Colin, the violence is Iraq is not on the "mend". There is a bit less intercommunal violence because sunnis in shiite neighborhoods and towns are dead or have fled and vice versa. But opposition, political and military, to the occupation and US attempts to control Iraqi oil and Afghan gas production continues unabated. That’s why the Brits got out while the getting was good.

The level of violence has ups and downs but it won't stop as long as US soldiers and US oil companies are present at any level. There are more and more signs that Iraqi's in very large numbers are concluding that Obama's racist war for oil and the Democrats occupation of Iraq are for keeps. Iraqi's, after a million deaths from the Clinton/Bush/Obama war and occupation, are not nearly as naive as many Americans about the war for oil. They never did catch Obamabot fever and the appeal of flag-waving American paytriotism is lost on them.

The Iraqi jihadist groups who hunt down and murder GLBT folks in Iraq: the Shiite militia, Sunni 'police' and the Iraqi puppet regime itself are all armed and trained by the US military occupation command. That same US command refuses to raise a finger to grant asylum be

The best way to help our brothers and sisters in Iraq, Iran, Palestine, Pakistan, and Afghanistan is to build a mass antiwar movement on the basis of demanding

1) the total, permanent and immediate withdrawal of all US military, spy, and mercenary forces to their US home bases

2) an end to US sponsorship of the zionist policies of apartheid and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians.

3) the immediate implementation of an open door asylum policy for LGBT folks threatened by hostile régimes including emergency protection, transport and the guarantee of asylum.

The withdrawal of US forces will enable the Iraqi people to end the puppet regime with a bang, so to speak, and to treat Al Sistani and the other jihadists in the same way the Italians treated Mussolini after the defeat of German troops in Italy.

I am not seeing the logic leading from a sign outside a house to the support for annihilation of a country. Looks like Bush (Lets attack Iraq because of Saudi hijacker) logic to me.

Context? You want context on a PROTEST sign? Give me a break! How large do you want the sign to be?

Rob-
1. The fact that the sign was in a "white US gayborhood" is worth noting due to the distressingly common ignorance of intersectional politics and a disturbing attachment to systematic privilege in those communities.

2. I believe Mattilda made a clear suggestion:
"Even something as simple as a statement starting with, "end the US occupation" would do so much to shift the blame to its rightful center."

3. It seems to me that the article addresses injustice and violence with wide lens that does not diminish the tragedy of the crimes committed against the Iraqi LGBT community. Moreover, it has encouraged quite a bit of discussion already on its first day, and hopefully will continue to spark debate.

PS- So excited to find Mattilda's blog! Longtime reader of your paper publications -- Nobody Passes is one of my favorite books.

PPS- First time on BILERICO! I think I'm gonna like it here.

Alex, Mattilda’s piece is the opposite of tunnel vision. It gets to the heart of the matter, shifting the burden of guilt for the murders of Iraqi's in general and GLBT folks in particular to its root cause, which since Jan. 20th has been Barak Obama.

Tunnel vision in this case consisted of voting for Obama or McCain, of making the needs of the movements for LGBT equality and for world peace take second place to partisan electioneering for the lesser bigot, the lesser warlord.

The sign is wrong precisely because it overlooks the role of Democrats and Republicans and their apologists and supporters in the mass murder going on in South Asia. The Iraqi state established by the US is a puppet state in every sense of the word and if they’re killing GLBT folks it’s with the approval of the US military and political leadership. I also disagree with Mattilda. Our general slogan should be very specific and read "Obama, Stop Killing for Oil" and "Save the GIs, Bring Them Home Now".

Whatever the differences in GLBT identities across national and cultural boundaries, and they’re substantial, this much is clear: we have more in common with our LGBT brothers and sisters in every country in the world than we have with our straight fellow citizens. Americans, in whose name genocide is being committed, have a particular duty to oppose Obama's oil wars and senseless promotion of the murder of LGBT folks.

Iraqi's, Pakistanis, Afghans and Palestinians all deserve to live. The way to help them stay alive is to bring all the US troops (and mercenaries and spies) home now.

If Obama just can’t live without being Commander in Chief he can use the troops to guard strikers and intimidate managers. He can use them to end the looting of our economy and use the spies to prepare prosecutions of criminals, aka, the rich. He can use troops to prevent foreclosures and repos and to guard minority communities, LGBT centers and reservations. Etc.

But he won’t. He’s not on our side, he’s the enemy.

Arthur (AmeriNZ) said: "Silly me, I thought it was Iraqi religious and cultural nutcases doing the killing, but now I know that it was the evil Americans. Okay, sure they don't actually DO the murdering, but their white masters caused it, so we can say they did it. Enough sarcasm: I've never seen such shallow, reductionist arguments anywhere..."

I think Mattilda was pretty clear in the original post--the lack of employment, personal security, etc left by the disastrous U.S. invasion _created the conditions_ that made people lash out against those even less powerful then themselves and those culturally/religiously perceived as "wrong" and "sinful". Arthur, it's your argument that's reductionist--reducing everything to "culture" without considering the political and geopolitical conditions that led to people acting on their worst cultural fears.

Also, when I was typing your handle I realized you may want to rethink the "(AmeriNZ)" part. I assume you're trying to convey that you're an American in New Zealand, but if you're trying to pronounce it, it kind of reads (perhaps just to me) as American nazi.

Too many words, huh? Then how about this: Why do you insist on being so condescending? I was NOT the one making personal attacks, Bill was. Take your own words to heart: More people might listen to you if we didn't have to "wade through a swamp of trite and cliched devices attempting to silence or dilute said facts and reasoning."

Nothing said here has presented a single reason why fundamentalist fantacism didn't cause the murders of gays in Iraq. Instead, you're all using "personal attacks and red herrings".

I was told that Bilerico was a place where ideas could be discussed, and people who disagree were welcome. You're telling me I was wrong and am not welcome, that only people singing in the same choir have a right to express an opinion. Only one of us can be right on this, and I invite anyone from Bilerico to determine who that is.

Thanks, mixedqueer

Arthurs whining charges of being driven out (criticized), condescended to (humiliated), being bullied (told he’s wrong), being lied to (now changed to having sources that lie), and being a victim of nefarious plots to shut him up (that’s delusional, no one said that) are equally hysterical responses to being caught with his pants down.

He has no idea what he's talking about because he lacks the ability to see through the ‘big lie’ BS of the last three US administrations. For instance, discussing the 'coincidental' appearance of mass murders of GLBT folks and the invasion by American forces he says "First, they (the jihadists) didn't have access to weapons until then, and second, at first the US forces maintained brutal control. When they started easing back, and the Iraqi security forces took over, they had the ability to do as they pleased." he betrays utter ignorance of the situation.

Following the invasion the US did not maintain ‘brutal control’ – it couldn’t. The invaders had their asses handed to them on a silver platter as resistance fighters showered them with bombs and bullets. The deaths of GIs, victims of the war for oil, rose into the thousands in the undeclared war for oil and gas.

As soon as the US 'pacified'
a situation, as in Fallujah, the resistance simply moved to another area. The pacification, like that practiced by the US in Vietnam, involves mass murder and US state sponsored terrorism against the civilian base or the resistance. It should be named Operation Wounded Knee or Operation My Lai.

Desperate the US military command began making makeshift field treaties with the jihadists, temporarily naming them allies and arming and triaining them. That included Al Sistani, who repeatedly declares fatwa on us, and the ultra right leaders of suuni groups. But that remained unstable so the US 'encouraged' a murderous campaign of intercommunal war between shiites and sunnis that likely killed as many as the invasion. All those deaths, like the mass murders of GLBT folks and the mass murder of Kurds are the sole responsibility of Clinton, Bush and Obama.

The “Iraqi security forces” he’s talking about are the jihadists. They hunt us down for being gay and murder us without mercy. One 14 year old boy had his brains splattered all over the street because he was ‘effeminate’, a definition that even applies to some straight boys at that age. Sometimes the quisling ‘security forces’ 'arrest' us and hang us without trial. But whatever they do they do as puppets of the US military command, which absolutely and repeatedly refuses to guarantee our safety.

The solution is twofold – the total and immediate withdrawal of US forces and opening the consulates and embassies of the US worldwide to GLBT floks facing jail, violence or death and giving them asylum as long as they need it.

Obama and Hillary Clinton won’t do that. They’re the enemy and Arthur is an apologist for them.

Gee, mixedqueer, maybe we made a mistake. Maybe we are the oppressors and poor, poor Arthur is as browbeaten and trod upon as he thinks he is.

Just look at this:

"If you haven't noticed, the meanest people in politics are on the American left."

Indiana Republican Governor Mitch Daniels. (seen in Teagan Goddards Political Wire today. via the AP.)

I'd like to point out that the author has a radical ideology. The American LGBTQ community has members from every stripe of the political spectrum.

The reality of both this site, the LGBTQ community, and America in general, is that radical anti-oppression activists rarely have the space to be heard. I applaud BILERICO for welcoming such a wide range of contributors and members. Regardless, I would be surprised if even 10% of the content on this site falls left of "liberal." As for what's offered in the mainstream media, the number is closer to 0% (with the only visible radical politics being spun, mocked, and demonized).

If two articles challenging the status quo seem threatening, simply look to the entrenched colonialist propaganda/war machine for comfort.

thanks for the link bill. i will be sure to disseminate widely.

from bill's link

"Iraqi gays report that their lives are in danger, that they live in continuous fear of people finding out that they are gay.
...
Although gays could be tried and imprisoned under the Saddam regime Iraqi gays report that "now they kill people like us."
...
The campaign started in 2004, following the religious decree of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani that said gay men and lesbians should be “punished, in fact, killed .. The people should be killed in the worst, most severe way of killing.”
Since then Iraqi LGBT has received reports and information of over 600 LGBT people killed.
But Iraqi gays and media reports say that the killings have massively escalated since the end of 2008.
Iraqi LGBT has received reports of 63 killings in the last four months but does not have correspondents or members in large parts of Iraq and believes that the actual number of gays killed since December 2008 is much higher."