Rumors of horrible anti-gay violence in Iraq has been filtering out for months, but this articles has all the gory details.  While the glue in anus murders and barbaric torture jump off the page, the part that really shocked me was their systematic torturing to learn about the underground gay culture.  The clear parallel to our own system of kidnapping and torture to build a database about the underground terrorist network shows that our brutality has been met in kind.  That the 130,000 troops we still have there can't protect this vulnerable minority, who are an orphaned interest in Iraq, shows how limited our position is now.  Any attempt to help them might actually increase their isolation and danger. When we leave, the lives of most Iraqis will be much worse than it was before we came, even under a brutal dictator like Saddam Hussein. In the meantime, expedited immigration for gay Iraqis would allow more of them to escape from the Middle Ages barbarism still alive and well in Iraq.

Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan