ‘Not At War With Islam’ Remarks: ‘We Have Nothing To Apologize For’
Right Wing Hysterical Over Obama’s ‘Not At War With Islam’ Remarks: ‘We Have Nothing To Apologize For’
President Obama’s outreach to the Muslim world has been a welcome development after eight years of President Bush’s “us vs. them” approach. “Let me say this as clearly as I can,” he told the Turkish parliament yesterday. “The United States is not and will never be at war with Islam.” He told Turkish students today, “You will find a partner and a supporter and a friend in the United States of America.” Middle Eastern leaders are embracing Obama’s outreach already.
But apparently, the conservative establishment finds such outreach objectionable. On Fox News yesterday, John Bolton, Bill Kristol, and Sean Hannity all derided Obama’s comments to the Turkish parliament. They argued that in fact, the Iraq war served as evidence of America’s concern for Muslims. CNN’s Lou Dobbs also decried Obama’s praise for the “great civilization of Iran”:
BOLTON:There are an enormous amount of things we’ve done to benefit Muslims in countries all over the world. We have nothing to apologize for.
KRISTOL: But could Barack Obama say something that would be mildly unpopular to an audience which he was speaking? No. Could he say that the war in Afghanistan or the war in Iraq are just and that we have fought for Muslims, incidentally under President Clinton we fought for Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo?
HANNITY: It seemed to me…that this was an attempt to apologize for toppling Saddam Hussein and the war on terror.
DOBBS: In his efforts to charm our allies, President Obama noted that Islam helped shape the world for the better, including the United States. He even declared Iran to be a great civilization.
Charles Krauthammer said Obama’s parliament speech was “not original and not terribly important.” Kristol responded that Krauthammer was being “too nice.” Watch a compilation:
In his first trip abroad, Obama also extended a hand towards Europe, saying that America had “shown arrogance” and had “been dismissive, even derisive” towards Europeans in the past. Again, the right wing saw this as evidence of Obama’s anti-Americanism.
The outreach is desperately needed. Over “70 percent of Egyptians, Pakistanis, Indonesians and Moroccans believe the United States is trying to weaken and divide the Islamic world,” an April 2007 WorldPublicOpinion poll said. It seems that for the far right, however, the best outreach is always through bullets and bombs.
Obama makes surprise visit to Iraq.
Obama makes surprise visit to Iraq.
President Obama today made an unannounced stop in Baghdad, after spending the past two days in Turkey. The visit marks his third to Iraq, and his first since taking office. CNN reports that although there was considerable speculation that Obama might stop in Iraq, details of the President’s plans weren’t released ahead of time. Watch it:
Obama’s visit comes a month after he announced that that U.S. troops would withdraw from Iraq by 2010. Iraqi leaders welcomed this development, saying that Obama’s plan was “responsible and realistic.” In contrast, President Bush’s final visit to Iraq was marked by an Iraqi journalist throwing a shoe at him.
Iraqis execute six gay men in past 10 days.
Iraqis execute six gay men in past 10 days.
An Iraqi defense ministry official reports that at least six gay men have been shot dead in two separate incidents during the past 10 days in a Shia-controlled part of Baghdad. The official said today that three bullet-riddled bodies of gay individuals have been identified in Sadr City:
“Three corpses of homosexuals have been recovered in Sadr City. Two of the bodies, found on Thursday, had pieces of paper attached on which was written the word ‘Pervert.’ The third body was retrieved on Friday,” the official said.
Other dead bodies had the word “puppies” written on their chests. Puppy is a derogatory word used by residents in Sadr City to refer to gays. Witnesses told CNN that a Sadr City cafe, which was a popular gathering spot for gays, was also set on fire.
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