REPORT: ISIS Beheads Gay Men In Iraq

Via News 24:

ISIS has publicly beheaded three men in northern Iraq, two of them for allegedly engaging in homosexual acts, according to photos shared by sympathisers on social media on Tuesday. The jihadist group, which controls swathes of Iraq and neighbouring Syria, has carried out hundreds of executions as it has imposed its brutal version of Islamic law, many of them photographed or videotaped. The latest images did not show the claimed beheadings and their authenticity could not be independently verified. A series of photographs shows the blindfolded men kneeling in the centre of what appears to be a traffic circle with a crowd of people looking on as a masked, black-clad executioner stands by with a long, rusty blade. Accompanying captions said the trio were then executed, the third of them for alleged blasphemy.

Some reports say all three young men were accused of homosexuality, adding that two of them may have been a couple. However ISIS is known to accuse its enemies of being gay in order to "justify" their executions.

LGBT Groups Urge Caution In Reporting "Alleged Executions For Sodomy" By ISIS

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) and MADRE, the global women’s rights group, have issued a joint statement about recent reports that ISIS has executed men on charges of homosexuality.

IGLHRC and MADRE caution concerned members of the media, representatives of foreign governments and people of conscience generally in the strongest possible terms against assuming that the men identified as ‘gay’ and against assuming the men engaged in homosexual acts. Other than the photos themselves, very little is known about these executions. IGLHRC has tried to independently verify the events that occurred with little success to date. Without credible evidence, it is crucial to exercise extreme caution in how the event is reported and how the men are described.

At this time, to publicly call Iraqi men “gay” can only do harm. If the men did not identify as gay, the allegation is inaccurate and obscures the Islamic State’s motivation for publicly labeling them as such. If the men indeed identified as gay, extreme caution should be exercised and consultation held with those they loved. If the men identified as gay, widespread publicity potentially exposes their families, loved ones and intimate partners to harm. Honor killings are pervasive in Iraq, so the safety of those most affected must be a paramount concern.

Furthermore, to assume that the executions were for sodomy solely on the basis of information from the Islamic State is dangerous. Without evidentiary basis or independent confirmation, this sweeping allegation could be applied to anyone the Islamic State seeks to discredit—including human rights activists and anyone opposed to the Islamic State. Accusing opponents of homosexuality is a tried and true tool used to discredit political adversaries throughout the world.

Accuracy is absolutely needed to moderate the level of fear of LGBTI Iraqis living in areas controlled by the Islamic State. During the anti-emo killings in 2012, rumors circulated alleging that upwards of a thousand people had been killed for perceived gender and sexual non-conformity, while the documented number was nearer ten. In response, IGLHRC interviewed LGBTI Iraqis and found that some fled the country, were shunned, isolated themselves at home too afraid to venture into the streets, and experienced high levels of suicidal ideation. The stakes today are high enough; allies in the media, foreign governments, and among concerned friends globally must understand accurately what occurred and avoid risky inflations of the threat level.

In recent posts about these reports I have described the victims as "allegedly gay" and of having been "accused of being gay." I've also excerpted press accounts which note that Islamists sometimes accuse their political enemies of being homosexuals in order to "justify" their executions. Hit the top link for more about this issue.

IRAQ: ISIS Executes Two Men Accused Of Being Gay By Hurling Them Off Roof

Via Radio Free Europe:

The Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq has published photographs that appear to show a man being thrown from the roof of a tall building apparently in Mosul, as punishment for being gay. The graphic photographs were uploaded to the Justpaste.it website on January 15 and shared on social media. One photograph, taken from the top of the building from where the man was apparently pushed to his death, shows a large crowd gathered in the public square below.

Another image shows a man with his face covered by a black balaclava, reading out the sentence imposed on the man under the IS group's version of Shari'a law. The caption to the photograph says that the verdict was issued by a Shari'a court in "Wilayat Nineveh," IS's name for Mosul and its environs.

Another image shows the victim being held by another man, apparently his executioner, on the edge of a rooftop. Text accompanying the photograph says that the man is being punished with "Hadd," meaning a punishment that is determined in the Koran and the Hadith for crimes considered to go against the rights of God. The caption noted that the man had committed the crime of the practices of the "people of Lot," a euphemism for sodomy, and that he must be killed by being "thrown from a high place."

According to the above-linked report, ISIS yesterday also stoned a woman to death after accusing her of adultery. (Tipped by JMG reader Zachary)

British Terrorist Jailed For Gay Death Threats Dies In Iraq Suicide Bombing

Details from Gay Star News:

According to the Daily Mail, Kabir Ahmed killed himself in a suicide mission against a Shia leader in Baiji, a city located in northern Iraq. He was killed on a mission allegedly sponsored by the terror group ISIS. In 2012, the 30-year-old was convicted for handing out leaflets calling for the execution of gays. The pamphlets, distributed near the Jamia Mosque on Rosehill Street, Derby, had titles such as ‘Turn or Burn’ and ‘The Death Penalty,' which showed an image of a mannequin hanging from a noose. Another, entitled ‘God Abhors You – Gay’, warned of ‘severe punishment’ for gays and lesbians and those who ‘remain silent about the evil.’ The leaflets were handed out before Derby's Gay Pride parade in August 2011. Ahmed was sentenced to 15 months in prison.

RELATED: In February 2012 I reported on the conviction of Ahmed and his two accomplices. An excerpt:

Three Muslim men have been sentenced to prison for handing out "death to gays" pamphlets in the British town of Derby. Last month the men were found guilty of inciting hatred under the recently revised Public Order Act, which now forbids such anti-gay actions. Lawyers for the men objected to their prosecution on the grounds of freedom of speech, pointing out that the pamphlets merely quoted well-known passages from the Koran. However the judge noted that the materials also stated that "capital punishment" was the only cure for homosexuality.

Tony Perkins On Fox News: America Must Invade Iraq Again Because Christians

Britain To Join ISIS Airstrikes

Via the New York Times:

The British Parliament voted overwhelmingly on Friday to approve airstrikes in Iraq against the militants of the Islamic State. The vote brought a country weary of international engagements belatedly into the American-led campaign against Sunni extremists. Prime Minister David Cameron called Parliament back from recess to consider the motion, which authorizes the government to conduct air operations over Iraq. It does not authorize the deployment of ground troops, nor does it authorize action in Syria. The decision was seen as significant, after British lawmakers voted last year not to join proposed strikes against Syria over its use of chemical weapons. The vote last year dented Britain’s reputation as America’s closest ally in the fight against extremism, and the debate on Friday was seen as a test of Britain’s stomach for further military intervention after unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama Addresses United Nations General Assembly, Says Airstrikes Must Continue

Via USA Today:

U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria and Iraq are necessary to stop the terrorist threats of the Islamic State and others, President Obama told world leaders Wednesday. "The only language understood by killers like this is the language of force," Obama told the United Nations General Assembly in his annual address. The president also called on the world's nations and While there is a "pervasive unease" over a variety of global problems — from the spread of Ebola in West Africa to Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine — Obama told the U.N. delegates they are making progress in addressing them. "As we look to the future, one issue risks a cycle of conflict that could derail such progress," Obama said. "And that is the cancer of violent extremism that has ravaged so many parts of the Muslim world."

ISRAEL: Gay Club Promoter Denounced For Evoking ISIS Beheadings In Party Ads

Via NBC News:

An Israeli gay party promoter has published posters featuring a stark parody of ISIS beheading videos. Drek, which puts together events in famously gay-friendly Tel Aviv, apologized for the use of the homoerotic humor drawing on the gruesome murders of James Foley, Steven Sotloff and David Haines, but also defended the posters. "Our way to express our contempt and criticism to things that take place in the reality in the past four years is through humor and satire," the event organizers said in a Facebook post. "We think our enemies victory will be when we live in fear and let them control our thoughts. We feel that humor takes the sting out of threatening and offensive issues. If our publications of our last party hurt the feeling of somebody, we apologize." Nevertheless, most commenting on the organization's Facebook page were supportive. "In my eyes the invitation is genius and smart. Satire is mostly a bit extreme and that is fine," Karam Dadu wrote.

More from Israel's Ynet News:

Though a number of people shrugged off the posters as poor taste, most were enraged: "Disgusting! Getting a laugh off of the murder of innocent victims," wrote one commentator; "very baaaaaaaaaaad," wrote another, while a third lamented it "poor satire". Posting the images online to Drek's Facebook page, the organizers wrote "as the new Islamic State gains traction in the Middle East, we at Drek have decided to give in to Sharia law and cheer the stubborn Daesh," using the Arab acronym for the group, and invoking a veiled play on words – "stubborn" in Hebrew can be written as "hard necked", a reference to the group's infamous executions. Amiri Kalman, one of the Drek's founders, said in response: "We are trying to react to current events. We have been doing it for a number of years. But we reject violence in any form and that includes the (execution) videos intended to scare the world."

The flag in the second image above is reportedly meant to represent the black flag of ISIS. 

Senate Approves Arming Syrian Rebels

Via the Associated Press:

In the heat of an election campaign, Congress cleared the way for the U.S. military to train and equip Syrian rebels for a war against Islamic State militants Thursday night, reluctant ratification of a new strategy that President Barack Obama outlined scarcely a week ago. The 78-22 Senate vote sent Obama legislation that also provides funding for the government after the end of the budget year on Sept. 30, eliminating any threat of a shutdown. The House approved the bill on Wednesday. In an appearance at the White House soon after the vote, Obama said he was pleased that a majority of both Republicans and Democrats had supported the legislation. "I believe we're strongest as a nation when the president and Congress work together," he said. Noting the killing of two Americans by the Islamic State group, he said that "as Americans we do not give in to fear" and would not be put off by such brutal tactics. In the Senate, 44 Democrats, 33 Republicans and one independent voted for the bill, while nine Democrats, 12 Republicans and one independent opposed it. The issue created new fault lines for this fall's elections for control of the Senate as well as the 2016 race for the White House.

How long until those weapons are used against us?

Catholic League Calls For War

The Catholic League published the above message in today's New York Times.

Sen. Lindsey Graham: Obama Need To Act Before ISIS Kills Every American At Home

"The first thing I want to tell American people, from my point of view, it is our fight, it is not just their fight. I will not let this president suggest to the American people we can outsource or security and this is not about our safety. There is no way in hell you can form an army on the ground to go into Syria, to destroy ISIL, without a substantial American component. To destroy ISIL, you have to kill or capture their leaders, take the territory they hold back, cut off the financing, and destroy the capability to regenerate. This is a war we’re fighting, not a counter-terrorism operation. This is not Somalia, this is not Yemen. This is a turning point in the war on terror. Our strategy will fail yet again. This president needs to rise to the occasion before we all get killed back here at home." - Sen. Lindsey Graham, speaking today on Fox News Sunday.

McCain Battles With Former White House Spokesman Jay Carney Over ISIS Plan

Mediaite sets the stage:

Jay Carney, on his very first night working for CNN, ended up sparring with Senator John McCain over President Obama‘s ISIS speech, in which McCain repeatedly took shots at Carney for not telling the truth, saying at least once that “facts are stubborn things.” The second McCain appeared on CNN, he immediately got combative with Carney. McCain said that Obama unilaterally decided, against advisement from his national security team, not to train Syrian rebels. In addition, he said not leaving a residual force in Iraq was a huge mistake on Obama’s part. Carney disputed McCain’s claims, but the senator said, “Again, Mr. Carney, you are saying facts that are patently false.” They kept talking over each other and arguing, with McCain continuing to insist that Carney has his facts wrong.

Obama: It's Time To Get ISIS

Via CNN:

It's time to go after ISIS in Iraq and Syria, President Barack Obama said Wednesday night in a nationally televised address intended to sell stepped-up military efforts to a war-weary public. Obama said the United States would expand its airstrikes against the Sunni jihadists in Iraq to target them across the border in Syria. "I have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are," he said. "That means I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq. This is a core principle of my presidency: if you threaten America, you will find no safe haven." The declaration answered calls from a growing number of U.S. politicians for such a step, with increasing public support.

Obama also announced another 475 American military advisers would go to Iraq, pushing the total figure to about 1,700. At the same time, he made clear the strategy differed from all-out war again in Iraq less than three years after he withdrew combat forces from the country. "It will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil," Obama said. His address from the White House also sought to convince allies and the nation of a firm U.S. commitment to lead an international coalition to fight the jihadists who rampaged across northern Iraq from Syria this year. They are known as ISIS, ISIL and Islamic State.

ISIS Beheads Another American Journalist

Via Reuters:

The Islamic State militant group released a video purporting to show the beheading of U.S. hostage Steven Sotloff, the SITE monitoring service reported on Tuesday. A masked figure in the video also issued a threat against a British hostage, a man the group named as David Haines, and warned governments to back off "this evil alliance of America against the Islamic State", the monitoring service said. Sotloff, a freelance journalist, was kidnapped in Syria in August 2013. Sotloff's mother Shirley appealed on Aug. 27 in a videotaped message to Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, for her son's release.

The US State Department is reportedly reviewing the video and is expected to make a statement shortly.

Britain Goes On "Severe" Terror Alert

The United Kingdom today raised its terror alert to "severe" in response to ISIS activity in Iraq and Syria.

"What we're facing in Iraq now with ISIL is a deeper and greater threat to our security than we have known before," U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said in a news conference from 10 Downing Street, referring to the Islamic State by its former name, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. "With ISIL, we are facing a terrorist organization not being hosted in a country but actually seeking to establish and violently expand its own terrorist state," he added. There is no specific threat or information suggesting that an attack is imminent, Home Secretary Theresa May said, however, the "severe" threat level indicates a terrorist attack is "highly likely." Severe is the second-highest of five possible threat levels. The U.S. threat level remains elevated.

According to UK intelligence, about 500 Brits have traveled to the Middle East to join ISIS militants.

British Rapper Suspected To Be Terrorist Who Beheaded Journalist James Foley

Via the Sydney Morning Herald:

British intelligence agencies MI5 and MI6 have identified the man suspected of the horrific beheading of American journalist James Foley, according to British media reports. The hooded man with an English accent is believed to be 23-year-old Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, known to fellow Islamic State militants as Jihadi John. The former rapper left his family home in an affluent west London suburb last year to fight in the civil war in Syria. In early August he tweeted a photo of himself wearing military camouflage and a black hood, while holding a severed head in his left hand. British SAS forces are hunting Foley's killer, using a range of high-tech equipment to track him down and potentially free other hostages.

Via the New York Daily News:

The British ambassador to the United States, Peter Westmacott, said investigators aren’t ready to name Bary as the killer, but are getting “close” to ID’ing the killer, he said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Bary is one of six children of Adel Abdul Bary, an Egyptian militant who is facing terrorism charges in connection with Al Qaeda’s twin 1998 bombings at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people. After spending years in and out of Egyptian prisons, subjected to torture, the elder Bary and his wife, Ragaa, were granted political asylum in Britain in 1993. He was arrested for the bombings in 1998 and was extradited to the United States in 2012 after a protracted legal battle. Ragaa’s story is told in the book, “Shadow Lives: The Forgotten Woman of the War on Terror.” The younger Bary rapped under the name L. Jinny or Lyricist Jinn Matic, and his songs had been featured on the BBC’s Radio 1 Extra, media outlets reported.

Here's one of Bary's rap clips.

(Tipped by JMG reader Ray)

BRITAIN: Comedian Taunts Westboro Baptist To Picket Islamic Extremists In Iraq, Westboro Agrees To Go

Via Gay Star News:

The Westboro Baptist Church has accepted comedian Adam Hills’ offer to go to Iraq. Hills, who hosts British TV show The Last Leg, ranted about the ‘God Hates Fags’ church after they claimed Robin Williams was in hell for being a ‘fag enabler’. They also said they would protest at the late actor’s funeral. The threat angered Hills, offering to fly members first class to Iraq to picket the extremist Islamists beheading Christians there instead. 'If you really believe in standing up to those threatening the Christian way of life, Westboro Baptist Church, how about putting your money where your mouth is, taking a direct flight to Iraq and picketing the people threatening to behead Christians if they don’t convert?' Hills said if they chose to fly, he believed one of two things will happen. 'Either you’ll die while defending your beliefs and you’ll be carried away to heaven by a gold chariot to sit at the right hand of God for all eternity,’ he said. 'OR if I’m right, and I’m willing to bet a dozen first class flights that I am, God will be standing at the pearly gates alongside a 5ft 8 hairy American comedian dressed as a middle aged Scottish nanny saying, “Heeeellllooooo”.

Yesterday Westboro tweeted: "Iraq, here we come." That was followed with their announcement that they will picket the Missouri funeral of Michael Brown. The comedian's clip below already has 1.3 million views.

American Family Association: Obama Is Protecting Satan Worshippers In Iraq

Brian Tashman writes at Right Wing Watch:

American Family Association spokesman Bryan Fischer is outraged that the U.S. is intervening in Iraq to stop ISIS, who has been attacking Christians and other Muslims throughout the country. Fischer believes that President Obama only intervened to stop the extermination of the Yazidis, who practice an ancient religion yet are considered by ISIS fighters and others to be “devil worshipers.” He began today’s edition of “Focal Point” by railing against Obama, saying the president only decided to launch airstrikes in Iraq in order to defend “devil worshipers.” “They go after devil worshipers and all of the sudden the entire weight of the United States government is sent in there to relieve them and to avenge them,” he said. “Those are the Yazidis.”

President Obama: US Armed Forces Will Not Be Returning To Combat In Iraq

Via USA Today:

President Obama said Thursday he is planning to send up to 300 military advisers to Iraq to help retrain Iraqi security forces as they battle an insurgent invasion. "Armed forces will not be returning to combat in Iraq," Obama said in a White House announcement. After a meeting with national security advisers, Obama also announced a series of steps designed to improve intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance of the insurgent army that has taken several Iraqi cities and is threatening the capital in Baghdad. Some of these moves would require approval from Iraq's government. Obama also announced that he will dispatch Secretary of State John Kerry to the region for diplomatic efforts that include demands for a more inclusive government in Iraq. While some allies have called for removal of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Obama told reporters that "it's not our job to choose Iraq's leaders."

Teabagistan is already wailing.

Dick Cheney And Liz Cheney Blame President Obama For Civil War In Iraq

From an op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal:

Rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many. Too many times to count, Mr. Obama has told us he is "ending" the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—as though wishing made it so. His rhetoric has now come crashing into reality. Watching the black-clad ISIS jihadists take territory once secured by American blood is final proof, if any were needed, that America's enemies are not "decimated." They are emboldened and on the march.

Our president doesn't seem to. Iraq is at risk of falling to a radical Islamic terror group and Mr. Obama is talking climate change. Terrorists take control of more territory and resources than ever before in history, and he goes golfing. He seems blithely unaware, or indifferent to the fact, that a resurgent al Qaeda presents a clear and present danger to the United States of America.

When Mr. Obama and his team came into office in 2009, al Qaeda in Iraq had been largely defeated, thanks primarily to the heroic efforts of U.S. armed forces during the surge. Mr. Obama had only to negotiate an agreement to leave behind some residual American forces, training and intelligence capabilities to help secure the peace. Instead, he abandoned Iraq and we are watching American defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.

Today the two Cheneys launched The Alliance For A Strong America, which advocates for even more of the disastrous military interventions that got us to where we are today.