Abuse of Iraqi Homosexuals

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the United States government, its military personnel, diplomatic officials and other representatives have failed to prevent or speak out against attacks on gay and lesbian Iraqis because of political expediency. The author relates the ways in which the condition of Iraqi gay and lesbian citizens today is worse than under Saddam Hussein. The U.S. must recognize its responsibility and must work to protect the gay and lesbian citizens of Iraq, the paper argues, because human beings are not defined by their sexual identity.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Background: The United States Invasion of Iraq and Humanitarian Claims and Responsibilities
The Invasion
Occupation: America's Duties and Responsibilities under International Law
To an "Independent" Iraq: Implicit American Support for Anti-Gay Order
The Full Horror of Occupation: Implicit American Support for a Bigoted Iraqi Regime
Catalog of Atrocities
American "Moral Lapses": Abu Ghraib and the Wider Problem of Violence in Iraq
American Neglect of Treaty Obligations and Its Failure as an Occupying Power
The American Failure to Lead by Example
Conditions on the Home Front
Implications for the American Occupation in Iraq
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"American policies and attitudes further encourage the very same tendencies in the new Iraqi state. The military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," supplies Iraqi militiamen with just the excuses they need to continue to dehumanize their gay and lesbian compatriots. By forcing American service people into the shadows, the United States creates an atmosphere in Iraq that is conducive to the marginalization and destruction of gay men and women. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff. "Center Examines LGBT Military Deaths." 365 Gay.com, (9 April 2008) <http://www.365gay.com/Newscon08/04/040908mil.htm >.
• Apel, Dora. "Torture Culture: Lynching Photographs and the Images of Abu Ghraib." Art Journal 64.2 (2005): 88+.
• Balestrieri, Elizabeth Brownell. "Abu Ghraib Prison Abuse and the Rule of Law." International Journal on World Peace 21.4 (2004): 3+.
• Ben-Porath, Eran N. "Rhetoric of Atrocities: The Place of Horrific Human Rights Abuses in Presidential Persuasion Efforts." Presidential Studies Quarterly 37.2 (2007): 181+.
• Blanche, Ed. "A Crumbling Coalition: Despite the Rhetoric from Washington, Which Attempts to Persuade the International Community Things Are Improving, US Allies Are Peeling Away as the Crisis in Iraq Deepens." The Middle East Mar. 2006: 16+.

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