Dreams Into Lightning

Death Sentence on Iraqi Gays

Via Petrelis, John Simpson at Big Hollywood:

Unfortunately, the Iraqi government is neck-deep in the gay butchery themselves. Interior Ministry police hunt down gays in Baghdad, raid parties, hunt them online by using fake foreign IP addresses (as Iran does), then tortures and exterminates them in the worst possible ways. Just as Iraqi Spiritual Leader Ali al-Sistani declared they should be, in his 2006 fatwa of death against Iraqi LGBTs. Though removed from his website after controversy, the fatwa is still in full effect.

Allow me at this point to question the spirituality of a religious leader favoring any pogrom, or stating that ANYONE should die in the ‘worst possible ways’.

Here is one former Mahdi Army member who now makes a career of being a gay death squad ’surgeon,’ cutting out the cancer of homosexuality the Americans brought with them to Iraq. His words, not mine. Also, one particularly subhuman technique of killing gays, now quite popular with Iraq’s most pious Shiite extremists, is to super-glue a gay man’s anus shut, pump him full of a diarrhea-inducing compound, and have a few laughs as the victim suffers unbelievable agony before dying. The Iraqi tribes also now have carte blanche to exterminate any Iraqi LGBTs they find.

Women Students and Teachers Visit Iraqi Parliament

MNF-Iraq:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release No. 081105-01
November 05, 2008
Contact: pao@iraq.centcom.mil
DSN: 318-852-1334
IRAQNA: 0770-695-3727

Female Students and Teachers visit the Iraqi Parliament

Parliament Building, Baghdad – On Sunday, students and teachers from the Al Elaff School for Girls participated in a tour of the Iraqi Parliament Building, the Council of Representatives and the U.S. Embassy – Baghdad. The visit was a direct result of a joint effort between CJ1, CJ9, NIAC and the Department of State. The girls attended the Council of Representatives session to see the parliament representatives engage in the democratic process.

The tour started with a pizza lunch at the embassy hosted by Ambassador Adam J. Ereli, Public Affairs Counselor at the United States Embassy - Baghdad. The Ambassador addressed the students in Arabic, emphasizing the importance of education to the future of a country. ...

Iraq to Expand Air Force

Long War Journal:

Iraq will purchase 516 military aircraft from the United States and France for its new Air Force, a senior Iraqi military official said this week. The planes and helicopters will provide Iraq with its first significant air combat and strike capability, and are expected to cost billions of dollars.

General Nasier Abadi, vice chief of staff of the Iraqi Joint Forces, announced the initial orders on Nov. 2. The aircraft would be delivered to Iraq from 2011 to 2015. Iraq's current force has fewer than 100 aircraft. None of the aircraft currently in the Iraqi Air Force are strike planes or jets.

The first order is for 108 combat aircraft from the US and France, and is to be delivered in 2011. The aircraft on Iraq's shopping list provides insight into how Iraqis hope to configure their Air Force. ...

"Masterful oratory, abysmal ignorance ..."

Neo on Obama's Iraq speech:

Peter Wehner does a wonderful job of fisking Obama’s recent speech on Iraq in which the candidate combined masterful oratory, abysmal ignorance, denial, and lawyerly circumlocutions in his signature manner to show exactly why he should never be elected President (not that his supporters know or care).

Perhaps Obama’s speech reflects the fact that he faces a real conundrum on Iraq. Not only has he been consistently wrong about the surge, but he was bold enough to go on record in an unequivocal manner about how it would not work. His predictions have since been contradicted by facts on the ground.

In that, of course, he was no different than 99% (roughly speaking) of his Democrat colleagues, and most of the MSM. But they’re not running for President. He is.

Here's Peter Wehner at Commentary:

Senator Obama’s speech on Tuesday in St. Paul, when he finally locked up the Democratic presidential nomination, was typical: rhetorically powerful, well-delivered, with some clever and well-constructed lines. But when you examine the substance of what he said, the speech breaks down. Some of his claims are questionable and misleading; others are ill-informed; and still others border on being intellectually dishonest. Obama’s statement on Iraq are particularly revealing.

According to Obama:

I won’t stand here and pretend that there are many good options left in Iraq.

In fact, Obama doesn’t have to “pretend” there are many good options left in Iraq. There is one obvious good option: to continue policies that are manifestly succeeding and qualify as one of the most impressive military turnabouts in our history. According to yesterday’s operational update by Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner,

For the third week in a row security incidents in Iraq are at the lowest levels in four years. These numbers reflect fewer attacks on Iraqi civilians, fewer attacks on Iraqi and Coalition Forces, and fewer attacks on the Government’s infrastructure. These security gains follow the coordinated offensive operations over the past year, and the recent security operations in Baghdad, Mosul, and Basra.

The security progress we’ve making is now translating into encouraging progress on the political and economic fronts as well. There is no question, then, that Iraq, which remains in many ways a broken and splintered country, has made enormous strides. It is virtually beyond dispute that the “surge” strategy endorsed by President Bush (and opposed by Senator Obama) is working, and working better and faster than anyone could have imagined just a year ago.

Obama's speech is here.

Honor Killings, Suicides Up in Iraqi Kurdistan

France 24, via Muslims Against Sharia:

By Shwan Mohammad

Medics in Iraqi Kurdistan said on Saturday that they had seen a surge in violence against women in May, with both so-called "honour" killings and female suicides on the increase.

"At least 14 women died in the first 10 days of May alone," a doctor told AFP in the region's second largest city of Sulaimaniyah.

"Seven of them took their own lives, the other seven were murdered in still unexplained circumstances" -- apparently the victims of "honour" killings.

"Over the same period, we recorded 11 attempted self-immolations. These women were so desperate they set fire to themselves," the doctor added, asking not to be identified.

According to Kurdish regional government figures, in Sulaimaniyah province alone more than 50 women attempted suicide by burning in the first four months of the year and another eight tried to hang themselves. ...

Iraq: "However Reluctantly"

IraqPundit:

Imagine how positive events must be in Sadr City when both WaPo and the NYT say so, however reluctantly.

"Iraqi soldiers moved unhindered through Baghdad's vast Sadr City district on Wednesday," says WaPo, "as Shiite militiamen who have long controlled the area faded from view and schools and businesses began to reopen after weeks of strife." ...

Read the rest at the link.

Michael Totten: Working with the Tribes

Michael Totten:

Sheikh Sattar Abu Risha, leader of the Iraq’s Anbar Salvation Council before he was murdered by a car bomb in front of his house in late 2007, summed up the Anbar Awakening movement in a few concise sentences to Johns Hopkins University Professor Fouad Ajami. “Our American friends had not understood us when they came,” he said. “They were proud, stubborn people and so were we. They worked with the opportunists, now they have turned to the tribes, and this is as it should be. The tribes hate religious parties and religious fakers.” The tribal system in Anbar Province is ancient. Attempts to overthrow it are not wise. Both Americans and Al Qaeda learned that the hard way.

Marine Captain Quintin Jones, commanding officer at Outpost Delta in the city of Karmah, told me he works with tribal authorities as well as the mayor every day and can’t get much done if he doesn’t. ...

Captain Jones: You have to understand that everything is tribal. So when the sheikhs came on board with the coalition, whatever the sheikh says to do, that's what they are going to do. The sheikhs said hey, we're not fighting the coalition anymore. They're helping us push out Al Qaeda.

Go read it all.

Mameluke Swords for Iraqi Sheikhs

Spirit of America:

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – The Marine officer’s sword was presented to a number of key sheikhs by Multi National Force - West leadership to honor the relationships developed and the progress made over the last year.

Major Gen.W.E. Gaskin, commanding general of MNF-W, and Maj. Gen. John Allen, the deputy commanding general, presented the first Marine officer swords to Sheikh Amer Abid al Jabbar Ali Sulayman al Assafi of the Dulaimi Tribal Confederation and Sheikh Ahmed Bezia Ftaykhan AlbuRisha, president of Sahwa al Iraq (the Awakening of Iraq). The gift is to honor them for their tribes’ dedication and sacrifice in fighting al Qaeda in Iraq, working with the local government, and beginning the process of rebuilding their areas.

The “Proclamation of Friendship” was read as the sword was presented: “We, the friendly Coalition Forces, along with the great tribes and tribal leaders of Al Anbar, affirm the friendship that binds us, celebrate the alliance that unites us and commemorate the sacrifices of all Anbaris to achieve unity, security and prosperity for all the citizens of Al Anbar and the great nation of Iraq."

The traditional Marine officer’s sword, originally presented to Marine 1st Lt. Presley O’Bannon in 1805 by Prince Hamet of Tripoli as a sign of friendship, will be presented to a number of sheikhs from across Anbar to acknowledge their contributions and as a sign of continued friendship with Coalition Forces. ...

Full article at the link.

An Iraq story ...

... in which the word "Mass" is not followed by "casualty".

Grim Milestones

The Australian: The Day(s) Nobody Was Killed in Iraq:

"The day nobody died from violence in Iraq" is a date that has been much anticipated in the White House - where US President George W. Bush is desperate to hail the success of his surge of 30,000 troops this year.

But no one can quite say when this event occurred.

"It was some time this week, wasn't it?" says a senior military source. "Or maybe last week."

Another diplomatic official confidently asserted that there were "at least two such days this month". When, exactly? "Not sure," he replied.

Such vagueness may be concealing a truly significant transformation on the ground in Iraq.

There have certainly been several days in the past month when no US or British soldiers were killed.

During a five-day stretch between October 19 and 23, there were no deaths among coalition forces. Although three US servicemen died from "non-hostile causes", this was the longest period without combat deaths for almost four years. And, between October 27 and 29, there were more days without coalition deaths.

Such statistics do not take account of deaths among the Iraqi security forces or civilians. But Iraqis, too, have had days when no one in their ranks has died. On October 13, for instance, neither the coalition nor the Iraqi military suffered any deaths. But one Iraqi policeman was killed, along with four reported civilian deaths in Baghdad.

Two days later, there were no deaths among the coalition but six among the Iraqi security forces.

October 19 was a death-free day for both coalition and Iraqi security forces, but 12 civilians were killed.

The civilian death toll was lower on October 23 - when four were killed - but they were joined in the mortuaries by two Iraqi policemen.

On October 30, the Iraq Interior Ministry reported that there were no civilian deaths in Baghdad but three US troops and four Iraqi policemen were killed.

It is beyond dispute, though, that the tide of violence in Iraq has been stemmed. ...